A Yen for quality: marketers in the United States can learn something about customer service from Japanese financial institutions.

• Author: Sablosky, Tanja Lian

A consulton recently was "wowed" by who he found during a tour of five banks outside Tokyo. (Feature)

Imagine a bank that had:

* Uniformed bank employees who greet you at the door.

* No teller lines--ever.

* Chairs that you can sit in while conducting business with a teller.

ON come to the world of Japanese banking--where customer service is uniformly excellent. Bank marketers from the United States can pick up service tips from are Japanese, according to Karl Steene, president of Karl M. Steene and Associates, a marketing consulting firm in Vero Beach, Fla. Until January, Steene was director of marketing at the Riverside National Bank of Florida, Fort Pierce.

Last year, Steene visited five Japanese banks on a vocational tour of Japan sponsored by the Rotary Club. The goal of Rotary Club trips is to promote friendship and understanding between citizens of different countries. Steene's trip allowed him to meet Japanese businesspeople and professionals, stay with several families, and tour banks in Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures, about an hour and a half outside Tokyo.

From their hearts

What made the service quality in these Japanese banks so remarkable? First and foremost, Steene was struck by the consistency of deeply respectful and courteous treatment. "Whether I was walking with guides or alone, I was always immediately acknowledged and welcomed. The employees greeted me with eye contact and spoke to me saying "Konichiwa" which means "welcome." Their manner was so sincere, I really felt it came from their hearts." Steene added that he saw the same heartfelt greeting extended to every customer who entered the bank.

Steene said that he has spent years working in marketing as well as in customer service and has conducted many studies on the value of service quality in improving a business. "Here in the United States we may be very successful in the classroom teaching our employees what to say and how to behave. They may score 90 to 100 percent on the tests, but they don't consistently apply what they learn in the workplace. Here, customer service is often only in the employees' heads, not in their hearts." Steene concludes that is why customer service efforts are not as successful in the United States as they could be. "It was the Japanese bank employees' sincere desire to make the customer happy," says Steene.

Dedication to service quality means more than "going the extra mile," too. For example, Steene cautioned against asking a...