What is the true meaning of relationship banking? I find myself asking this question to every bank or credit union I work with and the answer routinely comes back to “it’s the number of deposit or loan accounts that the customer has with our institution.” Let’s take a deeper look, shall we?
Is it really only defined by how many products the customer has with the bank or credit union? The short answer is…not anymore. Time and time again, bankers’ focus on companion account sales and, in theory it’s important to have a customer with more than one account as it is “harder” for them to “break up” with you. In practice though, owning that customer’s relationship long term requires the banker to have insight into the customer and their behaviors.
This is where the acronym CRM becomes extremely important to you and your institution. Customer Relationship Management, fondly referred to as CRM, is a “mission” and if your bank chooses to accept it, it will lead to increased insight into your customer relationships including: an integrated view of products and/or services per customer and household, profitability of households and products, management of referrals and true sales management practices including measurable outcomes that are derived by leading and lagging indicators. Integrating the processes above, as well as data in disparate systems, creates the 360-degree view of your customer allowing the bank to solve the more tailored needs of the customer and their relationship.
Even in banking, it’s no longer about what you sell; it’s how well you resolve the customer’s problem with your products and what they ultimately say about the service you provided socially. Where do consumers turn to voice their opinions these days? We are inherently social beings…so Facebook, Twitter and numerous other sites offering them an opportunity to voice their opinion have reached record level engagement to this regard.
CRM is not “just another piece of software we will only use 25% of”, this is a true misconception. It is a philosophy that creates synergy across an organization changes the focus from being product driven to relationship driven banking and effectively uses technology as a way of measuring success. Are you ready to accept the mission? Contact me at [email protected] to discuss how CRM can change the landscape of your bank or credit union.
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