By Frank J. Diekmann
For most of their lives the words “tipping point” were linked only in the field of epidemiology, where they referred the point at which an infectious disease reaches a point beyond any local ability to control it from spreading, and in the field (literally) of manual labor, where operators of wheelbarrows develop an unspoken knowledge of exactly where the tipping point lies.
But “tipping point” exploded in the business vernacular in 2000 with the publication of the book by Malcolm Gladwell, “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.” Suddenly the words were everywhere, and at every conference you could count on at least one expert/analyst to dutifully refer to some new point at which the markets and competition and consumers had forever tipped in a new way.
In all these cases, it was all the “moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point,” as Gladwell had defined it.
If you find yourself leaning in a slightly different direction this week it’s because we’ve passed another of those tipping points. In this case, as CUToday.info reports here, it’s new data from Javelin Strategy & Research that suggests the number of mobile bankers has surpassed the number of weekly branch bankers.
Javelin is using different terminology, calling the shift a “crossover point,” but the end result is the same. Mobile banking is no longer an ancillary service; it is the credit union to many people and that brings with it numerous implications. One of those implications, by the way, is not the end of the branch.
You will want to use the link above to read what the study has found out about the demographics of these mobile users and what that want, as Javelin noted in its analysis, “Capturing these consumers’ demands will involve rethinking customers’ mobile experiences from start to finish.”
In other words, to get them to tip toward your credit union, not toward another provider.
Other Items From The Notebook
Malcolm Gladwell has risen to fame by being an insightful social anthropologist. Another who is less well-known but who had some keen insights of his own was Greg McKeown, who has dedicated himself to “essentialism,” which you can read more about here.
McKeown drew a strong round of applause at the recent PSCU MoPRO meeting when he observed, “We are told that e-mail is a productivity tool. But what is first thing we do when we want to be productive? We turn our email device off….Every time you check email you are surrendering your agenda to someone else.”
While many in the audience showed appreciation for the sentiment, not sure how many noticed the irony, as they were too busy to look up from their own screens and devices to notice how many people in the audience were doing the same thing.
Finally, McKeown also got some laughs later when observing that a great way to become more effective is to “retire” in the role you currently hold in order to take a longer, deeper view of the picture. He then added, “That a little different than ‘Quit. Stay. Don’t tell anybody.”
Quick Skating
Whatever became of the Olympic gold medal won by Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 hockey team immortalized as the “miracle on ice?”
“It’s in a bank vault,” said Eruzione in remarks before CSCU’s Solutions Conference, before remembering his audience and adding, “Right next to the credit union I go to.”
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief at CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info.