Sometimes, You Just Have to Step Up…

I was recently traveling from Houston, TX, back to Oklahoma City, and as usual, I was flying Southwest. If you have ever flown SW, you know the drill: Line up according to your boarding number, A1-A60 first. My boarding position this trip was A31, so I was at the very front of the second line. […]

Don’t Ruin a Great Experience!

Don’t you hate when you’re having an amazing digital experience with a vendor, and they ruin it? Here’s the story. After a successful series of meetings in Atlanta, I returned my Hertz rental car and headed for the terminal. I really love the convenience of the email receipt—no waiting around for an associate with 20 […]

Chat is Amazing – But Regardless of the Advice, It Has to be Accurate!

How great is chat—the ability to receive quality support without having to be stuck on the phone? Beautiful! Recently, I was looking for the email address of a local Office Depot in Oklahoma City, so I accessed the specific store’s website, assured I would easily find the email address for the delivery of a print […]

Believe me, Good Self Service Works, Just Let me Choose …

Due to my frequent flights in and out of Atlanta, I have become a loyal Delta customer—with a status to show for it. While I generally think they offer a good flying experience, there have been a couple of instances where their efforts to provide a quality personalized service actually diminished my flying experience. Don’t […]

Why Banking is Failing at Cross-Selling Fee Services

I recently read an article from The Financial Brand outlining the problems financial institutions have in cross-selling services with associated fees. The article compares data from Amazon Prime sales to the lack of success FIs have had in selling fee-based services. They found, even when Amazon raised the price for the Prime service, subscribership increased. […]

Best Bank in Valdosta … and Not Just Cause I’m Sayin’ It

I referenced my bank, Citizens Community Bank (CCB) in a recent blog post discussing how difficult it is to be a bank. Many non-banks wanting to offer financial services find that existing rules and regulations make it difficult to do so. However, CCB performs a wide variety of banking services with a perfect blend of […]

If Banking Was So Easy, Everyone Would Already Be Doing It!

While perusing my daily news stories related to financial services, I came across this article from The Financial Brand. It discussed a study concluding 58% of potential account switchers, including those already looking to move from their existing financial services provider, would consider an “alternative” provider like Apple, Facebook, Google, or Amazon. Not surprisingly, Millennials […]

Efficiency Doesn’t Mean Someone Gets Fired …

Once again, my perusal of PYMNTS.com yielded a great story. The story highlights the changes retailers have experienced throughout the use of self-service. The early assumption for self-service was it would reduce headcount and be a money saver. However, that turned out to be untrue. Instead of merely letting those performing transactional services (i.e. check-out) […]

Innovation Needed – Marriott Are You Listening?

It seems I have a never-ending supply of stories from mainline companies who just can’t get their customer service act together. Here’s my reasoning for sharing them: since I try to highlight the good and innovative things companies do, it’s only appropriate that when there is a customer service failure, I call that out, as […]

It Was My Fault and I Quit AVIS Anyway

As a frequent traveler, I get the opportunity to accumulate travel award points.  This summer, while in Colorado to teach at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado, I rented a car so I could travel up to the mountains to fish and visit with friends.   Since I had many American […]