NPR: "More Americans Considering Community Banks"

NPR, today aired a segment on the movement towards community banks.

Click here to listen to the 4 minute segment from WBEZ.

Have you prepared? This radio segment brings up the outstanding point that, although consumers may WANT to move their money ... the reality is that they still live busy lives and changing banks is perceived as a difficult process.

Set Up A Switch Process

At the minimum, have a Switch Kit online.

Better yet, take advantage of this opportunity to provide an EXPERIENCE. Have a process where your staff can manage the switch for the new customer.

• Help the customer identify ACH accounts and know where to send the forms
• Know the contact info for all of your competition to help the customer more quickly send the Close Account form
• Have a form ready for the customer to simply hand to their HR department for direct deposit transfer
• Train your staff on the importance of this new relationship. A happy checking customer is statistically significantly more likely to have loans and other accounts with you
• Help the new customer set up Online Banking at the branch

With the right process in place, you can overcome the primary purchase hurdle to opening a new checking account, provide a greater opportunity for your staff to cross sell, and provide a service to your new customers that they will tell their friends about!

If you don't have time to prepare the information for your staff, there are third party companies who can quickly pull together data on your specific marketplace.

Take care,

Eric

This Valentine's Day, Break Up With Your Big Bank

This is funny, click here.

Do you have one of these banks in your market?

Forrester Research just issued a new report where they asked 4,500 customers at 50 banks if they agreed with the statement "My financial provider does what's best for me, not just its own bottom line."

Here are the 7 Least Trusted Banks:

7. Bank of America - 1 in 3 people agreed that B of A looked out for their best interest

6. Chase - 31% felt that Chase did what's best for the customer

5. Capital One - 29%

4. TD/Commerce - 28% trusted this Toronto-based bank

3. 5/3 (or 1 and 2/3 if you understand basic math) - 27%

2. Citi Bank - 26%

1. HSBC - 16% (10% lower than last year's score)

Click here for full story

It should be no surprise that credit unions and community banks ranked significantly higher in this study.

If you have one of these mega banks in your market, you may be able to use this information to your advantage. If you don't know how, call me!

Take care,

Eric

Seize the day ... Customers are looking for you!

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but as an alternative to "Big Banks," we need to Seize the Day!

A year ago, consumers were looking for a safe a secure place to put their money in the midsts of bank failures. Today, the interest in changing banks is snowballing. According to a Credit Union Times article published online yesterday:

"Consumers are being driven in higher numbers to credit union Web sites as a result of the media and government focus on big bank practices, according to NAFCU and CUNA.

NAFCU, for one, said this week its “CULookup” locator has recorded “a tripling of volume” since the first favored mention of CUs appeared on New York pundit Arianna Huffington’s “Move Your Money” Web site."

What are you doing to seize the day?

• Is your institution differentiated from other local banks and credit unions?
• Does your product mix align with market needs?
• Does your marketing speak in benefits and not features?
• Is your staff trained to provide the type of service to drive word-of-mouth and make this movement snow-ball further?

If you want to gain market share off of the big bank runoff you simply need to speak the loudest in the clearest voice. The stars are aligning for us ... I can't think of a more opportune time to focus on marketing.

Take care,

Eric

There's A Movement Afoot

My friends, there's a movement afoot ... figuratively and literally.

On December 29, a new Group was created on Facebook called "Move Your Money." The goal of this "project" is to get consumers to move their money from big "Wall Street" banks to local "Main Street" banks and credit unions. As of today, just 2 weeks later, there are 21,852 fans of this page, I've seen it mentioned on several national broadcast news shows and I've read about it in 2 large article.

With 4 CEOs of some of the nation's largest banks scheduled for a Congress whipping session - the circus is coming to town. Expect this to even trump NBC's late night soap opera.

What is your community bank or credit union doing to take advantage of this?

Seriously, folks this is the biggest gift under the Christmas tree just a few weeks late! If you are not emphasizing marketing now and preparing for the big bank run-off, you WILL miss out - there's just no other way to put it. There will be a short window of opportunity to spend smart money and capture market share from competition whom you've traditionally had a hard time battling due to brand awareness, the sheer number of branches and an enormous marketing budget.

As marketers, I'm sure that your head is buzzing with big ideas on how to capitalize on this - I know mine is ... I'm just waiting for the first community bank or credit union to call and ask for help.

Take care,

Eric