Commencement

In every town in every state, this is the season for commencement speeches. In the next 2-3 weeks, hundreds of young adults in your community will begin new lives ... some moving away from home for the first time ... many to begin writing checks for their first bills ... still others facing larger investments like college and new cars.

So, lets look a little closer:

• Young demographic
• No current financial institution
• An immediate need for checking
• Soon to have lending needs
• Psychographically loyal if treated right

Sounds like a dream customer, huh?

But how do you reach this target?

Let's first look at their needs:

ACCESS

First and foremost, they demand access. As they are likely to be leaving your community in the next 2 months, focus on online and ATM access.

COMMUNICATION

This is not your average 50 year old member. If you want to make an impression, talk to them the way they talk to each other ... text and email. It may be hard to acquire them through these means (I'll talk about an acquisition strategy in a minute), but once you have them, make plans to continue communication electronically.

EARN TRUST

This may be the smartest banking generation yet - but the bottom line is that they need guidance. Odds are that their parents don't balance their own checkbooks on a regular basis. So, as community banking institutions, we have an opportunity to tutor. Focus on financial education ... help this demo build a budget ... show them how to use online banking and debit cards to track every dollar that they spend ... demonstrate how borrowing money from someone you know is better than borrowing online (this may be a tougher sell than you think).

Target to the Right People

Many community banks and credit unions try to target students by, well, targeting students. But studies show that many Millennials start their banking search by going where Mom and Dad bank. The fact is that Mom and Dad will be the best influencers you have - and they're easier to reach. So, think about Mom and Dad's wants for their children:

• Access: The kids will be away from home
• Security: not the FDIC or NCUA variety, but some control over Jr's spending
• Peace of mind: By co-signing on an account, you can tie the parent's account into the student's. This does 2 things:

A) Mom and Dad can track spending with online banking

B) There's a safety net. If the student's account falls low one month, the parents can easily transfer money through online banking.

As the commencement speeches are wrapping up, you can commence opening their new accounts and earning the loyalty of a new generation.

Good luck,

Eric