Suncorp Bank
Business Managers

Kingfisher Bay Resort, Fraser Island

Thursday, 13th May 2004
 Final Draft

© COPYRIGHT 2004  I'll Do Anything For Money Pty Ltd
All rights reserved

Sorry, I seem to have lost the powerpoint, you are just going to ahve to imagine the slides.

Introduction

We are very fortunate to have with us tonight, visiting us from the United States, Morris Stevens, president of Nidecus, which, as should know, is America’s leading financial industry customer service consultancy.

Morris & his partner Randy Fullman started Nidecus in the late 1980s and have been instrumental in the swing back to customer service that is sweeping US financial institutions.

I don’t want to pre-empt Morris so without further ado, will you please welcome to Fraser Island, Morris Stevens.

Good evening everyone and I especially want to thank you John for having me here this evening and it is certainly good to see you again. John & I first met at a conference in Hong Kong early last year where I was making a presentation. I must have made an impression because John approached me about speaking to you. Until today, Hong Kong was as close as I had ever been to Australia. So, since I have finally made it here, I am going to act like a local and say “geeday”.

Yes, I am excited to have made it to Australia at last and it is really great to be here down under. I just love that term, down under. I come from Boston Massachusetts and I have to say that when I’m at home it doesn’t feel like up over to me. I only flew into Brisbane this morning and after a few days getting over jetlag and relaxing on Fraser Island I am off to Sydney and Melbourne on some business.

But tonight, the one thing I want to do is meet the Crocodile Hunter, have a Fosters and throw a shrimp on the BBQ because I am down under. Geeday!

So, let me introduce myself. My name is Morris Stevens and as John mentioned I am the president and one of the founders of [SLIDE] Nidecus. We are a consultancy to the finance industry, but I will be honest and admit that we will work for anyone who hires us. Having said that, the finance industry is what we know best and where we have achieved our success to the point where we have over [SLIDE] two thirds of the US market.

In the early 80s I started working at the [SLIDE] Chase Bank in the customer service department, or, as it was known in those days, the complaints department. As you would realise it takes a special breed of person to work in customer service. You need to be patient, a good listener, empathetic, something of a detective and depending on your company you may need to be able to perform miracles. In short, you need to be eligible for sainthood.[SLIDE]

I am willing to put my reputation on the line and say that there is not a single business in the world that does not have problems with customer service. Well, there may be one or two, but that is because they don’t have customers.[SLIDE]

I think we all agree that our days would be much easier and we would get a lot more done if we didn’t have to deal with those pesky customers, but of course the downside is that without the customers, no job. So it is a conundrum.[SLIDE]

If I went around the room I’ll bet I could take up the whole night hearing your customer horror stories. We love to share them and laugh or roll our eyes in recognition. How many times have you wished you could record a phone conversation and replay it over the in-house public address system so that everyone could share the kind of day you are having?

Actually, although I make light of it, this is exactly the mindset that Nidecus sets out to shift when we work with a company. You see, if we perpetuate the myth of the stupid customer by relating horror phone conversations and the like, we create a defensive atmosphere in which every phone call received is treated as a call from “the enemy” until proven otherwise.

Put yourself on the other end of the phone. Well, you don’t really have to imagine it too hard. We all make business calls every day and we know what it is like to have the phone answered by someone we feel is patronising or condescending or just doesn’t care. [SLIDE] To the point nowadays where if we receive good service we tend to become suspicious.

Do you notice how I am generalising about this. I am not talking about the US or Australia or anywhere in particular. I can deliver this presentation anywhere in the world and I know that people in the audience will be able to relate to what I am talking about.

So, how did we get to this point where customer service has become something special instead of the norm?

[SLIDE] My observation is that the beginning of the end came with computerised call answering and redirection. Although it has a direct and measurable effect on customer satisfaction, it has also had a huge effect on those of us who work behind these systems.

We sit at our desks and can almost guarantee that the next caller is going to be frustrated by the time we answer. [SLIDE] We can hear it in their voices - if they don’t tell us directly. We become defensive and immediately our level of commitment and service to this person drops.

One way of dealing with it is to not answer the phone, but this takes us back to the scenario of no customers. So, how do we deal with our own state of mind irrespective of who is on the other end of the phone and what mood they are in.

[SLIDE] This is the domain in which Nidecus works. We come into companies with strategies for the desk jockeys and cube workers. I have been working with John on some ideas for Suncorp and one of the reasons for my visit is to spend a couple of days meeting all of you so that when I come into your office you will know who I am.

You see, I think that if you work with me and embrace some of the Nidecus techniques you will have a real advantage when it comes to picking up the [SLIDE] $10,000 incentive at the end of June.

[SLIDE] So let’s take an introductory look at how Nidecus can help you [SLIDE] achieve your goals, [SLIDE] support yourself and still [SLIDE] remain focussed on the customer.

Those of you who have attended conferences know that an obligatory part of the time is spent team-building. Now, I’m not to fond of it. Yeah, it can have a short term effect but often the games are a façade over which is pasted the impression of achieving something when in fact not a lot is getting done. Would you like to see the results of a team building exercise that went horribly wrong? Of course you do.

[SLIDE] VIDEO .

When we work with a company the consultants from Nidecus have a few rules. Actually, they aren’t rules, these are guidelines that must be followed…or else.

1. [SLIDE] No team building games – as you saw, it only leads to heartbreak when someone gets hurt
2. [SLIDE] Listen to us. Your ideas may appear better to you, but we are the ones getting paid to deliver
3. [SLIDE] Take our advice. We may not always know what we are doing but I guarantee that we know more than you do and that if you follow our advice you will achieve remarkable measurable results in both your personal life and your job.
4. [SLIDE] Work with what you’ve got. John has warned me that with some of you it isn’t much, but nonetheless, you can’t work with what you wish you had as it is something you don’t have. So, stick with what you have right now and we will give you many new and useful tools to help bolster your personal resources.
5. [SLIDE] Keep the feedback flowing. If you don’t tell us what is happening then we have no way of working with you towards the incentive bonus. You will each have a service buddy with whom you will be expected to stay in touch. Don’t think this is going to be someone across the desk or hall from you. We are committed to making sure you come out of this exercise firing on all cylinders so your buddy is likely to be someone you least expected and hardly know.
6. [SLIDE] Network. Extend beyond your office. Extend beyond your workplace. Although networking is an annoying buzzword, it works. If you don’t know that by now you probably shouldn’t even be here. Part of networking is sharing your knowledge, as it helps the entire group grow. By that I don’t mean you are helping build the corporate entity, I mean you as a group of individuals, the flow on of which helps the company ultimately. But to be honest that almost an unintended bonus. Our intention is to empower you as individuals.
7. When all else fails [SLIDE] offer bribes – especially to your consultant. Bribes grease the wheels of industry.

[SLIDE] John, can you not listen for a minute or two? OK, just amongst us. I just want y’all to know that I don’t give two hoots for the corporation. A lot of trainers and consultants talk about loyalty and owning the company as if it was yours. Heck, if I owned any of the companies I worked with I wouldn’t be working 9 to 5, I’d be sitting on a beach in Barbados, or Australia – geeday! OK John, come back.

Folks, I assert that if you share your knowledge with your team mates and they share equally with you, the company will benefit without any additional effort. We don’t need to focus on corporate America or Australia, it is doing just fine without our input. Assuming you ignore the Enrons, WorldComs and in Australia the HIH and Ansetts – you can see I have been doing my research.

It is only by utilising predetermined paradigms allocated to unambiguous methodically assigned outcomes that endemic performances degenerate logarithmically beyond significantly assessed provisions of structural adhesion if holistically inserted into domain statistics via ongoing sensitivities.

That is probably the most important thing I am going to tell you tonight. So if anyone can understand a word of it, please let me know later – I didn’t write this, my partner Randy did.

What we do need to focus on are the core themes of this conference and then extrapolate them into the workplace. And those themes are: [SLIDE]

• The Customer Value Project
• Cross-sell
• Intermediary Project
• Credit Partnering
• People Strategy

[SLIDE] Let's start with the Customer Value Project. As you would know this involves segmenting your customers into 3 tiers according to their value to you. This can often be a sensitive issue as you are required to segregate people into one of the tiers essentially choosing the winners and the losers. Not only is that difficult but it is also not a comfortable activity for a lot of people. So to make your job a little easier Nidecus offers a quick guide on how to segment customers at first glance.

Let’s start with a tier one customer. You will pick them quickly by the fact that they won’t return your calls since they probably don’t need your money anyway. [SLIDE] Obviously tier one customers expect and deserve to be treated like royalty if you want to do business with them. However I recommend that you avoid asking “how is the family?”.

Jumping to the other end of the scale a tier three customer may be harder to spot, but [SLIDE] once you know the tell tale signs you will be able to pick them a long way off…and cross to the other side of the street.

Tier two. Now if only everyone was as easy to categorise as this conservative, secure and cohesive [SLIDE] family. No doubt you can already see how easy this process is going to be.

[SLIDE] Cross-selling This is related to the your allocation of people and involves widening your approach from just loans to include other business venture. I have a better idea that may earn you more than [SLIDE] the top gun $10,000 big ones. [SLIDE] Do the words “protection racket” or “I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse” mean anything to you?

[SLIDE] Intermediary Project. While some banks are moving away from brokers, Nidecus predicts that your effort to embrace brokers will pay big dividends, but if it doesn’t, there is an alternative. [SLIDE] Do the words “protection racket” or “I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse” mean anything to you?

I want you to notice how much time we can save tonight by incorporating two projects into one?

[SLIDE] Credit Partnering - A major project underway for the past 8 months, designed to improve the working relationship between customer relationship managers and credit staff. The main change Nidecus recommended to Suncorp was to take the credit staff out of head office and put them in the regions. This has had a very positive impact and really improved the culture - hence the term 'Partnering'. Let me share with you photos of some of the regions where staff are located. [SLIDE] Cairns, [SLIDE] Port Douglas, [SLIDE] Noosa, [SLIDE] Mt Isa, [SLIDE] Alice Springs. The benefits are obvious.

[SLIDE] People Strategy We have decided to remove some of the [SLIDE] initiatives that had previously been announced. The ultimate purpose is to improve the satisfaction of Suncorp staff.

For starters Suncorp is going to [SLIDE] scrap the Corporate Health Care Program and instead introduce [SLIDE] the corporate beer drinking programme. Rather than a medical assessment you will each be given a bar tab. It won’t improve your health, but you will be so drunk you won’t care any more.

With a bit of luck and some proper planning you may even go the full circle and end up [SLIDE] tier three.

[SLIDE] The final theme is Equity & Diversity. This is designed to ensure Suncorp employees are more loving and caring to each other with greater respect of the individual at all levels of the company. To that end Suncorp has set aside vast amounts of money and will be sponsoring employees to represent and promote the company at [SLIDE] various community events.

Yes ladies and Gentlemen. Nidecus will help you achieve these goals. But who is Nidecus?

Nidecus is the name of the Roman god of bullshit and if you spell it backwards you’ll realise that I am not from Nidecus, I’m not even from America and you have been sucked in.

[SLIDE] My real name is Steve Davis and you are the best audience I’ve ever had.