Comments for Unsolicted Advice to Financial Services CEO's at http://www.socialsphere.com , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.socialsphere.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:16:54 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.socialsphere.com/blogs/36-johns-blog/288-financial-services.html#comment-76 John, The last twelve months have ruthlessly exposed a number of embedded flaws in our once vaunted financial service giants. No weakness has been more destructive to their client's wealth and well being than the sin of "group-think". These institutions chased the same markets, bought the same securities, financed by the same leverage. They comforted themselves with benchmarks, napping in the safety of the herd. You know the rest of the story. Money managers certainly need to embrace twenty-first century tools in order to align themselves with their clients REAL aspirations and tolerance for risk. But first, they need to use these tools to channel the creativity and wisdom (as opposed to simply data and knowledge) that exists "on the ground" throughout their organizations. They need to move wise and creative ideas directly and cleanly to decision makers. Running with the Bulls is nineteenth century behavior lavishly portrayed in twentieth century media between Buick commercials. In the twenty-first century, clients will migrate to the firms that can harvest and deploy creative wisdom. - Blake Anderson Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:51:43 +0100 http://www.socialsphere.com/blogs/36-johns-blog/288-financial-services.html#comment-75 The fact that anyone would have a blog that doesn't publish comments is surprising to me. The result of a good blog is good discussions; if you eliminate the space for feedback and the development of those ideas, the blog post turns into a lecture. If there's one thing Millennials don't like, it's being lectured to. Financial institutions are missing a huge opportunity to develop long-lasting relationships with people who will be loyal to them if they are treated right. One of the biggest components of that relationship has to be transparency and the chance to give feedback. Millennials have opinions that they want heard, and if your company isn't willing to listen, they'll find one that will. - Laura Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:42:01 +0100 http://www.socialsphere.com/blogs/36-johns-blog/288-financial-services.html#comment-74 John, Thanks for the shout out. The days of treating customers like mushrooms are gone forever, particularly as it relates to millennials. The more I read and learn about Web 2.0 and social networking, the more I realize that any business dependent upon a robust customer base—and name one that isn’t—better be prepared to engage its customers, listen to what they have to say and respond when appropriate. The payoff may not be felt immediately, but eventually it will be felt. - keith Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:13:56 +0100