Service from a financial institution

1. Identify a product and/or service that you use from your financial institution (e.g., credit card, savings account, checking account, student loan, etc.) and describe the characteristics/benefits of the product/service.

I consider that one of the most important services from an institution such as MSUFCU is the ATM service, the ability to withdraw cash in an easy and convenient way has a high importance to me when I have to decide whether I should open or not a bank account in that bank.

The three main characteristics I consider are:

- Convenience

- No charge

- Easy process

2. How would you rate the financial service provider’s service?

I usually rate the service under two main buckets:

- Quality of the service: ATM on service when I need them, accuracy of the service, and simplicity of the process.

- Location: whereas this is not on top of my mind, it becomes important when you travel or move from city, because in those circumstances are when you need the service and you may be under a lot of stress to get one.

3. What is your level of customer satisfaction and why?

Specifically with MSUFCU I am happy. I usually find a good service level, and convenience in Campus. I consider that I am not Extremely Happy with the service is because when I was living at Chicago I had almost 0 options to withdraw cash -with no cost- and I found the process at the ATM repetitive for the task - what I mean with this is that I have to press many options before getting my money.

4. Where do you think customer service / satisfaction fits in your financial service provider’s overall strategy? Why?

-I think that in this case is a very important part, there is a captive audience at MSU, however if we are not satisfied we all have other options that ourselves or our parents may have. These other options may not be as convenient as MSUFCU, however I consider that any problem with my money is not worth a second chance.

I also think that MSUFCU should consider the after-MSU life cycle of the customers, there are some services from MSUFCU that still may be valuable such as loans, money insurance, etc.

salesforce.com (3)

Look at Michael Porter's Generic Strategies (http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml)

1. Salesforce.com is a has a Focus Strategy at low cost. The evidence is the type of users that they have acquired, the online access allows them to reach more companies by offering an easy-to-use, low cost product, while focusing only on the CRM and sales tools for the business.

2. Oracle uses a Differentiation Strategy, by offering a highly customized service that offers a wide range of solutions under one service umbrella. SAS may be considered a Cost Leadership Strategy, because they look to leverage their analytic capabilities across a different number of industries with different business solutions.

3. Salesforce is very well positioned because they have the first mover advantage, and they have created a series of solutions around their primary business that increase the barriers to entry of possible competitors with a similar business model. Right now they are facing the transition of companies such as SAP and SAS to the cloud computing, where they could represent a credible threat if their services are successful in matching their traditional software with the cloud computing solutions they have.

salesforce.com (2)

1. Salesforce.com is located in the Service Process Matrix in the Service Shop box, though it offers something that can be considered a Standard Package with its online service, one of the main advantages it has is the fact that each customer can create/download applications for it, and also the service is scalable to the needs of each customer.
2. We can see other CRM products/services from companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAS. Microsoft Dynamics CRM may be considered a service factory with its "one size fits all" approach, where it is sold more as a software than as a service. On the other hand Oracle and SAS (Professional Service) develop specific projects for the companies they work with, most of the times the CRM is embedded in ERP applications that take a long time to customize or develop for the specific needs of each customer. The main advantage of companies such as SAS or Oracle are that they can create a whole business solution for the company, where they can connect all the different units of the company under a singles system and database.

salesforce.com

www.salesforce.com

1. I selected Salesforce.com, a company that emerged in the CRM world as an innovative solution - and that pretty much was one of the first companies to capitalize the Cloud Computing and SaS concepts.

The main idea is if I need a CRM, I go online to salesforce.com and get pay for the number of users I have - no need to buy a software suite or hire expensive customized systems. I can choose between different applications for my service, such as customized reports, dashboards, sales tools, etc., furthermore if I develop an App of my own I can upload it to the App pool.

2a. Salesforce.com is a CRM that needs no software, you can use it online on a demand basis. This is a huge advantage for small companies or groups that require a CRM, but can not afford to pay for the expensive softwares from Oracle, SAS, etc.

2b. Service qualifiers in the CRM world are the ability to use a single database for storing your customers/prospects information, also the capability of tracking these customers.

2c.Service may be lost if the CRM does not work properly, is too complicated to use, and even more if the company's information is in danger.