Fans Not Customers: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World

140 Pages·2012·0.75 MB·English

by  Vernon Hill

FANS Not Customers
VERNON W. HILL II is the founder of Metro Bank UK and Commerce Bancorp.
Hill founded Commerce in 1973; it became the fastest growing bank in the US
before being sold in 2007 for $8.5 billion. He is a noted critic of traditional
banking customer service, considering himself a retailer first and banker second.
Hill is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He
divides his time between the UK and the USA.
BOB ANDELMAN is a professional author. He has co-written many business books,
including Built from Scratch, the story of Home Depot.
TOM PETERS was described by The Economist as the “uberguru” of business. He
is the author or co-author of many international bestsellers on business and
management, most notably In Search of Excellence and including Re-imagine!
Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age.
FANS Not Customers
How to Create Growth
in a No Growth World
VERNON HILL
with Bob Andelman
First published in Great Britain in 2012 by
Profile Books Ltd
3A Exmouth House
Pine Street
Exmouth Market
London EC1R 0JH
www.profilebooks.com
Copyright © Vernon Hill, 2012
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Typeset in Minion by MacGuru Ltd
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Clays, Bungay Suffolk The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
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part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
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both
the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 78125 110 2
e-ISBN 978 1 84765 956 9
The paper this book is printed on is certified by the © 1996 Forest Stewardship
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SGS-COC-2061

What People Are Saying About Vernon Hill
“Vernon reinvented American retail banking. His focus on service created a true
growth retailer. No one else has grown an American bank internally at 25
percent per year for 30-plus years. No one.
“I think Shirley, Vernon’s wife, was the secret weapon of Commerce Bank
and is exactly that now at Metro Bank. She is the keeper of the brand, produces
design as a competitive weapon, and enforces the culture.”
Tom Brown, founder, BankStocks.com
“Vernon told me that the whole point of the company is that it’s a symphony.
The performance works because everything works in concert and so, if you don’t
buy it in its entirety, you can’t ever get it to work for you. Vernon’s competition
over the years simply refused to learn from Commerce Bank.”
William C. Taylor, author, Mavericks At Work
“I was at the opening of the first branch of Metro Bank in London. It was
incredible. Incredible! It’s Commerce—and even better!”
Meredith Whitney, founder, Meredith Whitney
Advisory Group LLC
To our loyal team members, investors and customers.
To my partners, John Silvestri, Steve Lewis, John Scardapane,
Chris and Natasha Ashton, Gary Nalbandian, and Craig
Donaldson for their dedication, loyalty and support.
And to my beloved wife and life partner Shirley, with whom I
have shared an incredibly rewarding life’s journey, memorable
travels, vision of the future and success at work and at home.
Contents
Foreword
Tom Peters
Welcome!
Introduction: Start-ups and Upstarts
Part 1 Two Banks, Two Continents: A World of Lessons
1 Metro: A New Bank for a New Century
2 Commerce Bank: Early Days, Winning Ways
Part 2 Marketing is Everything
3 Fans Not Customers
4 Putting the “Grand” in Grand Openings
5 The New Math
6 Love Your Bank At Last!
7 Surprise and Delight!
8 Dogs Rule and Kids Rock!
Part 3 Culture Counts
9 Five Ways to Amaze
10 Culture Counts
11 Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill
12 Hope Is Not a Plan
13 Design as a Competitive Weapon
14 No Stupid Rules
15 Petplan: Insurance for Our Four-Legged Friends
16 Closing Words from a Man Who Never Closes Shop
What they say about Vernon Hill
Tom Brown: founder, BankStocks.com
Meredith Whitney: founder, Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC
William C. Taylor: co-founder, Fast Company magazine, and author,
Mavericks At Work
Appendix: Lingo
Index