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| What should the banks do?; What would you advise them? | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 13 2009, 12:14 PM (924 Views) | |
| Kenya Huron | Feb 13 2009, 12:14 PM Post #1 |
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If you were the crisis management consultant or the head of their PR department, what would you be advising the US banks and other financial institutions to be doing (saying) these days? So far, it seems they are hopelessly lost with a void of ideas of how to approach this financial crisis. |
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| Steve Wilson | Feb 14 2009, 04:43 PM Post #2 |
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I was in Atlanta this past week and talking with the CEO of a local company about the banking crisis and why bank CEOs seem to be having so much trouble in getting any positive message out to the public. His response was that they are so far removed from the average person that even when they try to put themselves on the same level, they're still light years away from them. The problem, he said, is that from their own perspective they don't think there's anything wrong with what they're doing...and saying. I think he may have been right in his analysis and there may lie the problem. They seem to be caught up so deep in their own world and surrounded by people who are just like them that they can no longer see the world the way most Americans do. So what should they do? For starters, get a reality check. If you're going to ask for billions of dollars in government handouts, the public would like to see some sort of sacrifices on the banks' part. I have a friend who is the founder and president of a growing and profitable community bank. I think if I were advising the big banks these days, I'd have their CEOs sit down and talk with him. He doesn't have a huge office or a salary measured in the millions. He sticks to basics. He can communicate with real people. My guess is that his colleagues with the troubled banks seeking government handouts could learn a great deal from him. I also think if they operated their banks like he operates his bank, we'd probably have never gotten into this crisis. The bottom line is that the CEOs of the troubled banks and their PR advisers need to take a few steps outside their offices and perhaps see themselves the way the rest of the world sees them. Once they get a clear picture of how people view them and what people think of them, I don't think it would take an expert in crisis communications to advise them what they would need to do next. |
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| Alton Lagan | Feb 15 2009, 07:16 PM Post #3 |
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I think the problem here is that only crises can be managed. More and more this is beginning to resemble a disaster. I have to wonder that the PR departments for the banks may be giving good advice, but senior management is just choosing to ignore it. Whenever, in the mist of a crisis, senior management ignores the advice of its public relations staff, consultants, and even common sense -- that is a communications disaster. Perhaps someday, after the disaster has passed, the PR departments will begin the slow and tedious process of disaster recovery for the reputations of these institutions. I can't say for sure, but that is what appears to be happening. All I do know is that even someone with a PR degree from the University of Phoenix would know better than to take out a full page, national ad to whine before the American people. |
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| Esh | Feb 16 2009, 12:58 PM Post #4 |
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If I were advising the CEO of one of these banks, I'd ask him to repeat after me: "I hereby tender my resignation as CEO of this bank and I will voluntarily give back those millions of dollars in bonuses I received last year, but obviously do not deserve. Of course, I will not accept any type of golden parachute as I leave this bank in personal disgrace." At least it's a start. |
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| Kenya Huron | Nov 25 2009, 02:21 PM Post #5 |
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JPMorgan Chase Chairman Jamie Dimon, whose bank has escaped much of the wrath of the banking crisis, told a group this week that dishonest home buyers share some of the blame for skyrocketing foreclosure rates. He told a Columbus, Ohio audience that 20-30 percent of mortgages were fraudulent with people lying about their income or about living in the homes they were purchasing. He said the government is just starting to discover what his bank already knows: a lot of people want something they don't deserve. You have to admit that some alarms ought to have been going off when a couple with a combined income of say $50,000, were told they were qualified to buy a $500,000 home. The banks were stupid for giving out the loans, but I believe Dimon is right that the homeowners should have known they couldn't afford the loans to begin with. Beyond that, if they actually lied about their income, they have no excuse and deserve no one's sympathy. |
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10:38 PM Feb 4