John Stumpf



Share of Wallet.





What I learned from John Stumpf:

The key indicator to Customer Satisfaction is the Share of Wallet you are getting from each customer in your portfolio.

I pitched John Stumpf a number of years ago on my way to the head honcho Dick Kovacevich - Chairman of Wells Fargo Bank. As is often the case in working large corporate deals the labyrinth or decision tree meant getting a yes from a whole lot of people in the chain, on your stuff, before the dollars actually happened.

My product was information - essentially which banks products and services were being used by which customers and the satisfaction levels they had with those products and services.

We identified the customers that were unhappy with each product or service and those that were very satisfied with each product and service. Which institution the customer was currently using for those services. What revenue and credit levels the customer had available, and how long they have been using them. We had data on whether they were considering raising or changing levels and providers and why. This is very high value, actionable, intelligence for banks and financial service providers as you can imagine.

John was an executive vice president at the time and a rising star by all accounts. A Minnesota farm boy who you could tell from the first meeting was going straight to the top.(He is now President of Wells Fargo). John is one of the few chief banking executives who escaped relatively unscathed from the recent sub prime mess. He made his bones with the old Norwest Group and was responsible for billions of dollars in acquisitions with over thirty Texas banks and the 23 billion dollar First Security Corporation acquisition.

Yep he punches above his weight. Dick says of him "I believe there is no leader anywhere better equipped to lead Wells Fargo and achieving double digit growth" I found I learned more about customer retention and churn in the conversation with him than in any communication I have had in business before or since.

Share of wallet was the mantra - get the customer to use more of your product and services through a comprehensive customer satisfaction focus. Make sure everyone in your company knows the focus. This single minded focus will provide double digit growth and double digit revenue per share increases for Wells Fargo Bank.

When I spoke, eventually, to Dick Kovacevich the message was identical. It was pretty impressive to see layers and layers of the internal hierarchy focused on a straightforward and cohesive goal.

Increase customer share of wallet by providing more and better services than they are getting elsewhere and provide it under one roof.

Share of Wallet.


That's what I learned from John Stumpf.

Learn more about John Stumpf.

John Stumpf - Wells Fargo biography


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