ABA Banking Journal - December 2010 - (Page 20)
ABA Community BAnking | cUstOmeR seRvIce 3. Are they digging into what the customers’ needs are? Frankly, says Watkins, Informa attacks mystery shops critically. “We don’t feel banks should just be fulfillers,” he explains. “We look for people to take things a step further, not just to look for a quick kill without being consultative.” Indeed, as futurist Brett King predicts in his book Bank 2.0, subject of the August installment of this series, as tech increasingly takes over more transactions, the value of many physical locations will be for consultations. “Everybody used to offer free checking,” says Watkins by way of example. “Now customer service reps won’t have free checking. They are going to have to uncover a lot more about the customers to put them in the right account.” Sound Community Bank’s Laurie Stewart thinks this is dead on: “Customers want bankers to be aware of client needs without the client having to do the heavy lifting.” Now, let’s look at steps some banks are taking. You’ll find more in a Special online Pass the Aspirin at www.ababj.com/blog/1462.html Advisory boards that produce Bob Jones’ United Bank taps advisory boards—some geographic, one market-focused—for help. As one example of how these groups helped the bank, Jones took the issue of gift card fraud to the advisory boards to explore their views and perceptions. As it turned out, understanding of the difference between consumer rights and protections on debit cards and credit cards was quite low. Jones says this helped the bank put more effort into education. And it also began encouraging customers who shop online with debit cards to open “shopping accounts” separate from their main household account. Revamping across the board First Hope Bank has felt service had ROCK SOLID Financial Analytics ™ CRE Stress Analytics© is much more than just a reporting tool. It flags CRE risk at the instrument level so you can step in and mitigate. The most risk management oriented tool on the market, with full export capability and multi-level stress LTV’s. CRE Stress Analytics© Construction Stress Analytics© Get them both from FIMAC Solutions. www.fimacsolutions.com Toll Free 877.322.1880 to be kicked up a notch to compete. Cindy Munley says the bank is about to launch a new customer relationship management system. But the bank has done more than shop for better tech. Training has been revamped to stress role-playing, Munley says. The bank wants its staff to know how to spot cues that could bring bank products and customers together. Munley says the banks’ CEO, Norm Beatty, likes to say “everyone can be taught to balance.” So the bank looks for new hires that fit its renewed service emphasis. “Retail is a great background,” she says. Susan Porter, the bank’s senior vice-president and chief administrative officer, notes that there is a balance between friendliness and analytical skill. “You don’t want someone who will just talk your ear off,” she explains. Among the tools the bank uses to find the right people are the Predictive Index tests that sort out personality types. Another tool is TalentPlus, an open-ended interviewing process that helps probe for integrity, honesty, exactitude, and work intensity. “We are hitting the nail on the head in hiring people who want to be tellers, rather than just hiring nice people,” says Porter. n More online at ababj.com l Millennials and other aliens: Meeting the needs of the new generation—customers and employees http:// tinyurl.com/bjservicemil l Mystery shopping the WHOLE bank: How California’s Sunwest Bank shops way beyond the teller line. http://tinyurl.com/ mysshop 20 | ABA BANKING JOURNAL | December 2010
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