Is your community bank open for business or just open?
One of our team members had an interesting experience at the mall in his hometown last week. Here’s his story… I went to the mall with my wife around 8:15pm, it closes at 9:00pm. We entered through one of the main stores, JCPenney, and made our way to one of the sections of the mall where I proceeded to find a seat in the sitting area to enjoy a little people watching (that’s another blog post entirely). My wife shopped in two of the stores right near my seating area. At 8:40pm, while she was in the second store (a national chain), they began lowering the metal-linked looking doors to their store entrances. They didn’t kick my wife out of the store, but they were clearly letting other potential customers know that they were no longer accepting guests, while at the same time letting my wife know to hurry up because they are about to close! Their focus turned from the customer to themselves. My wife luckily made it out of their business before getting locked in. It’s now 8:45 and we walk through JCPenney again to leave while also checking out a few items. No employees were to be found! We get to the main exit doors we previously entered only to find the automated sliding doors would not open. We started looking around for help and then started to walk away to find another exit. Just then an employee came up to us and told us the side door, next to the sliding doors, was still unlocked. We were able to get out but the impression they were giving any new customers was that they were closed for business… End of story.
So, when is an open sign not really an open sign? In this day and age, for many businesses, it’s about 15 minutes before the official closing time. We’ve never come across a bank that has closed their doors 15 minutes early, but we do see community banks that give customers the impression of a closed-door mentality every single day. If any of the following is occurring in your bank, you might not be as open for business as you think you are.
Point the finger leadership
It’s easy to point fingers and blame others from the executive boardroom, especially in this extreme regulatory environment. In some areas of the country, the economy is blamed as well. Real leaders don’t blame, they lead to a greater future. Leaders can continue pointing fingers but if your community bank’s ROA is still below 1.0, then the blame is solely on your shoulders. One of the areas community banks can beat the big banks is customer service. It still matters to about 75% of your customers. Even millennials like it when they actually experience it. Define what your bank is going to be and who it will best serve, set non-negotiable standards of excellence, and create a culture of advocacy with your most profitable customers. These are just a few starting points, in implementing a culture, that set the stage for a bank that is open for business.
People pleaser management
In a culture of “just open”, these managers tend to think effective management is keeping the employees happy. Maybe in their infinite wisdom, they think their employees aren’t paid enough so it’s up the the managers to provide other perks, like ensuring that the employees leave work on the exact minute of closing time or they allow employees to be consistently late for work. Anything to keep the employee happy. The crazy thing about this manager is the people they continue to please are typically the worst employees and the least profitable customers. The best employees and the profitable customers never seem to be the focus of the people pleasing manager. They’re usually not the focus because they don’t complain or rock the boat. But if you continue to ignore them, they’ll become disengaged or leave for a better opportunity where they will be valued. It’s a certainty this has happened with the stores mentioned in our opening story.
Self centered employees
These employees tend to have the mentality that the bank is there to serve them and their needs. Their personal comfort and convenience is of greater importance than the customer experience. The customers’ needs can be filled as long as those needs don’t impose on the priorities of the employee. Example… We close at 5pm and it takes 20 minutes to open a new checking account, therefore, if you want to open an account, you must arrive by 4:40pm at the latest. Don’t laugh. We’ve actually had several phone shops over the years where we were told to arrive at the bank by a certain time or we couldn’t open an account due to closing time. These are the same employees that consider the work place to be their own personal “safe space”, free from anything that offends or challenges them, where they know best, great service is subjective in their own mind, and your crazy expectations, like having a good attitude, are not allowed. Safe spaces and self-centered employees are not allowed in community banks that are open for business.
Do you see what your customers see?
If you’re not tracking results and behavior, then you don’t see. It’s obvious that many don’t want to see, because once you do, if standards aren’t met and exceeded, then something has to be done about it. Many are happy not really knowing, so nothing extra has to be done.
But, if you’re ready to take the blinders off, it will help you to focus on areas where a little improvement can go a long way to improving your bottom line. When you know where your short comings are, you can train and coach your employees on what is expected. Provide them with the tools needed to perform at the highest level. Then track the results. Train and coach again (Trust us, the majority won’t get on board with a one-time training session, regardless of who leads it). Continue to track. Train and coach again. Continue to track. There’s a little more to it, but at its core, this is how implementation begins and how your community bank stays open for business. Make sure you open for business today. Your customers deserve it, your owners/investors expect it, and your advocates and best employees demand it.
