6 ms·

Bank Simple actually personalise their email

61 points by ErrantX 16y ago

logic 16y ago
I received the same invitation email, but the text you highlighted is missing from mine. Apparently, I'm just not that interesting. ;-) (Also, just FYI: I was prompted to log in, which then errored out, when I tried to leave this as a comment on your blog.)
- ErrantX 16y ago
  Are you easily linked to your email addy? I guess in part that actually shows it's a human thing. Re the blog Yeh that's an ongoing problem I need to fix. Swapped host and loads of problems cropped up. Thanks for the reminder :-)
lukeqsee 16y ago
I, as a member of a small startup that will use banks intrinsically in our everyday agenda, have had multiple email conversations with them. They are real people, ready and willing to discuss how they can help you with life/business/whatever. Kudos. You will be my bank.
ihodes 16y ago
As I've said before, I cannot wait for their beta to begin. They took the time to extensively reply to both of my emails asking them questions and even suggesting a few things. Who knows how sustainable this is, but boy are they hooking users for life; that is, if their product lives up to their service. Please, let them release soon!
inerte 16y ago
If you're a worthy customer (id: rich), lots of banks go personal with you. Specially on customer acquisition. I earn monthly a good salary for brazilian standards (I'm not riiich, but well above average) and when I was researching a bank to open an account to receive the salary from my current employer, one of the bank's branch manager actually said he wanted to meet with me on my own home, and he would bring bread and coffe. When someone "actually personalise" an email it just means they thought the time spent doing this will be paid when the sale is closed. In this particular situation, it just means Bank Simple reeeally wants the author as a customer. Now I don't know if the author is rich, or well connected or popular (well, his article is featured here) but it's not that complicated. It's not magic, good will or anything like that. It's incredible what excite some "geeks" (yes, you, HN reader). Ooooh a personalized email from a bank. Gee... It just meant someone ran the numbers and this might offer a nice ROI.
- mcknz 16y ago
  Certainly the personalization is not out of pure altruism, but speaking for myself, after having been pummeled for years with clearly impersonal solicitations for various financial services (some more dubious than others), with one credit card offer after another, one could be forgiven for seeing a personal note as some kind of minor miracle.
  - fexl 16y ago
    True ... and the last thing I want is altruism. I want good service, and I want to pay for it. Personal touches like this are very promising. It makes me think that if I had a problem or question, they would very competently "pull my file" and resolve it.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
  - inerte 16y ago
    obs: the comment I replied to was deleted :( I might be unkind, but I'm definitely not wrong. Do you believe any company would, on purpose, do something that will make them lose money? (either on the short or long term) It's unusual because the vast mass of people's wallets are not worth the effort. Heck, poor scammers from Nigeria have this one figured out. "Dear Sir/Madam"... I didn't mean to say it's something "not cool". It's just mundane. You got a personalized email because someone in their customer acquisition thought it was worth. Happens all the time.
    - ErrantX 16y ago
      > You got a personalized email because someone in their customer acquisition thought it was worth. Happens all the time. Ok, I dislike talking about this but I am actually (and in a way Bank Simple could not know) worth a fair amount. The companies that do know about this insist on inundating me with "personalised" crap. Im yet to recieve anything as personal as this email - and that is what impressed me. There is at least 5 minutes of effort put into this email. I think you are being slightly unkind (though I take your point); because they have these interns and, from the responses I got, it appears their job is "take email X, google for email X, find something interesting to talk about, add that to email (or if not found just send mail)". There is no way I could appear as anything more than a normally interested punter to them - hence the kudos. I do honestly challenge you to find a company that makes the same effort for their main customer base.
kacy 16y ago
Wow, I went back and read my email, and I completely missed the personalized part in mine. I thought it was just a generated email (sorry Bank Simple!). "Meanwhile, we'd love to hear about your banking experience and what you're looking for in a bank. Given your experience, I'd also love to chat about development." I'm a developer. That's pretty damn cool. It's so small, but it means so much to me now. You will be my bank. I can't promise a lot of cash in my savings account, but I can promise loyalty. Thanks guys!
duck 16y ago
I would love to hear more about how you started _you_ own social networking site and be updated on its progress. I read somewhere that it is good to misspell words so it makes it look like a non-form letter. Not sure if I agree with that... but they seemed to have used that strategy even though it wasn't a form letter.
rmah 16y ago
First, I don't mean to sound overly negative and only wish the best for Bank Simple. But really, haven't any of you guys ever dealt with the private banking groups of consumer banks? They'll give you a rep, will bend over backwards for you, and generally kiss your ass. Bank Simple will not be able to deliver this sort of personalized attention if they succeed in getting a large number of customers. Personal attention is expensive. Run the numbers and you will see why it's simply not possible for 99% of customers.
jarin 16y ago
Every time I go to the business teller window at Wells Fargo, they ask me things like "How's the iPhone development business going?" I know they're just reading it off of the screen, but it still makes me feel like a baller.
hiroprot 16y ago
I received the same email, and didn't even notice the personalized language. After reviewing it now though, it says: Even if you don't want to talk about banking matters, I'd love to hear more about your own start up. (I'm sure that from that you also have some great suggestions for us!)
mattmaroon 16y ago
I got an email from them that was pretty much the same, minus the personalization.
known 16y ago
There is a paperless mGovernance initiative by a bank in India. Just SMS unhappy http://www.eindia.net.in/2010/awards/details/eGov-mGov-G2B-Details.asp?PNo=27 http://www.eindia.net.in/2010/awards/details/eGov-mGov-G2B-D...
dzlobin 16y ago
They not only send personal e-mails, but go far and beyond. I had coffee with one of the co-founders for no reason other than for them to get to know their clientèle

61 points by ErrantX 16y ago

logic 16y ago

I received the same invitation email, but the text you highlighted is missing from mine. Apparently, I'm just not that interesting. ;-) (Also, just FYI: I was prompted to log in, which then errored out, when I tried to leave this as a comment on your blog.)

ErrantX 16y ago
Are you easily linked to your email addy? I guess in part that actually shows it's a human thing. Re the blog Yeh that's an ongoing problem I need to fix. Swapped host and loads of problems cropped up. Thanks for the reminder :-)

lukeqsee 16y ago

I, as a member of a small startup that will use banks intrinsically in our everyday agenda, have had multiple email conversations with them. They are real people, ready and willing to discuss how they can help you with life/business/whatever. Kudos. You will be my bank.

ihodes 16y ago

As I've said before, I cannot wait for their beta to begin. They took the time to extensively reply to both of my emails asking them questions and even suggesting a few things. Who knows how sustainable this is, but boy are they hooking users for life; that is, if their product lives up to their service. Please, let them release soon!

inerte 16y ago

If you're a worthy customer (id: rich), lots of banks go personal with you. Specially on customer acquisition. I earn monthly a good salary for brazilian standards (I'm not riiich, but well above average) and when I was researching a bank to open an account to receive the salary from my current employer, one of the bank's branch manager actually said he wanted to meet with me on my own home, and he would bring bread and coffe. When someone "actually personalise" an email it just means they thought the time spent doing this will be paid when the sale is closed. In this particular situation, it just means Bank Simple reeeally wants the author as a customer. Now I don't know if the author is rich, or well connected or popular (well, his article is featured here) but it's not that complicated. It's not magic, good will or anything like that. It's incredible what excite some "geeks" (yes, you, HN reader). Ooooh a personalized email from a bank. Gee... It just meant someone ran the numbers and this might offer a nice ROI.

mcknz 16y ago
Certainly the personalization is not out of pure altruism, but speaking for myself, after having been pummeled for years with clearly impersonal solicitations for various financial services (some more dubious than others), with one credit card offer after another, one could be forgiven for seeing a personal note as some kind of minor miracle.
- fexl 16y ago
  True ... and the last thing I want is altruism. I want good service, and I want to pay for it. Personal touches like this are very promising. It makes me think that if I had a problem or question, they would very competently "pull my file" and resolve it.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- inerte 16y ago
  obs: the comment I replied to was deleted :( I might be unkind, but I'm definitely not wrong. Do you believe any company would, on purpose, do something that will make them lose money? (either on the short or long term) It's unusual because the vast mass of people's wallets are not worth the effort. Heck, poor scammers from Nigeria have this one figured out. "Dear Sir/Madam"... I didn't mean to say it's something "not cool". It's just mundane. You got a personalized email because someone in their customer acquisition thought it was worth. Happens all the time.
  - ErrantX 16y ago
    > You got a personalized email because someone in their customer acquisition thought it was worth. Happens all the time. Ok, I dislike talking about this but I am actually (and in a way Bank Simple could not know) worth a fair amount. The companies that do know about this insist on inundating me with "personalised" crap. Im yet to recieve anything as personal as this email - and that is what impressed me. There is at least 5 minutes of effort put into this email. I think you are being slightly unkind (though I take your point); because they have these interns and, from the responses I got, it appears their job is "take email X, google for email X, find something interesting to talk about, add that to email (or if not found just send mail)". There is no way I could appear as anything more than a normally interested punter to them - hence the kudos. I do honestly challenge you to find a company that makes the same effort for their main customer base.

kacy 16y ago

Wow, I went back and read my email, and I completely missed the personalized part in mine. I thought it was just a generated email (sorry Bank Simple!). "Meanwhile, we'd love to hear about your banking experience and what you're looking for in a bank. Given your experience, I'd also love to chat about development." I'm a developer. That's pretty damn cool. It's so small, but it means so much to me now. You will be my bank. I can't promise a lot of cash in my savings account, but I can promise loyalty. Thanks guys!

duck 16y ago

I would love to hear more about how you started _you_ own social networking site and be updated on its progress. I read somewhere that it is good to misspell words so it makes it look like a non-form letter. Not sure if I agree with that... but they seemed to have used that strategy even though it wasn't a form letter.

rmah 16y ago

First, I don't mean to sound overly negative and only wish the best for Bank Simple. But really, haven't any of you guys ever dealt with the private banking groups of consumer banks? They'll give you a rep, will bend over backwards for you, and generally kiss your ass. Bank Simple will not be able to deliver this sort of personalized attention if they succeed in getting a large number of customers. Personal attention is expensive. Run the numbers and you will see why it's simply not possible for 99% of customers.

jarin 16y ago

Every time I go to the business teller window at Wells Fargo, they ask me things like "How's the iPhone development business going?" I know they're just reading it off of the screen, but it still makes me feel like a baller.

hiroprot 16y ago

I received the same email, and didn't even notice the personalized language. After reviewing it now though, it says: Even if you don't want to talk about banking matters, I'd love to hear more about your own start up. (I'm sure that from that you also have some great suggestions for us!)

mattmaroon 16y ago

I got an email from them that was pretty much the same, minus the personalization.

known 16y ago

There is a paperless mGovernance initiative by a bank in India. Just SMS unhappy http://www.eindia.net.in/2010/awards/details/eGov-mGov-G2B-Details.asp?PNo=27 http://www.eindia.net.in/2010/awards/details/eGov-mGov-G2B-D...

dzlobin 16y ago

They not only send personal e-mails, but go far and beyond. I had coffee with one of the co-founders for no reason other than for them to get to know their clientèle