Marketing

Map the customer’s journey to attract and engage

Understanding and optimizing the customer journey can deliver significant value, enhancing customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy. By taking the time to map out what you want your community bank’s customer journey to be, you begin to control the narrative for current and prospective customers alike.
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Leveraging ‘coopetition’

If your bank is looking to grow niche products and services, how do you spread the word? Aggressive marketing is certainly one tactic, but word of mouth (especially within a community) can also expand your reach. [Continue]

Why the data behind sales performance matters

Many industries will not hire a salesperson without an evaluation to determine the candidate’s skill level. While a robust resume or a smooth interview can easily impress, assessing actual skill levels can reveal critical tendencies and potential weaknesses that CEOs need to know before making a job offer. Banks realize that they need to know this same information about their current sales team. [Continue]

Considering ‘brand’ as a recruitment and retention tool

Bankers often think of the word “brand” in terms of customer acquisition, but when competition for talent is fierce, should recruitment branding be on their radar? Job seekers are increasingly turning to social media when looking for their next position. What can community banks do to stand out as employers of choice through deployment of their brand? [Continue]

Minding your online Ps & Qs

With the number and kind of platforms available, bankers can find establishing an effective online presence a little overwhelming. How does a bank create an effective identity and reputation on social media while guarding against its pitfalls? To strike the right tone for a website, you must balance functionality and professionalism with allowing the personality of your bank to shine through. And who is it all for? [Continue]

Three challenges facing your sales team

Elite salespeople have mastered many skills, including positioning their value to prospects and clients as well as following a stage-based sales process. Even the cream of the sales team crop, however, can struggle with these three sales challenges. [Continue]