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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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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
The past few years have seen the rise of “community manager” as a dedicated role within companies. An early 2022 search shows 135,000-plus available jobs with this title on LinkedIn alone. The role is part public relations, part customer cheerleader — and a good community manager authentically shows up, both online and in-person, as the “face” of the brand. [Continue]
It’s no surprise that, with continuing pandemic issues and concerns, many clients and prospects are avoiding our bank lobbies. And why not, with online access to almost everything? So how will your salespeople continue to build relationships and keep your best customers? During these times, they must be proficient at reaching out and communicating effectively and consistently. This is key for most banks to sustain and build relationships, grow loans and achieve higher net interest margins. [Continue]
Satisfaction with a product generally declines over time, whereas contentment with an experience generally grows over time. This observation, shared by presenter Jacob Morgan recently at the ABA National Conference for Community Bankers, resonates. While I might be ready for a new fishing pole every couple of years, that memory of the fish that got away gets to be a better story every time I tell it. [Continue]
Have you gotten weary of people advising you to master social media? I get it. I often shake my head in disbelief at the fatuous comments I find in my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds. I do accept, however, that just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s not important. (Exercise comes to mind.) You need to engage on social media because that’s where the customers are. [Continue]