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Greetings!
Happy Holidays. Enjoy your time with family and
friends. That's why you work, isn't it?
Managing Expectations
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A Cautionary Tale - Conclusion (Sort of)
You might remember that our heroine had just gotten
the news that the credit limits on both her business
and personal credit cards had been reduced to slightly
more than her existing balances. Though The Bank's
explanations seemed self-serving, she could work
with the new limits and did so. The Problem arose
about a month later.
While checking her online balances one evening, she
noticed that a payment she had scheduled through
The Bank's bill payment service had not been made.
There was an automatic email notification on her
account stating there were insufficient funds in the
account to make the payment. She didn't understand
why her overdraft protection wouldn't have covered the
$250 shortfall, since it showed an available balance of
$1000. Worse still, this payment was on her credit
card, the one carrying those introductory rate
balances. She knew the consequences of a late
payment on that account, but it was a credit card with
the same bank so she thought it would be easy to
resolve. She transferred funds into that account
immediately and submitted an email inquiry to
question the late payment and why her overdraft
protection hadn't covered it.
The payment was made the next day and she did
receive a response to her email. The response
restated the original "insufficient funds" reasoning
without addressing the overdraft protection. This
wasn't very helpful, so she visited the bank and spoke
to one of the representatives. After he made some
phone calls he told her that her overdraft account had
been closed a month ago and that's why it didn't cover
that
payment. He couldn't tell her why her account still
showed an available balance on her overdraft
protection. She was beginning to get a little
frustrated.
So, she wrote to The Bank and copied the letter to The
Bank's credit card customer service department
restating
the issues. She got a prompt reply from The Bank's
credit card department stating they were operating
within the law and according to the rules outlined in
the agreement but nothing from The Bank. So she
wrote again. Again, a prompt reply from The Bank's
credit card department but nothing from The Bank. Her
third letter resulted in a call from The Bank's branch
manager. He wanted to know the details and said he
would make some calls to try to resolve the issue.
When he called back the next day he said she would
need to fax a request to The Bank's credit card
department asking why the account associated with
the overdraft protection had been closed. He needed
that information to resolve the problem.
She did so. She received a written response that they
did not have that information. It had now been over
three
months, her account still showed overdraft protection
but she couldn't use it. The payments she'd been
making
on that credit card now reflected an interest rate that
had
jumped from 5% to 24%. This situation was beginning
to
make her crazy. So, she decided to take it to the next
level.
If The Bank wouldn't listen to her, maybe they would
listen to
the
Feds. The Controller of the Currency regulates banks.
Their website has a feature that allows anyone to file a
complaint about a bank they regulate. So she did. Ten
days later she got a call from the Customer Service
Advocate at The Bank. The representative was very
cordial, made sure
she understood the issues, and said she would call
back the next day. My friend was shocked when the
representative
actually did call back the next day. She told my friend
that she had restored the introductory rates and
refunded the difference between the introductory rates
and the higher rate. She asked my friend if this was a
satisfactory solution.
After hours of frustrating communication with The
Bank, one person there had the power to resolve the
issue within minutes. Of course it was a satisfactory
solution, it was an unsatisfactory process. That's why
my friend is now an unhappy customer of The
Bank.
For any business, if you choose short term gains over
long term relationships the cost might be a lot more
than you think. For any person, always negotiate with
the person (or authority) who has the power to give you
what you want..
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Focus on Sales
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When I help people with strategic planning, one of
the first areas we focus on is their revenue streams.
You should be looking at yours every year. What's
working? What's not? Has the market changed? Have
our customers changed? What do we need to do,
specifically, to retain and grow?
The answers
to these questions will affect every aspect of your
business. It will increase your focus - and your results.
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Networking Tips
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The holidays are a traditional time for giving.
Especially today, charities need help. They need your
time and your money. By volunteering, you will meet
people who have similar concerns for others and for
the world. Don't you want to know more of those
people? Volunteer your time.
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Announcing the New Strategic Planning Workshop
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I've developed a new workshop for business owners.
This workshop meets the two critical needs I see
when I work with people: They don't have a strategic
plan and they don't have the time to create
one.
We will spend a day together developing
a strategic plan that recognizes the unique challenges
you face and the opportunities you have. You will
leave
the session with a strategic plan that makes sense for
your business and creates a roadmap for achieving
your goals.
I've schedule two dates for the
workshop, December 29, 2009 and January 7, 2010.
The cost is
$399 for the day. Call me before December 15, 2009
to register. Enrollment will be limited.
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