BACK TO THE BRANCH.

• Author: Bachman, Timothy
• Position: Bringing customers back to the bank

Thought you could save money by chasing customers out of the branch and relegating them to ATMs and telephone and online banking? From the marketing perspective, that's dumb. Better to solidify the personal relationship by reinventing the branch banking experience.

Pity the confused branch bank! Over the last decade or two, the branch has suffered from an identity crisis: It couldn't quite make up its mind whether its job was to draw in customers or to drive them away.

Before the days of Web technology and drive-through ATMs, the branch was the primary retail location for the banking industry. To accomplish any banking transaction, the customer had no choice but to physically visit the branch. For most customers, going to the branch was a chore, despite the branch's crucial role. For some activities, such as applying for a loan, it could be an embarrassing or intimidating experience.

As time went on, banks introduced more convenient and less-expensive alternatives to branch visits. These included products such as telephone and online banking as well as full-service ATMs. For certain kinds of accounts, banks set transaction fees to dissuade customers from using expensive branch personnel except where essential, thereby discouraging customers from in-person visits.

Customers, when presented with alternatives, preferred to stay away from the branch. After all, branches, in many cases, meant long lines, lack of privacy and indifferent personal treatment.

After many customers stopped visiting the branch, the bankers started to rethink the situation. Were they passing up on a golden marketing opportunity to build relationships with their customers?

Some bankers started devising schemes to lure those wayward customers back to the branch. But how do you attract customers back in after you got them hooked on the habit of using ATMs and telephone and online banking?

The answer is that bankers have to change the experience of the branch bank. The aim must be to ensure every customer's branch visit evokes a rewarding feeling. To achieve that, bankers must create a branch environment in which the personnel, the physical layout, the use of technology and the banking products collaborate to serve and support a customer experience of value.

Common branch marketing mistakes

The bank has complete control over the branch, unlike other marketing channels such as the Internet. Every time a customer walks into a branch, there exists a potential marketing opportunity to expand the customer's relationship with the bank. However, too often, traditional branch marketing has been limited to communicating the bank's messages through the placement of signs and/or banners and literature racks. Yet, that is only a small part of what creates the customer experience. Every detail--from the presentation of the graphic materials, the consistency and ease of solving the customer's financial concerns, to the amount of time it takes to deliver products and services--must be orchestrated. Take a good look around your branch. What do you see? Which of these common pitfalls contribute to creating a less-than-ideal customer experience in your branches?

1. Are there too many messages? Confronted with too many marketing messages, a customer will ignore all of them. Even with the best visual message, the customer will invest only a few seconds to determine whether or not it is important Exhibit only one or two well-crafted messages. Other messages can be delivered to the customer either on demand or in a more personal format.

2. Are the messages presented in a cluttered manner? Are the messages' content consistent or presented in a contradictory voice--that is, personality or mood?

   When the advertising agency, marketing group, facilities manager and branch-training manager are all on a different page, the result is a confusing jumble. There must be visual consistency, a common voice and design cohesiveness in all branch communication, merchandising and promotional materials.

3. Are the message categories clear? Marketing messages are not the only kind of message displayed in a branch. There may be informational messages designed to develop better understanding of products. Other examples are policy and instructional signage. Sometimes, signage for these purposes is...