Feelin' verbose today...
OK -- now that I've let off steam about TP, I have some VERY interesting news to share.
On my way back from the Opthamologist today (got to use those flex-spending $ by year end, after all), I happened to cross the intersection of Madison and 42nd St. in NYC (a MAJOR intersection in the midst of Holiday shopping).
Across the street I spot a HUGE, blue truck with the "Citibank" logo emblazoned on the side. I actually thought it was an armoured car, but then I realized how stupid it would be for Citibank to advertise that they were truckin' around a couple 'a million bucks thru midtown Manhattan...
Anyway, I walk over and there's a virtual party going on -- balloons, music and such. Seems that they're handing out free coffee, latte, soda, you name it, from the Citibank "meals-on-wheel" chuckwagon, right in front of their huge branch office on the corner of Madison and 42nd.
So, I go up to speak with one of the reps, and (surprise, surprise) the whole setup is to promote Citibank's Direct Access with billpay (they've been running a promotion for awhile that if you pay two bills online, Citi will pay you $20).
Well, I play dumb (not particularly difficult), and I can barely get a question out of my mouth re: bill pay, and she interrupts me and says, "Why don't you just step into the lobby. We'll dial up your Citi account right here and sign you up instantly -- it's free!"
I obviously passed (I already have a billpay via Quicken), but I was VERY, VERY impressed with the training regimen they were following. They had all the forms right there to sign up new bank customers, and all the hardware to enroll existing customers. And I'll be damned if I can ever figure it out, but give away a 50-cent cup of crappy coffee and you get a line down the block (ah, Psychology 101 and Maslow's hierarchy)...
While I don't want to extrapolate too much from this one instance, I've got to give Citi's Mr. Horowitz a huge amount of credit. As it happens, I'm a good friend of one of the pioneers of the early days of Rollerblade (she used to be in charge of all sales for the NorthEast US). This was precisely the strategy they invented for building grass-roots support -- buy a fleet of vans, deck them out, and go cross-country giving away stuff (and selling lots of blades or whatever).
Despite the fact that Citi doesn't (yet?) use CF, I think that this is a very positive development that will gain lots of in-your-face visibility for the benefits of bill pay (and eventually, bill presentment)...
Just my continually humble opinion
RK |
