Posted By Amanda Collins on August 6, 2010

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Recently, I got fed up with my big-box bank. The fees are outrageous, and since I know a personal banker through my BNI chapter who specializes in business accounts, I chose to move over to a smaller community bank. If you’ve ever changed banks, you know that it’s a hassle. I thought I had enough money in the account to cover everything outstanding, but I got an e-mail yesterday saying I’d overdrawn the account—leaving me with a pesky $35 overdraft fee. Everything had cleared, so I headed down to the bank to officially close the account and cover the outstanding amount.

I had just been at the bank a few days earlier to close my personal accounts, yet the same woman with whom I spoke then wasn’t even there on my return visit. In fact, I didn’t recognize anyone—and certainly no one recognized me. I had to wait at least 10 minutes to be seen, and when I was greeted, the banker didn’t even shake my hand nor did she make eye contact. When I told her I wanted to close my accounts, she asked me the obligatory “Why?” I told her it was because of fees (the truth), including the $35 overdraft I’d just been charged. She proceeded to close the account, asking me for the outstanding amount, roughly $45.

Here’s where this big bank lost an opportunity—and the lesson for you in your business. When I told her the only reason I was leaving the bank was because of fees, a customer service-oriented individual would have said something like, “I’m so sorry to hear that, and we’re sorry to lose your business. I see that you received an overdraft fee when closing this account, so let me waive that for you.”

I told a colleague about this, and he said, “But they know they’ve already lost your business. What’s the incentive for them to not charge you the $35?” Ah, but here’s the thing: even though I’m leaving, would you rather leave your exiting customers with a positive or negative impression of your business? As it stands, not only would I not return to said bank, I would vehemently discourage my friends and colleagues from doing business with them. Granted, there’s one on every corner and ATMs in every mall (my initial reason for choosing them), but is that level of “convenience” worth the hassle of not being valued or appreciated?

Every company is going to lose customers. It’s inevitable. Your ability to handle that separation gracefully will define you, not only as an individual but also as a great business owner who always maintains a focus on customer service—whether someone remains your customer or not.

Category: reputation management
Tags: customer relations