During this financial crisis, many community banks find themselves wondering how they can best protect and indeed grow their bank brand. In a financial environment where the public trust for banks has been severely eroded, this may seem like a difficult task.
However, community banks have some important advantages over the larger regional and national banks. One of these is that they remain largely unscathed by the toxic assets issue. Another is they are closer to the pulse of the communities within which they operate and so are better positioned to speak to customers and potential customers in an authentic and credible voice.
After recent discussions with community bank Presidents on this subject, I thought it would be useful to provide you with a simple check list of things to do right now that will help your community bank weather the storm.
Define what your customers really want.
Successful community banking depends on truly knowing what your customers want.
This may seem a simple task, but you need to be adaptable to changes in public opinion and really understand how people feel right now (as opposed to when you wrote your business plan) in order to take the necessary steps.
Make your service the best it can be.
Banks of all sizes know that achieving top-notch quality service is hard to do. You need to examine whether or not your community bank brand is adequately and consistently represented in all three core areas of customer service: people; process; systems. Without aligning these three critical areas, while also being mindful of your bank’s brand values, you cannot possibly attain the highest level of service
Fess-up and say you’re sorry.
The public sure is angry about this whole financial crisis and are out for blood. You can’t repair a relationship
with an angry customer who has a legitimate complaint unless you are prepared to say you made a mistake and tell them what steps you are taking to ensure that the mistake will not just happen to them again, but to any customer. You should thank them for their important contribution to making you a better bank! Then, make sure that the changes needed to uphold this promise is made and that customers are notified.
Be real.
Market consciousness has shifted considerably. The consumer is now, and will far into the future be suspicious and wary of advertising offers, special deals, slogans and potentially empty promises. They are digging much deeper into a bank’s background, personality and ethos before becoming a customer. So start making it real. You really must find a better way to connect with your customers and potential customers than the tired old picture-perfect stock photos and pictures of checkbooks and handshaking business people. So what do you replace them with? Replace them with real people with real opinions, ideas and thoughts. People connect with real people.
Always keep your promises!
Ever heard the term “Brand Promise?” It really does mean something, and now more than ever. It’s about giving the customer a clear idea of who and what you are and what difference you can make to their financial lives. You could say that as a whole, the banking industry has broken the brand promise of trust and integrity, and everyone, including small community banks, will have to work hard to earn that trust again. How does your bank live up to its brand promise? Do you even have a brand promise? If not, be prepared for the worse.
There is an old saying, "When there’s blood on the streets money will be made." Community banks now have a tremendous opportunity to re-build the trust lost by the larger banks. And they don’t have to spend a fortune. There are low cost ways of doing this right now, today. I can help you.
Contact me at 727.480.4343
Email Me
PS: A great way to achieve some of this is a bank blog: Click here for a live sample of a community bank blog.
How do successful banks build their brands? What can your financial institution do to differentiate in this competitive environment? This blog examines these issues and others.
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