subject: The Banker's Draft - What They're Really After [print this page] The Banker's Draft - What They're Really After
It's an everyday, common occurence - you walk into a bank, maybe to look at your balance, perhaps make a withdrawl, or maybe even open a bank account.
AHA! The moment you step up to a bank worker and say 'I'd like to open a new bank account' or 'I'm interested in the [INSERT PRODUCT HERE] your bank offers' every staff member in earshot gets a 15% erection. Why? Because they are HEAVILY targeted. VERY, VERY HEAVILY.
You probably already suspected, but the targets are insane - for example, it's common practice in the UK for banks to issue their staff points based on financial products they sell, and if a customer realises within a time limit that, in actual fact, they've been suckered into something useless, the worker loses 3 times the amount of points they received.
Ouch!
I have friends on both sides of the banker's counter who can whole-heartedly vouch for this - knowing what he does about the system, my consumer friend was very aware of the ploys of these people. These were explained to him and I by a personal banker friend of ours.
My consumer buddy goes in to a bank to sign up for the top account. He is quickly whisked away, the account set up pronto, with the help of 3 other members of staff - all targeted, all desperate to sign him up for insurance of all kinds and refer him to financial advisors so that he can be pumped with more sales, helping them meet more targets.
And my banker friend claims she has fallen foul of this 'push, push, push' attitude that now dominates the bank floor.
So remember all of that, and use it to your advantage - dangling the bad carrot of 'I'm gonna cancel my [INSERT PRODUCT HERE] and you're gonna lose your points' might help you get a better deal in the austere bank you have to frequent...
