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Uses personal telephone interviews, and researches the literature to show how banks change themselves to cope with changes in the marketplace. Focuses especially on high‐performing institutions and on what makes them different. Finds all three banks chosen for study share the same common elements of service excellence.

Like it or not, change is inevitable if you are to survive. Far better to instigate change than allow other people to inflict it on you. To anticipate the future has to be good to allow time to implement change rather than having to react to it. This appears quite simple, but is it? This special themed issue of Management Decision contains a number of examples of how organizations have managed change. Lessons can be learned from other industries than your own with regard to best practice and basic principles which can then be applied to your own organization..

Three years out of a recession corporate strategy has undergone a decisive shift in emphasis from cost reduction to sales growth. Companies are looking hard at the structure of their marketing departments in search of better performance. Three models are apparent. First, there is pure marketing; McVities is trying to gain leverage by concentrating on the essentials. Second, immediate marketing; American Express (Amex) has decentralized its operations and is improving its market segmentation. Finally, introductory marketing; companies such as Allied Leisure are looking to start again from scratch

To underestimate service quality is like saying goodbye to some of your hard‐earned profits. Even after revamping and upgrading products, many organizations continue to experience decline because they forget that people want to feel good. The feel‐good factor is espoused by politicians throughout the world to nurture votes. The fact that people want to feel good is often overlooked and ignores Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. How many times have you bought a product only to find there is a fault and the product needs replacing? This is normally something which is very irritating, but not ulcer‐inducing enough to get worked up about until, that is, the customer service department treats you as though it is your fault.

How many times have you been in a bank, shop or restaurant, satisfactorily received what you wanted, only to be treated by the member of staff with utter disdain? If the answer is once only, that is once too often. People are talking about a breakdown in society in terms of morals but all I am talking about are a few good manners. It has never harmed anyone to say please or a thank you, yet it is surprising how many people who are working at the customer interface of a business often find difficulty with this simple task. It is sometimes not what they have said, but the way in which they have said it, and ultimately whether or not they will go back again. Tone of voice is most important to show that a person means what they are saying.