Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie

Recently, I was at a grill-out and had an interesting discussion with a gentleman who does not work in, nor was very familiar with, the financial industry.

Recently, I was at a grill-out and had an interesting discussion with a gentleman who does not work in, nor was very familiar with, the financial industry.

After the usual introductions and finding out what I do for a living, we began an interesting conversation about the state of the consumer financial industry, especially as it pertains to community banks and local credit unions. My assertions that the industry as a whole is in a unique place and on the verge of major shifts in consumer behavior, and that we, as marketers, must learn how to best deal with it fell on him like a weight.

A Marketer’s Nightmare

As I talked more about what I see coming as shifts in the use of technology and what it was ultimately going to do with changing how consumers interact with their banks, his face grew a bit sullen and he responded with:

“My advice? Let sleeping dogs lie.”

Queue a perplexed look and obligatory “What? Why?”

Adding Value

Long story short, as it turns out, there is a group of people out there who are not in the least bit excited about the changes that are coming to financial services.

To me, this does not speak to an issue of ineffective marketing or simply writing off a group as non-adopters when introducing new services. There’s also no need to become depressed and ask yourself why you continue to fight uphill battles.

In my opinion, the missing component is the message of added value. In order to create a positive shift in consumer behavior, consumers (surprise!) want to also know what this change is going to do for them. It gives them a reason to like the change and give it a try.

Letting sleeping dogs lie is not an option for financial institutions. Neither is a lack of adoption by segments of our markets. It kills implementation and ROI, and makes us marketers look really bad.

If financials had taken this track years ago, ATMs and online banking systems wouldn’t exist. Branches may never go away, but the relationship in how we use them is definitely going to change.

So go ahead. Rock the boat a little and wake the dogs up.

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