ABA Banking Journal - September 2007 - (Page 42)

BANK MARKETING 1 begins to assess what impact the boomers will have on your funding base, your products, and the shape of your organization in the not so distant future. “Teach me about my money” This is the Holy Grail for all boomers. It is the topic of water cooler conversation, keeps boomers up at night, and becomes more poignant as each year passes. With 60 being the new 40, boomers are looking forward to active and fulfilled lives after they leave the work place. This will require money and, most importantly, cash flow. Boomers may have shunned worldly possessions as young adults, but have more than made up for this by becoming huge consumers of everything from iPods to sports cars. Boomers will need cash, and lots of it, to maintain their lifestyles. Ironically, preliminary studies have shown that many boomer-age individuals—especially those not yet 50—do not have a defined plan, and are not saving for their retirement years. This lack of planning could be a last opportunity for our industry to compete on a level playing field with the brokerage houses that are constantly chipping away at our funding source. We bankers control huge databases full of boomer-age clients. To keep these relationships, we must begin to send a consistent “high decibel” message that there will be a sequel to those “peace and love” years. Only this time good financial planning, not Karma, will get you on the Magic Bus. Bankers who spend the time and resources to help boomers understand the dynamics of investing and preserving money will endear themselves to their boomer clients for the rest of their lives. At this very moment, those clients are begging for good financial advice and ways to grow their money, or the assets they suddenly inherit. If you don’t think the stakes are high in this game, just look at what Fidelity is doing with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. By aligning itself with a true icon of the boomer generation, and speaking through McCartney directly to the souls of boomer-aged prospects, Fidelity is hoping to segregate itself from other fund peddlers. It is betting that money can buy 2 you love, while fattening its bottom line. Bankers cannot ignore this volley. “Never call me a senior” As an active 54 year-old surfer, I will be eligible for the moniker of “senior” this year. Truthfully, I would rather spend an entire week at the proctologist than be called a “senior.” If I am typical of my generation, I plan to go full steam ahead into the next 30-years of my life. The moniker “senior” does not fit into the mental picture I have of myself. Bankers, who realize that calling boomers “seniors” is counterproductive, will be the first to endear themselves to the boomer generation. Seniors were our parents, courtly WWII veterans who prided themselves on their entitlement to the rocking chair years. It does not speak to my generation who will be scaling the Andes or working with the Peace Corps when our professional lives come to a close. I may have achieved senior status, 4 to get real phone numbers—of real people—into the hands of their boomer customers. As boomers see their wealth increase in the coming years, they will become less patient with wasted phone time and more receptive to contact with real people. Boomers may be the last generation of customers that really want to talk to us without immediately defaulting to e-mail. Smart bankers will strengthen their communication opportunities with boomers. Put every customer contact person’s phone number on you website. Talk to boomers if you want to keep an edge. Take a hard look at your online technology In a direct contrast to wanting to talk to a real person, boomers will demand firstrate online technology. If all goes as planned, a great many boomers will be mobile in their promised years and will bank with us as they want—and from Boomers may be the last generation of customers that really want to talk to us without immediately defaulting to e-mail 3 but please do not remind me of it with your product line moniker and weekly propaganda. “Talk to me” If you want to make a difference with boomers, talk to them. If you must have automated phone technology, give them an opportunity early in the process to talk to a real person. Citibank has laid down the challenge to all of us with their “Dial 1 for a real person” message. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to hold the phone while a bank’s automated phone system goes into computer-generated hell. While small banks seem to have the edge here, big banks need to explore ways where they want. They will want technology that is safe, reliable, and fast. Boomers will demand meaningful links to their entire portfolios. As banks become better at integrated selling, put the boomer’s banking, investment, and insurance products together on their own home page. Pepper this home page with meaningful links to financial advice, health, and retirement issues. When they need to talk to their banker, let them talk to you over the computer—with live video. Get the folks in IT to affix a camera to every customer-contact computer in the bank. Let your boomer customers dial in over their computer and see who they are talking to. This will set the bar 42 SEPTEMBER 2007/ABA BANKING JOURNAL www.ababj.com/subscribe.html http://www.ababj.com/subscribe.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - September 2007

Contents Editor's Column Briefing: Why Money Sense is a Top Priority Briefing: Sleight of Mind Briefing: Snapshot: What the First Half Tells Us About the Second Half Briefing: ABA Resources ABA Chairman’s Position Briefing: Get Away and Get Ahead: ABA's Banking Leaders Forum Community Banking: Trim the Fat: Winning the "Battle of the Buck" Community Banking: Pass the Aspirin Cover Story: Meeting the Challenge of the "Unbanked" Bank Marketing: Don't Miss the Boom! On the Job: Time to Power Up Your Presentations? Insurance Sales: The Art & Craft of Cross Selling Tech Topics: The Price is Right? Tech Topics: Security: Protect Information First Tech Topics: Hackers for Hire? You Bet'cha Tech Topics: Case in Point: Tellers Scan, Too, at First Federal Compliance Clinic: Adverse Action Clarified The Economy Banker’s Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers

ABA Banking Journal - September 2007

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