Whose opinion do you value? At a time when people boast of having thousands of friends on Facebook or on other social media sites, who are the people you really trust? Can you have a relationship with someone you've never met? Undoubtedly times have changed and with changes in technology so has the nature of many of our relationships. Rather than a look across a crowded room, how many people now meet their life partner via the Internet? The whole nature of introductions and communication has changed and with it the way many of us interact with friends. There was a time that when many of us left school or moved away from our home town it frequently spelled the end of childhood friendships. We always said we'd keep in touch but after a while, the effort of doing so meant many such friendships lapsed and it became a case of 'out of sight out of mind'.
Now, of course, there is no reason for any of us to lose touch with friends. Over the past couple of months alone I have received communications from friends and ex-colleagues I last met face to face many years ago and for this generation there is no excuse for a breakdown or gap in communications.
So what are the relationships we really value? Are they the ones where we see people on a regular basis, are they those that have stood the test of time, where we know that though we haven't spoken for a while the person is always there for us when we need them and has always 'got our back'? Of course, there are different ways we can reach out to them now. Letters may be out of fashion but there is still the phone (wherever they are), skype, voice messaging, email or text. When I was young one of the songs that left a mark on me was Carole King's haunting rendition of 'You've got a friend' on the Tapestry album - 'You just call out my name and you know wherever I am I'll come running, to see you again'. That for me meant friendship, someone you can always rely on when you need them. You might not see them on a regular basis, but you know they're always there for you and they have your best interests at heart.
At a time when branches have been closing and our visits are becoming less frequent, how does a bank build a relationship with a customer? The means of communication may have improved but how does the decline in opportunities for physical interaction affect the nature of the relationship? Do we think of our bank as a 'friend' we can rely on? At crucial times do we 'call out its name'? What would make us more likely to do so? Or indeed could it anticipate our call?
