The Bank With a Difference.

Ideas. Insight. Impact. > CASE STUDY

Holt Cat

Customers Response to Common Sense in Record Numbers.!

Jyske Bank

Fueling Business Growth ®

On a cold December evening, twenty bank customers in Kansas City discussed their negative attitudes about the way they were treated by their banks. Little did they know that five thousand miles away, a company had already heard their complaints and was doing something to permanently alter the relationship between a banking institution and its customers by understanding the Power of the Heart. There have been three generations of banks. The first was the fortress bank, simply a safe place to keep your money. Service was sparse because there was minimal competition. Banks could set all the rules. They could keep their own hours, closing at three o’clock in the afternoon, for example. It mattered little if the customer was inconvenienced; the bank’s job was to protect the money, not try to grow it. The second generation was the reluctant marketer bank. In the 1980s, banking was deregulated in an effort to spur com- petition, and it worked. At first, bankers didn’t know how to compete except to offer a free premium, like a toaster, if you opened a checking account. But as competition increased, the level of market segmentation and sophistication did as well. Today, the third generation is the differentiator bank. We have witnessed so much consolidation that it is hard to know the players without a program. But in Denmark there’s a bank that is paying huge dividends. In this case, three unlikely entities merged, entities you wouldn’t normally combine: a bank, a butik, and a bibliotek (bank, store, and library).

Jyske (pronounced Yeeska) Bank is headquartered in Silkeborg, Denmark. With a population of only forty-three thousand, the city is less than a tenth of Kansas City. But the Customer CEO changes introduced by Jyske over the past decade have introduced a revolution of choice in the conservative banking industry. Jyske Bank has been intensely studied and its innovative ideas are rippling across the globe. Jyske realized that it had an opportunity to reinvent itself, even though the business was doing well. But executives felt the bigger risk was to rest on their laurels and do nothing. To set themselves apart, the bank created Jyske Differences, which focused on four areas: people, facilities, marketing, and customer counseling tools. The bank collaborated with the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, a social science think tank, to explore emerging trends for customers.

Jyske teams spent time in the field studying Starbucks and Apple Stores, and observed that they were making deep, emotional connections to their customers. This was unlike anything banks had ever done. Customers also felt that personal financial decisions were hard because the product choices were often too abstract. People needed more concrete and tangible ways to understand the wide array of bank products and services. Customer interviews found that, to most people, banks were cold, detached places that did little to understand the needs of their customers. The bank wrote a manifesto called Our Foundations to publicly outline what Jyske really stood for. This document sent a clear message both internally and externally that this bank was really different. Here’s just a brief portion: “Our core values are carved in stone. They are common to us all and govern the way we behave towards each other. In the eyes of both customers and employees, our values are what make us special. Our values are: •  Common sense •  Being open and honest •  Being different and unpretentious •  Showing genuine interest and equal

respect •  Being efficient and persevering”

To get it right, Jyske knew that the bank and its employees had to sincerely “demonstrate insight and respect for other people.” Employees were trained to provide the customer with an “experience” like none other. This meant supporting their customers and helping them fulfill their dreams. Some customers were recent university graduates beginning new careers. Others needed help maximizing savings as they built their families. Some were working toward a more secure retirement. The bank    

The bank switched to using a team concept, with specialists trained to help solve specific financial problems and provide advice for every need. Jyske started calling each branch a “shop.” Upon entering a shop, you see a wide-open, well-lit store that pulls you inside. You are greeted by a concierge who directs you to the area you need. At the entry you also see a large, ugly catfish, a whimsical icon for Jyske since 1982. Instead of a teller’s window, you find a MoneyBar for quick bank services. The Market Square features banking products packaged in boxes, similar to the way software is displayed at computer stores. The boxes can be scanned—when they are, a video pops up on a flat screen and explains features and benefits. Every shop features an “Oasis,” which looks like a library and has current magazines and books about personal finance. And of course there is the Jyske CoffeeBar. The bank wants to have the world’s best coffee. Jyske customers loved this mix of places. Shops became special community gathering places. The bank’s success with these changes has been remarkable. Deposits and customers soared over the past decade because Jyske successfully tapped into the Power of the Heart by engaging customers with empathy. It has created a culture and a place that truly cater to what its customers need.  

Portions of this article are adapted with permission from Customer CEO: How to Profit from the Power of Your Customers by Chuck Wall (Bibliomotion, April 2013)..

Ideas. Insight. Impact.

MarketPower Group LLC 512.358-9090

marketpowergroup.com

© 2013, All rights reserved.

Portions of this article are adapted with permission from Customer CEO: How to Profit from the Power of Your Customers by Chuck Wall (Bibliomotion, April 2013).