In my search for transformational growth in the financial services industry, I am constantly on the lookout for innovative activities. The majority of my keynote speeches still revolve around some type of branch transformation. And one of the biggest elements of the transformation needed in the branch is the transformation of the people working there.
Generally speaking, these are highly trained specialists in transactions. While they certainly handle their share of queries, the primary tasks are opening new accounts, and executing customer requested transactions (making deposits, cashing checks, performing transfers, etc.). And as the options for customers to perform these transactions out of the branch have increased, the number of in-branch experiences has dramatically decreased.
Which leaves a mostly empty branch, no customers, and few employees, very bad optics for the prospect that walks in to discuss establishing a relationship. So, my admonition to the bankers is to change the branch from transactions to engagement. But, what about those tellers and CSRs, how do we transform them?
Recently, I had a conversation with Doug Carey of West Gate Bank. Like most community banks, they had seen an overall decrease in branch traffic and a corresponding decrease in new accounts opened. But, several years back, they engaged Haberfeld Associates out of Lincoln, NE. Using a systemic approach to empowering the front line staff, Haberfeld deployed a host of traditional marketing techniques across the seven branch West Gate Bank staff. By asking questions and really listening to the responses from prospects, they determine the optimal account(s) for each prospect. And … hold your breath here … they ask for the business.
Yes, I know that this is Sales 101, but somehow most FI professionals missed that class. Whether through embarrassment or feeling that it would be imposing, most front line staff never ask, “Can I open that account for you today?”
By asking, in a professional and non-threatening manner, for the business, you force the prospect into a yes or no decision. Carey described situations where a prospect was interested in opening an account, but needed to consult with a spouse. The Haberfeld training has the account representative saying something like, “I completely understand, how about if we go ahead and get all of the information into the system and you can just call me back to let me know we are a go?” Once the process is started, there is a mental commitment on the part of the prospect and they convert a large majority of these deals.
Haberfeld uses publically available data to determine where existing clients live and market to households in the area, even on the same street. They use a combination of outreach, but the primary method is snail mail. I find it interesting that a recent study by the USPS finds that Millennials prefer getting snail mail over email.
Perhaps this old method of marketing will turn out to the key to reaching new, younger customers. They employ a program of seven to eight mailings a year and constantly change the content and tweak the algorithm that is selecting the households. Using Haberfeld, the specific call to action the mailers represent has increased new account openings at West Gate Bank threefold.
Now, before you say this is all old school, nothing new here, let me update you on the latest development from Haberfeld that caught my attention. Using Geolocation, Haberfeld has rolled out a new option that keeps track of phones that pass by a branch location. They don’t know who owns that phone and they cannot market directly to that phone, but they can see that the phone is in a certain location approximately eight hours a day and that it’s is mostly in another location for 16 hours per day. It is not hard to deduce that the phone is in a work location during the day and most likely at home the rest of the time.
This allows Haberfeld to market to a location where there are households that are driving past a particular branch. Using this technology, an FI can market to someone who is regularly driving past a branch, even though you might not consider the neighborhood where they live to be within your service area.
I really like the impact of this Geolocation technology. It has the advantage of using the access to location services on smartphones, but is not “creepy” to the prospect. This is critically important as new data mining technologies have the opportunity to be creepy. When I asked Doug about how West Gate Bank tracked the efficacy of the program, he detailed how Haberfeld presents the bank with a reconcilement of the new account activity and using the cost of acquiring accounts and the typical account lifecycle, shows how quickly they are recouping their investment.
Given that West Gate Bank has been on the program for many years, it is testament to the effectiveness of Haberfeld and the training they provide the bank’s front line staff. New employees are effective in utilizing the techniques to close business even after just a single training session.
I am a big fan of utilizing technology to change the way we do banking. But technology is just a tool; it is not the end game. Perhaps the future is a mix of new technology applied to time honored marketing activities, such as snail mail. If your goal is to boost new account openings, you cannot ignore the success that West Gate Bank has experienced. You can checkout Haberfeld at www.haberfeld.com.