Volta's core business is the financial investment instruments it wants to sell. Its value-addeds include financial advisors who provide nearly free counsel. Like most financial advisors, Volta's people sell products that seem simple to them, but complicated to most of their customers. Financial investments are a classic credence purchase, implying that the customer won't know for a long time whether the advice to invest in certain ways was indeed optimal. Volta's clients come for advice because they figure that the advisors have knowledge and abilities that they don't. Volta is a business, and as such, has a business manager. Some 18 months ago, the manager asked the advisors to have their clients fill out periodic customer satisfaction surveys. The survey captures customers' perceptions regarding: whether a receptionist was polite when taking a call to make an appointment with an advisor; how quickly the appointment could be made; how professional was the advisor, did the advisor's work area appear to be organized and professional, and so on.

Case Discussion Questions
1. What do you think about the survey? What measures do you believe would be good indicators of an advisor's performance?
2. How could the brand be positioned to be more tangible and experiential (and even more search) so that consumers could be more confident in Volta's quality and Volta would have more obvious bragging rights about its brand?
3. What elements of financial investment assistance would you classify as "core" and what would you list under "value added"? How could Volta distinguish itself from other financial advisor firms by modifying their core or value-added services?