Independent Banker - April 2020 - 56

channel to post information about community involvement
eff orts. " People in small communities are tied to social
media, " says Carrie Stapp, senior vice president of product
management at Harland Clarke. " They will not only fi nd
out that you're involved, but they're fi nding out about these
events through your [social media] pages. That makes
other businesses in the community also want to be tied
with you because you're doing a good job helping to market
on behalf of the entire community itself. "
Keep engaging customers
All your eff orts at acquiring new customers will be wasted
unless you have a strong retention strategy for holding
onto them. " What works for one customer may be diff erent
for another, " says David Acevedo, senior vice president
and national sales director at 360 View, a bank CRM and
growth platform based in Nashville, Tenn. " You should
have a defi ned program of touchpoints in place. Maybe a
phone call, a business event, a gift. Whatever the program,
New Market Bank regularly trains team members to
off er up-to-date answers to any customer questions,
and it's streamlining the account opening experience.
Leveraging its history is a strong selling point. " It's our
service, " Ramola says. " That's our passion. "
Community banks should make sure their brand's
customer experience is seamless. For example, contact
customers any time you make a change in your
organization, such as a platform conversion or branch
hours. Supplement that with postings on any of your social
media accounts, since you never know where, when or how
a customer gets their information.
Dramatic activity in a customer's account, such as
changes in their balance, could signal that they're
preparing to switch banks. Contacting the customer to
see what's going on demonstrates conscientiousness,
but it also might uncover something else, such as a bad
experience. Any request by a customer should be followed
up promptly. Taking a proactive approach could resolve
the problem and retain the customer.
" For any issue in progress, update your customer at
the end of the day, even if the message is just, 'I am still
working on it,' " Thomas says.
" Acquisition and retention
[efforts should be a part
of] every single day,
whether your branch is
open or not. You have to
re-win that relationship
every time you interact. "
-Geoff Thomas, Harland Clarke
make sure you have the right tools to reach them how and
when they want to be reached. "
Every customer who walks into New Market Bank is
greeted by their name. All calls are answered by a bank
team member, not an automated phone system.
" We hope that retains them, " Ramola says, " because
they get that small feel, but we also have all services of
any large bank-a full mortgage department, investment
banking, mobile banking and mobile deposits-but
hopefully we do it diff erently. "
56 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q April 2020
A listening ear
The Bank of New Glarus greets everyone who walks in the
bank and sends birthday cards to customers. Perhaps the
most important thing employees do to retain customers
is that they listen to what's going on in their lives. For
example, Rivera says, if a customer mentions that they
might add a new patio to their house in six months, a team
member will ask if the bank can call them in six months to
talk about a home improvement loan.
Relationship banking is also a strong component of
Franklin Savings Bank's retention eff orts. Customers are
greeted by their fi rst name when they enter the bank and
all calls are answered by people, not automated attendants.
The bank holds customer appreciation barbecues,
shred events to destroy customers' unwanted fi nancial
documents securely, and other events for select account
holders. Staff call customers whose CDs are coming due to
renew or convert them to another CD.
" Acquisition and retention [eff orts should be a part of]
every single day, whether your branch is open or not, "
Thomas says. " You have to re-win that relationship every
time you interact. "
Robert Lerose is a writer in New York.
Independent Banker - April 2020

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