Bank brands are under attack like never before. Competition is fierce and aggressive. Players from new industries are seeking to lure customers’ money away from FDIC-insured banks. Pitfalls abound.
While you strategize on fending off the marauding outsiders, be sure you’re not accidentally making your brand more vulnerable because of your own self-sabotaging actions.
I don’t know whether it’s today’s consumer online habits or a lack of training. But I do know I don’t like it. “What’s the name?” the receptionist blankly asked me at an office this week. Ick. There seems to be an epidemic of taking the person out of personal service.
This is a danger for branders everywhere as they allow interactions to be transactional instead of relational. This is the customer experience badlands.
During a merger, the glaringly obvious considerations include combining systems, core processing and policies. Yet bank leaders must also invest in the vital marketing, advertising and communications that keep customers and employees happy and loyal. Here’s a five-step approach to ensuring customers and employees see you in your best light during a merger.
Communicate from the inside out.
Nearly every bank says it wants to attract more millennial customers. Yet many bankers are going about it the old way—by making assumptions and generalizations about what this audience wants and needs. Millennials are 30 percent of the U.S. population today and the most diverse generation yet.
And while it’s fair to consider them “digital natives,” their current age range (23 to 38) spans currently several distinct life stages.
Nearly all community bankers will say their institution offers outstanding customer service. Their advertising, website and collateral materials all say it.
That’s not good enough.
Good customer service is the lowest price of entry. If you want to excel and create truly sticky relationships, designing a great customer experience will take your bank’s marketing to new levels.
You worked hard to get them in the door. What’s next?
