Main Street Bank

Turning Customer Signals into Retention Opportunities

Transaction data is the most powerful insight banks have if you can use it strategically. Detecting changes in transaction patterns, like a sudden drop in balances, a decrease in direct deposits, or even a slowdown in debit card usage, are all early indicators of a customer potentially changing their primary bank. Finding a way to look for patterns and automate marketing on those patterns can help identify opportunities to retain or deepen customer relationships at the moment when it matters.

Don’t discount simply listening to what customers are actually saying, either. A regular customer survey program reveals a lot about their experience. Still, even a robust complaint program can give you valuable insight into where there are trends and ways to enhance the customer experience.

In a market research group I hosted recently, a business owner said, “I want to spend 2 percent or less of my time on banking.” That statement has stuck with me when it comes to how we make decisions on what improvements we make, and how we position that message to our chosen audience.

Creating a Shared Framework for Customer Communications

It is so important to keep employees aware of what customer communications are being sent. This creates additional strength behind the message, because if – and really, when – customers ask about it, the rest of the team is prepared and confident in responding.

We’ve built a standard communication bulletin framework that answers the who, what, where, why, and how, so that everyone knows where to look for more details when we launch a new initiative.

Once that framework is established, it becomes much easier to build upon that consistency when it comes to communicating with our customers.

Finding the Need for Human Support in Digital Banking

When it's possible, financial institutions should look to their own data to tell the story. Before we launched our video banking services in 2021, we were already seeing a shift in transactions moving away from the traditional branch in favor of digital, self-service channels.

“Finding a way to look for patterns and automate marketing on those patterns can help identify opportunities to retain or deepen customer relationships in the moment when it matters.”

On top of that, the disruption to business caused by the 2020 pandemic further pushed customers towards alternative options to a branch. However, we knew there would always be scenarios that require human intervention.

Bringing Human Connection into Digital Banking

In response to this shift, we launched a video banking service called Video Connect to give customers access to live bankers from any video and audio-enabled device with internet access.

The use of this platform has grown from an average of 100 calls in a month to an average of over 250 calls, warranting a growth of full-time staff from 1 person to 4 people. In fact, Main Street Bank was recognized with an Eltropy EMERGE Excellence Award, earning the Human Connection Award for this service.

This example really embodies the human element of customer service in a digital-forward environment. Financial institutions should look for those opportunities where they can leverage their strengths, in this case, our people and provide them in an accessible digital environment.