I am reading this book right now and goodness it is a hoot. Did you know that prior to computerization the error rates for stock trades was *high single digit percent*? Schwab fought theirs down to *only 6%* through process improvements then bought a used computer (for ~$500k).https://twitter.com/kevinakwok/status/1225912244745097216 …
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In a line I would like to staple to the heads of all tech company marketing departments, Schwab talks about how he, as a CEO in the 1970s with a background in direct response marketing, knew his channels, costs of customer acquisition, conversion rates, and payback periods cold.
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(It is broadly underappreciated in tech that e.g. A/B testing, including statistical confidence testing on it, predates computers.)
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This is just amazing to me in so many ways: the desired and delivered customer experience in the early days: Operator: "Thank you for calling Charles Schwab." A retail customer: "My account number is [7 digits]. 2,000 shares of IBM at limit of 57. *disconnects from call*"
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And a few hours later Schwab would call you back: Operator: "Filled 1,000 shares of IBM at 57; one left. Is this correct?"
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They did material work in call centers to specialize such that e.g. only operators with broker licenses took orders, but since they were expensive, if you called and asked for a quote ("What is IBM trading at?") you got routed to effectively (cheap, tier 1) CS.
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