52 MARCH / APRIL 2017 Many bankers believe: “We’re uniquely positioned to serve the affluent customer. Our service is second to none.” But remember, your prospects haven’t experienced your service. Real growth requires more than the false perception that customers are privileged to bring their relationships to you. It takes many factors — brand, product, policies, marketing, employees and execution. When you try to grow your customer base, attention is often mistakenly focused on only one factor, but each activity impacts expansion. Real growth, however, requires a coordinated system of activities, all connected to each other. To illustrate, consider the airline industry. All airlines have planes, pilots, flight attendants and luggage handlers. All transport people, and many fly the same routes. So why does Southwest Airlines have a better reputation than other airlines? Are Southwest planes better, or are its people more professional? No. What Southwest has is a better activity system. Michael Porter, in a Harvard Business Review article, defined the activity set of Southwest Airlines and noted that little things competitors could not or would not copy made the difference. Southwest’s fleet uses only one type of plane, so maintenance is easier, faster and cheaper. Its boarding system allows flights to turn around more quickly. All its activity points combined — reliable and frequent departures, low ticket prices, high aircraft utilization — make Southwest Airlines more profitable than its competitors. Transfer this concept to community banking. Like airlines, financial institutions are relatively the same. All have checking and savings accounts, and all use banking systems recognizable from one FI to another. How, then, can your activity system give your financial institution an edge over competitors? Key Component: Your People Engage your staff, train them, and allow them to have fun, because personnel can make the difference: • It is common to see dramatic customer growth after a branch leadership change, even without changes to marketing or product; • Same-market branches, using identical marketing and products, grow at dramatically different rates. The people component of your activity system probably has the most subcomponents that crucially help or hurt your organization’s growth. Especially in branches, the right people are extremely important. If staffs are not well trained, though, branches may not achieve their growth goals. Be There When Customers Decide to Switch It’s almost impossible for financial institutions to create the customer need to buy products. However bankers can identify people who are likely to need new core relationships or seeking a new primary financial institution (PFI). Banking customers become better prospects for your institution when they go through life-changing events — when they move, get married, or change jobs — but it’s difficult to be in front of them at the right time. You can purchase highly targeted contact lists for these events, but once prospects are on a list, it’s usually too late. You Want to Grow? It’s the little things that matter Article author Achim Griesel President Haberfeld Associates achim@haberfeld.com Haberfeld Associates is an associate member of the Indiana Bankers Association. SALES / MARKETING
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