They have learned nothing.
I walked into my Wells Fargo branch to put my data backup into my safe
deposit box, as I’ve been doing for a decade. This routine business turned
into a wake-up call about safe deposit boxes and churned up insights into how
Wells Fargo conducts to this day its cross-selling
efforts: the algo makes them do it!
To clarify, I’m a happy customer. Wells Fargo handles day-to-day banking
for me and my vast WOLF STREET media-mogul-empire corporation. The people are
nice, and I have not yet noticed any fraudulent accounts in my name.
It doesn’t bother me that every time I call one of the national numbers
with a problem or question, I have to swat away their offers of
“pre-approved” credit cards, lines of credit, or other
high-margin products. Having run a car dealership earlier in my life, I
appreciate the art of aggressive cross-selling. However, we never-ever
did it over the phone! We waited till we saw the whites of
their eyes.
Yet at the counter for safe deposit boxes, I was in for a surprise. The
young man – a 30-year-old employee would have looked suspiciously over-age at
that branch – checked the computer for my box number. There was a problem. He
asked for my driver’s license. He rummaged through a file cabinet, found the
signature cards. He conferred with another kid. He came back, embarrassed.
Turns out, the fact that I’ve been renting the box for a decade wasn’t in
their computer system. So no-go.
I thought: That’s how easy it is to block you from getting into
your safe deposit box.
He called over a “personal banker” – a young woman – to “fix” the problem.
We trotted off to her desk. She said the bank had “updated” its computer
system. My box rental hadn’t made it into the new version. So she got busy on
her computer. Took a while. She had to set it up. There were fees and
discounts to discuss. There were things I had to read, agree to, and sign.
She was just about finished, when she suddenly did a mini double-take of her
screen. Everything came to a halt.
“I don’t mean to sell you anything,” she said after a long pause, with an
embarrassed smile, “but….”
She could see the whites of my eyes! She turned her computer screen.
It was filled with a Wells Fargo credit card promo. You’ve been
pre-approved for this great offer, she said. “Your credit must be really
good. Not many people get this offer.”
An algorithm had decided it was time to cross-sell; and she had to
cross-sell to finish her job. That credit card promo was the next step
in the procedure.
The algo that forces employees at the branch and at call centers to
cross-sell was designed by humans, after strategic decisions had been made
and funded, under the direction of top management at headquarters, such as
current CEO Timothy Sloan and former CEO John Stumpf.
This cross-selling push is embedded in the software, is
algorithm-driven, and kicks in at the most effective moment.
Even the recent disclosures, settlements, the
keel-hauling in California and other states, and further investigations
have not motivated Wells Fargo to strip these algos out of its computer
system. They’re still there, working hard for your own good.
After she got rid of that promo page, and elegantly handled another topic
she wanted to cover, I was finally allowed to get into my safe deposit box.
The next day, I received an email from Wells Fargo and Gallup. It
asked for “feedback” on my “recent Wells Fargo visit” and offered me a chance
to win $1,000.
Now I was curious. Though I never fill out surveys, I decided to check
this out.
Up front, it asked if I spoke “to a banker about opening a NEW account or
product,” or about one of my “CURRENT Wells Fargo accounts or products.” Was
Wells Fargo trying to figure out if the “banker” did her job and pitched a
new account?
After it asked me to rate my “overall satisfaction” with the visit, it
listed a series of questions about the employee, whether they did
things right the first time, etc. etc. It never once asked about the bank,
how it screwed up with the safe deposit box.
And this: “The employee asked questions to identify options for meeting
your financial needs.” Should I check “strongly agree” to help the employee
out? She deserved it. She was nice. Clearly, the survey is checking on her to
see if she did her job and tried to sell me something I didn’t need or want.
Remember, I’d gone to the branch to get into my safe deposit box, and not
for retirement planning.
“Did you visit the branch to resolve a problem or error?” Nope. A “problem
or error” occurred after I got there.
“Did you work with an employee to establish or confirm your financial
priorities?” And “The employee provided products or services that aligned
with your current financial needs.”
Again and again, each time couched in slightly different terms, the survey
checked on the employee to see if she had been sufficiently aggressive in
cross-selling.
The fact that surveys check to see if employees did their job in
cross-selling tells me how big the pressure on them still is,
even after all the revelations.
These survey results are used to manage employees. They probably get
them rubbed in their faces during sales meetings and in performance
evaluations. They know they’re being evaluated, not only by the algo-driven
computer system at the bank, but also via customer responses, to make sure
they push new accounts, credit cards, credit lines, brokerage accounts, and
other products.
This is inbred into the bank. It’s part of its management doctrine and
computer system. It’s partnering with Gallup to accomplish this. A contract
with Gallup isn’t set up at the lower levels. And a few slaps on the wrist
aren’t going to change a whole lot. It’s not just Wells Fargo. It’s the
industry. It puts banks into the same category as car dealers. So steel
yourself when you deal with them (just like you would walking into a
dealership).
No bank is “so powerful as to be
untouchable,” explained California State Treasurer John Chiang. Read… Wells
Fargo Getting Clocked by California: What, No Perp-Walk?
