Help boost the economy with better small-business services.

• Author: Motley, L. Biff
• Position: Customer Satisfaction

Recognizing that small businesses provide the bulk of American job growth and economic forward momentum, the Obama Administration is beefing up its Small-Business Administration lending guarantee program. The aim is to help small businesses weather the storm by guaranteeing up to 90 percent of a qualifying loan and to eliminate many of the associated fees. Given the importance of small businesses to our economy, this makes sense. But we should also recognize that the majority of small businesses do not borrow and have other important needs that drive their choice of banks.

Generally, these folks are very busy running their shops and have minimal tune to manage their financial affairs. They often do their financial tasks and planning at the end of the day or on weekends when customers are not distracting them. For this reason, they like simplicity and appreciate having a banker at a nearby branch who can help. They want this banker to be knowledgeable and available when needed, but in addition, they like to go online and see what's going on with their accounts.

Here are five key strategies to think about if you want to go after this increasingly important segment of your market.

First, you should plan to have your branch managers make personal calls on small businesses located in their well defined trade areas. A calling plan sometimes scares branch managers, but smaller businesses appreciate the attention. Make sure those managers maintain longevity with that branch so as to facilitate strong word-of-mouth buzz about their caring attitude. Build a list of prospects for each branch and have the manager call on a limited number each week. Then have branch manager meetings where managers can share their experiences with each other.

Second, support this effort with a small, but well conceived and executed personalized direct mail initiative. Personal letters from the branch managers to both customer and prospects will reinforce and expand the relationships you are building. These...