In my former life as a regional manager, I had both ‘corporate office’ experience and I was also active in the field, working with the same stores and employees that I had come up through. This ‘front line’ experience helped me to appreciate the silly and often ridiculous ways that those at corporate, you might say, the Ivory Tower, would interfere with the company’s real mission which is to grow the business by meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Twenty five years in retail has ingrained in me an ability to spot stupidity a mile away, as I did last week.

I was on a tight schedule as usual and one of my stops was at my personal bank to deposit a check. I pulled in to the drive through and after waiting almost 10 minutes the attendant returned to tell me that they couldn’t deposit my check because it looked altered. What?

It was my own company check, written by me to myself, to be deposited (not cashed!) into the personal checking account I had with this bank. It seems that the bank has a policy of not accepting checks that may appear to be altered. At first glance this seems like a worthwhile safety policy for all concerned, but what were they objecting to?

The clerk explained that the date looked altered. They said that they couldn’t tell if the date was February 12 or 13! It was not altered, perhaps my messy handwriting, but in either case, what difference could this possible make, it was February 13? At this point I wasn’t mad, I was stunned in disbelief.

I realized that the clerk was just following orders and not the one to be upset with so I asked if the manager was inside. He said that she was but that she already OK’d this! “Tell her I’ll be right in.”

I drove around, parked and went inside where the manager was waiting for me. She re-explained the banks policy and showed me that the date on my check was not clear! Since it was already February 13 I asked what possible difference it could make and she just repeated the banks ‘no alterations’ policy. Now I was getting streamed.

Here are the facts as I explained them to the branch manager.
• You know me by sight as one of your customers
• You personally opened up our checking and savings accounts
• You processed our home equity loan six months ago
• You know that I own my own business, that this is my company check, written by me
• And finally, I’m not looking to withdraw money; I’m depositing this money into your bank!

No dice. I had to drive home, write another check and come back. Despite my growing red face I still recognized that even the branch manager was not the policy maker so I asked who was and if we could get them on the phone. Surprisingly she obliged and she got the banks controller on the phone to clarify their ‘no alterations’ policy. Having told the controller the facts as I just outlined above, the branch manager then said to the ‘Ivory Tower’ controller that even though I know Jim, if I accept this check I will be written up, right? She was told, “Yes you will.”

And there you have it. The branch manager was afraid for her job and the result was one of major inconvenience for a good customer. By the way, this bank has also been courting me to move my business banking to their bank. Not going to happen.

This is yet another example of a policy created in the Ivory Tower, combined with zero tolerance for any common sense to be applied by the folks entrusted to actually interact with and serve their customers. It’s no wonder so many businesses are in serious trouble.

Many times policies are created in the ivory tower in the heat of the moment, when something bad or unfortunate happens at the store level. Typically, the policies created are an over reaction to something that rarely happens and in fact create impediments to customers trying to do business. A couple questions for you as I close this rant.

• Do you have any of these policies in your business?
• Do you trust your front line staff to do what’s necessary to serve and please your customers?

Remember, customers have many options. Make it easy for your customers to do business with you. By the way, when I left the bank I drive to another location less than 2 miles away and they immediately deposited my check!

Some Amazing Direct Mail Marketing Statistics You May Not Know

Did you know: 85% - say they open, sort, process and read selected pieces from their mail everyday. 15% let it accumulate unopened for 2 or more days.

Did you know: 55% report ‘greater enjoyment’ from reading their regular mail vs. e-mail? This includes the 18-39 age group.

Did you know: 75% of consumers say they are examining their mail more closely in recent months for coupons and special offers that save them money?

Did you know: Close to 40% of consumers say that they have tried a new business after receiving direct mail from that business … and a70% report renewing a relationship with a business they’d ceased patronizing, as a result of receiving direct mail from the business inviting them back?

Sources: The Print Council and DM-News/Piney Bowes 2008 Direct Mail Survey and seen by this reporter in Glazer Kennedy’s No BS Marketing Letter.  

My Comments: Wow! For all the businesses struggling right now, this is incredibly powerful information. Start, or get back to, communicating with your customers, clients, and prospects. And you might find this surprising, but I’m recommending a monthly print newsletter! The chances of your print newsletter getting noticed and read, compared to that of email, are huge and potentially very lucrative. Success is never on sale.

Check out my wildy popular ‘Done-for-You’ No Hassle Newsletter program, Success Advantage 2.0 at www.NohassleNewsletters.com.

If your business is struggling right now, are you scrambling, looking for the next great ‘Magic Marketing Pill?’ Well, let me ask you, while you’re looking for the so-called magic pill, have you at least covered the basics of marketing and business growth? You should.

The Basics start with an understanding that 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers. It is imperative that you be in regular and frequent contact with customers and prospects. I am aghast at how many entrepreneurs I talk to that do not regularly communicate with their current customer base, either in print, email, telephone, or in person! The main focus of many of these entrepreneurs seems to be focused on trying every ‘new’ thing they can to try and capture ‘new’ customers, as if that is the answer to their problems.

What they need to realize is that doing ‘The Basics’ makes it much easier to boost your profits by selling more to the very people that have already indentified themselves as buyers! The bonus that’s built into ‘The Basics’ is that it’s much easier and a lot less expensive to sell more to your current customers than it is trying to go out and get, and sell to, new customers.

So on this beautiful Monday afternoon, let me challenge you to stop looking for the Magic Silver Bullet and start covering the basics better in your business. Get back into regular and frequent contact with your customers, clients, and prospects. The bottom line is this, if you have a customer list, you have your own personal Acre of Diamonds. Think about it – read it.