Dow Jones: Banks turn call centers into profit centers

Lynn Cowan reports on successful strategies to turn call centers into profit centers through cross-sell of products.

Turning customer service centers into effective sales offices requires the kind of detailed personal data that credit card companies excel at -- past payment histories, spending habits and information about a customer's favorite stores. "Offers are individualized by looking at information like how customers are using their cards, their demographics and recent things we have offered them," said Steve Kietz, senior vice president of marketing in J.P. Morgan Chase Bank's credit-card business, which issues cards through its Chase Manhattan Bank USA subsidiary.