It’s in the details really.

The little things you do in your business that are inconsistent with the overall brand’s identity.  The signals a brand sends out that hint at a tinge of schizophrenia.  They make your customer uncomfortable.  So they hightail it out of there.

Take my recent experience for instance.

I was frustrated and annoyed.

I needed to know if my replacement ATM card was ready for collection and all that stood in the way was the number to call.  I didn’t know it.

And then it came to me.

Genius!

My bank statement was in my bag!  I took it out, tore it open and sighed in relief.  Not only was there a statement in the envelope, there was also a flier announcing a reduction in the RTGS fee.  The latter of course mattered little to me so I perused the printout looking for the bank’s contact details.

There were none.

What about the flier?

Nothing.

How could this be?  That a brand with a continental presence would send me communication without a single bit of contact information.

At the very least, for a bank that is pushing its Internet banking service, there should have been a URL to the company website.

There was none.

It may be small detail but it mattered a great deal to me.  And still does.  That my bank seems to be conflicted about communicating with me worries me a bit.

I might be changing banks.

Any ideas?