Community Bankers of Iowa Monthly Banker Update April 2014 | Page 3

In This Issue
April 2014 Webinar Lineup............ 2
From the CEO & EVP, Don Hole... 3
From the Top................................. 4
Janet Yellen to Speak at ICBA 2014
Washington Policy Summit............ 5
Fine Points.................................... 6
LOT Scholarships Deadline
Extended....................................... 7
Community Banks: Making A
.
Difference on Main Street. ............ 8
Best-of-the-Best Competition........ 8
Spring Community Banking Summits
...................................................... 9
Wrap-Up: 2014 LOT Leadership
Development Summit.................. 10
Why Webinars Make Sense for Your
Business.......................................11
TS Bank Makes Financial Literacy a
Priority.................................... 12-13
Customer Wins Trip to Sochi....... 15
Pharming Attacks........................ 16
Rural Main Street Survey....... 18-19
.
Save A Tree, Pass the Word....... 20
.
Liability, BSA/AML Violations. ..... 21
Succession Planning.............. 22-23

Community Bankers of Iowa
1603 22nd Street, Suite 102
West Des Moines, Iowa 50266
Phone: [phone]

From the CEO & EVP, Don Hole
Black Boxes and
Community Banks
I am sure you have noticed that as many companies get
larger and larger, their customer service has gotten more
and more distant, and less able to adapt to customer
needs and wants. Distant by virtue of outsourcing
internationally, so much so that often even establishing a common language to
use to communicate is difficult. One trend I have also noticed is the reality that
many large (and some not so large!) companies have such complex pricing and
delivery systems that their own “Customer Service” staff have no knowledge of
how the business rules and policies are applied and are powerless to influence
or override any of the internal machinations. These “Black Boxes” take customer
transactions in one side and produce the product out the other side without
anyone other than the programmers knowing why or how.
Case in point: My wife and I recently attended the ICBA national convention in
Honolulu and decided to spend an additional week of vacation on an adjacent
island. Last April, we bought two one way tickets from Oahu to our chosen island
for $66 each. Once on Oahu, we decided we could actually travel to the other
island a day earlier. On to the airlines website we went, finding a function that
would allow us to change our flights as desired. The disclosure said that there
would be a $30 change fee plus any change in the fare. OK, proceed. The next
screen showed the various flight times available and the fare for each different
flight. Happily, the flight time we wanted was showing on the screen for $62.
Perfect, I logically deduced that we would be charged $30 for changing, minus
$4. Select that flight, click on ‘continue’. The next screen displayed the $30
change fee PLUS A FARE INCREASE of $21.53 or a total of $51.53. Where did
that come from? I wondered, so I called their customer service number. After
explaining the situation, the agent told me I would have to talk to web support.
Fine. Web support listened carefully and then attempted to recreate my scenario
on their screen. Guess What! The fair difference rose to $23.68. I patiently asked
why the $62 fare that was displayed was not available to me. I was told that it
must have sold out. Reasonable explanation. Except for the fact that I had tried
this change 3 times over a 4 hour period prior to calling with the same result. I
thanked the rep,