Financial Institutions
Article
Increase Profits by Offering More to Your Business Customers
A “fanatical commitment to wowing its customers” has allowed one New Jersey-based bank to increase deposits by 38% last year, far outstripping the commercial and savings bank industry as a whole, which saw deposits increase about 8%. (http://www.fastcompany.com/online/58/service.html)
And, Commerce Bank is not alone. Many community banks are turning their attention to customer service and a broader range of products to attract and retain valuable customers. A recent survey conducted by the American Bankers Association and the ABA Banking Journal found that “community banks are keeping pace with conveniences consumers are demanding while retaining key ingredients of personal service.”
And this includes offering more to business customers. The same survey noted that competition is tight for customers who require business operating loans, term loans and business deposits, and that many smaller banks find it hardest to compete for customers who require services such as cash management and long-term investment, which they may not offer.
So, finding ways to offer business customers a variety of services under one roof has obvious advantages. For example, one Midwest bank experienced the following after adding FFUSA’s credit card processing to its suite of business services, “Bankwide we used to decline 15 merchants per month. Now we recoup 14 of those each month. That’s over 160 more customers per year that stay with us rather than look elsewhere. That’s also 160 more accounts per year from which we generate revenue.”
It’s clear that providing personal customer service and a range of business banking services is a potent combination for success.