Independent Banker - April 2024 - 31

Next: A guide to simplicity in portfolio management 
as the banker-maybe playing golf
or getting coffee while discussing
their goals and plans-then you are
providing value to that customer, as
well as highlighting the bank and how
we can help them. "
2. Offer multiple channels
of communication.
Engage small-business customers
where they are-whether that's in
a branch, over the phone, through
email or even texting. Agent IQ,
an ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator
alum, integrates with community
banks' digital platforms to offer
secure messaging and video chatting
between small-business owners and
their personal bankers.
" People nowadays are on the go.
They want to do everything on their
phone, on their terms and on their
time, " says Agent IQ chief marketing
officer Matt Phipps.
BAC Community Bank, an
$830 million-asset community bank
in Stockton, Calif., partnered with
Agent IQ to install its customized
platform, Smart ALAC, in 2022.
" It gives our customers one more
way they can communicate with
their relationship manager [and
banking team], " says Jackie Verkuyl,
BAC's executive vice president and
chief administrative officer. " The
customers who use it love it. They
have somebody at their fingertips
during business hours. "
3. Show up for them.
Attend events hosted by your smallbusiness
customers, spend money at
their establishments and encourage
others across your served community
to do the same.
FNB Community Bank hosts Cash
Mobs, where the public is asked to
meet and shop at the featured local
business on a specific date and time.
" By getting to know our
business owners on a personal
level, banks can better
understand their needs, provide
tailored financial solutions and
talk about our specific products
that might benefit them. "
-JULIE WADDLE, FNB COMMUNITY BANK
FNB even hands out $5 to participants
to spend at the business.
4. Promote their business.
Share information about your
small-business customers on social
media sites or allow them to advertise
in your branches. FNB Community
Bank started its Side Hustle Series
to reward its customers for banking
there. After collecting submissions
online, selected businesses were
featured in a bank blog post and
invited to host a pop-up shop at the
branch of their choosing.
" For small-business owners who
don't have a storefront, who are just
online, this is a way to promote a
business that people may not know
about, " says Waddle.
5. Simplify the lending process.
Providing the capital for businesses
to grow is a significant piece of the
relationship between community
banks and their small-business
customers. Fintech solutions can help
remove friction and therefore increase
client satisfaction.
" The faster a bank can respond
to a client, the more they're helping
them, " says Darren Hecht, senior
vice president and head of growth for
Biz2X, a platform that streamlines the
application process for unsecured and
secured business lending. " A business
might have a short-term, immediate
need for working capital, and they
need to count on their community
bank to help them, but it can't be a
long, drawn-out process or they may
take their business elsewhere. "
6. Make yourself visible
and approachable.
Join your chamber of commerce or
other local business groups, which
not only demonstrates your bank's
commitment to the community but is
also an organic way to meet potential
customers. Even if your existing
small-business customers don't have
any pressing banking needs, keep in
contact with them and regularly invite
them into a branch to meet with the
executive team.
" Our customers have access to the
decision-makers. They have access to
the people who can solve their business
problems or their banking problems
and help them move forward with their
business, " says Verkuyl. " It's really a
matter of making sure your customers
know that you're there for them. "
Taylor Hugo is a writer in Colorado.
independentbanker.org // 31
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - April 2024
