Influencing a customer’s decision to choose a specific credit card for any given transaction from her wallet can be challenging for card issuers. In the typical lifecycle of managing a bankcard customer, driving activation and usage is one of the most critical aspects of engagement.This is indeed a challenge for issuers, because consumers have many options available Read More
Meet Brittany. She’s 25 years old and works at her first job. Her paycheck is deposited directly into her checking account. She has a checkbook somewhere in her apartment, as she finds she does not need checks because her bank debit card is tied to Apple Pay on her phone.Back in Brittany’s college days, her parents electronically Read More
We all love lists, particularly those New Year’s resolutions for improving our businesses and ourselves. But the fact is, for most financial institutions, that any list should begin with one item. Once that item has been addressed in detail and signs of success have begun to appear, then banks should focus elsewhere. No other activity provides the Read More
It's common knowledge that it’s easier and cheaper to sell to existing customers than to attract new ones. However, according to studies that I conducted at two major banking institutions, many cross-sell efforts result in little or no improvement in customer profitability. There are two primary reasons for this. First, most banks do not have an effective Read More
Bankers need help selling to demanding, savvy customers in all channels. But it’s a challenge to provide personalized, needs-based product and service offerings at the point-of-sale without possessing in-depth knowledge of every banking product. Today the sales process at the branch typically works like this: the banker asks a series of questions to help understand the prospect’s Read More
Stretching back to the 1980s, a key worry with branch consolidation has been customer attrition, or the risk that accountholders will take their business elsewhere if their anchor local branch is closed or merged with another location. This concern has robbed flexibility in rationalizing and repositioning networks, given that each branch closure could potentially disturb customer relationships Read More
According to recent census information, the millennial generation now outnumbers the baby boomer generation. While the youngest millennials have yet to enter the workforce, the oldest in the group are in their early 30s, acquiring wealth, buying homes and starting families. In the coming years, this generation will be the recipients of the largest wealth transfer in Read More
It's a simple fact: Millennials are your future customers. Already the largest group in the workforce, the leading edge is now in their 30’s and reaching an age when they have stable jobs, are forming families and buying homes. By 2020 they will have greater savings and investments than Baby Boomers. They are not just a customer Read More
Editor Note: David Kerstein has updated this article. Banks are hungry for growth: hungry for new customers, for deeper and more profitable relationships with existing clients and for better alignment of expense against revenue opportunities. But achieving that growth is a difficult challenge. Low interest rates continue to put pressure on margins. According to the most recent Read More
Many banks are now in the midst of their budget and planning seasons, aimed at improving efficiency and performance in 2016. The continued low interest rate environment, limited growth opportunities and more non-traditional competitive threats have increased the pressure on bank managers to set clear, high-impact goals and deliver on them in order to demonstrate success. As Read More
Perhaps the single most important threat facing the banking industry is the fundamental change in the way consumers and small businesses use branches. Routine service transactions are being displaced by online and mobile, causing branch transaction activity to decline at a 4% to 5% rate per year on average, with some banks such as SunTrust, experiencing declines Read More
For 15 years or more, marketers in retail banking have heard that delivering “the right product to the right customer at the right time” will yield the maximum conversion rate, product penetration and benefits of loyalty and net promoter score that come with a strong multi-product relationship. But this has not come to pass. Why? The answers Read More
Recruiting is a big problem for most banks and financial firms. The question is always, “How do I hire bankers who can also sell?” Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. However, the one thing you must recognize is that you and your process are responsible for the quality of the salespeople on your team Read More
It’s a common belief that banks should implement social media with the sole purpose of making a sale online. But think again: Pushing goods and service messages without context replicates the archaic process of cold calling, just through a different medium. So, trying to sell products and services directly via social media channels may accomplish nothing more Read More
When customer loyalty is tenuous, as it is today in banking, selling is especially challenging and requires more sophisticated approaches involving both management and sales staff. Yet, in our interactions with hundreds of banks across North America, we have noticed that many don’t provide their branch sales staff with the appropriate coaching, support and tools to achieve Read More
A typical community banker would have you believe that they have built great relationships with their customers. Then, these same bankers frequently express their frustration that it is impossible to sell properly-priced longer-term deposit accounts to those customers. When it comes to attracting long-term funding, many bankers now seem to believe the only effective way to secure Read More
For all that has been written about branches succumbing to the digital onslaught, it seems clear that banks will be clinging to the majority of their street corner outlets for some time to come. But it would be a big mistake to cling to antiquated branch management practices as well, particularly with regard to the all-important sales Read More
Managing a decentralized branch network presents challenges for banking executives. They have no real visibility into what their employees are doing on a daily basis, yet they rely on these same employees to deliver greater results and provide high-quality customer experiences. In this distributed environment, managing productivity is critical to ensure branch employees are focused on the Read More
There’s no such thing as a field of one’s own in commercial lending. You should always assume there are at least four to five other lenders vying for the same business. Competing on price alone won’t help you stand out in the crowd. Instead, it’s all about making long-lasting connections. Here are some tips to help you Read More
By now, most banks have set their 2015 targets into motion, including return on assets, return on equity, efficiency and asset quality goals. Yet, many still haven’t implemented business line key performance indicators (KPIs) that tie to these goals. Inevitably, the quarterly projections come in and everyone scrambles to either cut expenses or manipulate the numbers to Read More
