Resolving customer problems in a post-Regulation E world.

• Position: MARKETING NEWS

DESPITE YOUR BEST EFFORTS TO EDUCATE CUSTOMERS about changes to Regulation E, you are bound to receive some customer complaints. One area worth focusing on is post-Regulation E problem resolution, according to Sherri May of Sherri May & Co., a marketing and creative services agency in Phoenix.

For example, imagine that the bank receives the following complaint: "You declined my card and embarrassed me in front of my boss when I tried to pay for lunch!" Veteran bankers have learned to not take this as personally as it sounds, but it may become a regular reality in the post-Regulation E world.

May says your bank needs to address the following questions: Do your employees know exactly what your process is to assess, resolve and turn these situations into positive ones? Do you have consistent accommodation parameters in place and do all contact staff know what they are? Is there a specific hierarchy in place for problem resolution?

J.D. Power & Associates reported in its 2009 Retail Banking Study that "problem incidence directly impacts overall satisfaction and the faster a problem is resolved, the higher the satisfaction level stays. The powder-keg nature of point-of-sale declines means it's important to develop a focused resolution plan to deal with Regulation E issues, suggests May. "It should be simple, consistent and customer-centric," she says. She recommends the following actions:

* Establish specific parameters around any consumer accommodation process. For example, if the average balance is X or higher, account tenure more than X years and so forth, what accommodations can be made.

* Think outside the box when it comes to consumer accommodations. For example, in what situations will you allow phone...