| By Jim Bruene on October 4, 2002 6:46 PM | Comments (0) |
We like to be optimistic, reviewing features and benefits aimed at consumers who are upbeat. In much of the world, economies are sputtering and consumer confidence is down. This is a good time to look at your product set through the eyes of a pessimist and see if you can alter the four P’s (product, promotion, place, price) to appeal, and help, a more skeptical and frugal consumer.
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| 1. | Goal-based automatic savings/investing plans | Provide a simple way for users to initiate and change automatic savings plans; email messaging could confirm each transfer and keep the user apprised of their progress towards goals. | deposits, investments, account retention |
| 2. | Mortgage refinance center | If you haven’t looked at your refi area for a while, take a fresh look, then compare it to the top mortgage companies profiled in OBR. You’ll likely find a number of simple improvements that can be made to drive profitable refi and home equity loan volume. | mortgage refinance and home equity loans/lines |
| 3. | Home equity lending center | Build more interest in the product by building a Web area with ideas on how to put home equity to use, such as home improvement, vehicle purchase, business opportunities, etc. | mortgage refinance and home equity loans/lines |
| 4. | Overdraft protection | With NSF/OD fees growing ever higher, it’s important to provide overdraft protection solutions; add an easy sign-up form/application displayed prominently on your Web site. | deposits, credit lines, cost savings in customer service, retention |
| 5. | Credit report monitoring | As we outlined this summer, credit report monitoring is the perfect product for these times of privacy fears and credit awareness; not only will customers appreciate the protection, they have demonstrated a willingness to pay up to $100/yr for the service. | fees, loans, retention |
| 6. | Security center | Build an educational area where users can
read about safeguarding their privacy and avoid identity theft; include
credit bureau links and info (see One-Click Security at Charter One). |
retention, cost savings in fraud |
| 7. | Personal ebankers (sales focused) |
As an experiment, assign an e-rep to 50-100 promising online customers; equip the rep with email, after-hours capability from home, personal Web pages, and so on; over the next year, measure account balances and customer satisfaction, with a before-and-after survey. | retention, cross sales |
| 8. | Value investing with mutual funds | The margins may be thin, but helping your customers establish automated investments into a portfolio of indexed mutual funds could be your ticket to keeping the majority of your customers’ assets within your company. | retention, investments |
| 9. | Recurring bill payment solutions | In an era when consumers are watching every penny, help users establish recurring automatic payments to avoid incurring late fees and/or additional finance charges. | retention, deposits, checking |
| 10. | Expedited payments (FedEx Pay) |
For those who haven’t opted for automatic recurring payments (#9), help them pay at the last minute to avoid extra charges. | fees, checking, retention |
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