Pub. 2 2014 Issue 3

summer 2014 13 genuine connection, as most custom- ers, especially those in the millennial generation view banks as fee hungry establishments who are only interest- ed in making money off them. And this is where your bank sets apart from the bank down the street. You’ll be interested in helping them get a hold of their dreams • So how do you do this? Sit down with someone to have an in-depth talk with them about their overall financial health. Discuss where they want to be. Then, discuss where they are. • Create an account for your customer using software like Mint.com that aggregates their spending from all their accounts across all financial institutions. • While you create this with your cus- tomer you’re going to see all of their information, like loans with other banks, investment accounts with other financial institutions, credit cards with your competitors…and we’ll get to the beauty of that aspect in a second. • Now, build a budget with your cus- tomer to accomplish their goals. The Mint software should make this easy. And then relate it back to their goals. If they are currently living within their means, fantastic. However, we all know that most individuals are not, so this is when the meaningful part of the job comes in. • So, now you have given them a road map to follow to help them reach their financial goals. You can even set up spending alerts (through Mint and your bank) to keep them on the right track. And then you can suggest ways for them to situate themselves even better: you can show them how refinancing that mortgage that is currently with Mr. Big Bank will save them $200/Month. Maybe they can save money by switching to your Auto Loan. Perhaps you can offer a special rate for a money market sav- ings account at your bank that puts them in a better position to reach their goals. And this is the part where they hug you, because up until this point, no one – and certainly not a bank – has invested this kind of time and interest in their financial success. • So, you have a really happy, deter- mined customer in front of you, and that feels great (leading to increased job satisfaction for your employees), but also, it improves the position of your bank as well. Most banks only haves 3-4 of a given individuals financial products. But average individual has 12 financial products – just spread out at different places. This strategy, though, gives you the resources to gain 100% of your cus- tomers’ business. • Okay, so now you’re ready to end the meet- ing – but before your customer heads out the door, set up a time to review how they are doing in 6 months. This next meeting will allow for review of their spending and bud- gets with them, guiding them through changes if need be. • And reconnect with the customer every 6 months. These scheduled check-ins also serve as an opportunity to hear about what is happening in their life and to plan for the less-distant future and make changes within the scope of their larger financial goals. This strategy provides a meaningful way to attract and retain customers from any age group and can easily be modified to include and appeal to businesses. Not only do you capture their business (score 1 for the bank), but you start them out on the path of life with financial wisdom and a plan under their feet (which makes them love you. And love for banks is something our industry could use some more of). You have sparked their fire for financial independence, and as an added benefit, they are far less likely to fall delinquent on their loans. Redefining the purpose of your bank with this kind of a strategy will set you apart from everyone else in your market. It’s no longer about who has the lowest interest rate, or the most ATM loca- tions. It’s about who has real concern for the financial health and success of our communities, of our neighbors – those customers we see every week. Also, you will be able to capture more share of the wallet from your existing customers, and I’d argue, their next gen- eration. And this renewed vision comes with easy indicators for the type of people you want to employ—those who genuine- ly want to make a difference in people’s financial lives. Now, it makes market- ing more tricky than just rolling out an IRA campaign because it’s April – but it allows you to know exactly who in your customer base could benefit from an IRA and gives you an established relationship through which to secure it. So now that we’ve covered the how, the questions turns to “Who?” Who is willing to redefine and create the spark? Who is willing to keep going after that to create enough friction to ignite a burning ember? Because whoever does will build a fis- cally strong customer base, and your fire will burn longer. Hotter. You’ll melt the competition. n Brett Jackson, CEO, Systemax Corporation, bjackson@systemaxsolutions.com