怎样把顾客变成粉丝

    客户想开个账户都得先预约，这一点让希尔很震惊。英国银行业甚至都不提供美国常见的保险柜，但其实这里蕴藏着巨大财富。英国人必须在五金商店购买自己的保险柜，然后带到银行。午饭前后银行就会关门，基本上已经成为伦敦的传统，而这正是人们想趁午休时间光顾的时候。

    用《是粉丝，不是顾客》里面的术语解释，“竞争者规则和惯例”的定义是“让其他银行的客户疯狂的东西”。它的缩写很好记，就是CRAP。

    对于希尔而言，银行的吸引力在于“这是政府授权，可低价借入资金”。因此，目标应是增长这些廉价的存款。他的策略与传统做法正好相反：不提供最低利率，不打价格战，不努力推介信用卡或其他产品，但如果你提供出色的服务，客户会想获得这些东西。

    一切都关乎杰出的客户服务，用一些细微的事情把人们与品牌联系在一起。Metro免费提供Magic Money Machine，客户可以这款类似于投币式自动点唱机的机器数零钱。带狗进银行也受到欢迎。有些分支机构甚至还举办了“收养小动物”活动，参加活动的英国人可以把西班牙猎狗或威尔士矮脚狗带回家。孩子们则获得了涂色本和棒棒糖。如果客户在生日当天开户，银行员工们会聚集在他/她周围唱生日快乐歌。员工的一些好人好事也广为传诵：有人从下水道检修孔里找回了客户的钥匙，顾客在某家分行丢了钱包，当天晚上去酒吧的时候就已经物归原主。

    希尔特别注重品牌的两大关键支柱：设计和培训。承袭史蒂夫•乔布斯（他非常推崇乔布斯）的传统，他相信艺术对业务有益，对品牌建设至关重要。重金投资设计是Metro文化的基础。所有的分行都有高高的天花板，明亮的照明，而且没有台阶，英国人可以把自行车直接停在柜台边。银行柜员与客户之间也没有有机玻璃隔板。每家分行都装饰着巨幅壁画，展现的是所在街区19世纪或20世纪初的照片。

    至于培训，希尔采用“微笑选拔”的方式。如果应聘者不能在面试的最初两分钟内至少微笑一次，肯定没戏。

    我们第一次相遇时，他大谈特谈的宠物保险业务，在这本书中专门有一章。这就是美国宠物保险计划（Petplan USA），目前是美国这个领域的最大经营者，市场占有率为5%至7%。该项业务目前每年增长50%，还有很大的增长空间。英国1/3的宠物都有保险，而美国的这个数字仅1%左右，这一点让他很意外。

    那么，如何吸引宠物保险业务的“粉丝”呢？“它是家宠物公司，而不是一家保险公司，”希尔说。这再一次归结于客户服务。挑选员工不是看他们对保险费率熟悉不熟悉，而是看他们对动物的爱有多少。希尔说：“所有的员工首先都必须喜爱宠物。”应聘者在面试中会被问到，他们的宠物得病时，他们是什么感受。很难想象情感是保险领域通往成功的钥匙，但希尔坚持这么认为。宠物保险计划甚至植树来纪念过世的狗狗。

    Hill marvels that customers who want to open an account must make an appointment. Nor do British banks even provide the U.S. staple of safety-deposit boxes, those picturesque giant vaults. The Brits have to buy their own boxes at hardware stores, and bring them to the branch. Closing around noon, just when folks want to visit a branch on their lunch break, is practically a London tradition.

    In FANS Not Customers' glossary, hill includes an entry called Competitors' Rules and Practices, defined as "stuff that drives customers at other banks crazy." The memorable acronym in "CRAP."

    For Hill, the appeal of banking is that "it's a government license to borrow money cheaply." Hence, the goal should be to grow those cheap deposits. His strategy is precisely the opposite of the traditional approach: Don't offer the lowest rates, don't compete on price, don't push credit cards and other products, though customers will want them if you treat them right.

    It's all about fabulous customer service, about doing the little things that bind people to a brand. Metro provides Magic Money Machines resembling jukeboxes that count coins at no charge. Dogs are welcome. Branches even hold "adopt-a-thons" where Brits can take home a spaniel or corgi. Kids are handed coloring books and lollipops. When a customer opens an account on his birthday, employees gather around to sing "Happy Birthday." Employees have been known to recover a customer's keys from a manhole and return a wallet lost in the branch to its owner in a pub the same evening.

    Hill is especially vigilant on guarding two crucial pillars of the brand -- design and training. In the tradition of Steve Jobs, whom he greatly admired, he reasons artistry is good for business, and critical in building a brand. Splurging on design is fundamental to the Metro culture. The branches all feature high ceilings, bright lighting, and no steps so Brits can park their bikes right next to a desk. Plexiglas partitions between teller and customer don't exist. Adorning every branch is a giant mural, taken from an old photo, showing the neighborhood as it looked in the 19th or early 20th century.

    As for training, Hill uses what he calls the "smile trial." If a candidate doesn't grin at least once in the first two minutes of an interview, they won't get a job.

    Hill devotes a chapter to pet insurance business he touted when we first met. It's Petplan USA, now the largest player in the US. with a market share of between 5% and 7%. The business is now growing at 50% a year, with plenty of room to expand. He marvels that one-third of all pets are insured in Britain, compared to around 1% in America.

    So how do you attract "fans" to pet insurance? "This is a pet company not an insurance company," says Hill. Once again, it comes down to customer service. Employees aren't chosen for their mastery of rate schedules, but their love of animals. "All employees must be pet lovers first," says Hill. In interviews, candidates are grilled on they feel when their own pets get sick. It's hard to imagine an insurance field where appealing to emotions is the ticket to success, but Hill insists this is it. Petplan even plants a tree to commemorate canines that pass away.