Sometimes a few little things can go a long way to boost customer satisfaction.

• Position: Marketing News

A financial institution does not have to make big or expensive changes in order to improve its customer satisfaction and retention. That's one of the findings of a year-long customer satisfaction initiative of the Deluxe Knowledge Exchange Collaborative, a group of 11 financial institutions that do research and exchange "best practices." The collaborative is organized by Deluxe Corp., the check printer.

The collaborative members started by auditing their own institutions to gain insight into the customer experience during the first 90 days following a new-account opening. Next, they conducted detailed interviews with new customers and analyzed the location's physical environment and staff behavior. Finally, they worked with experts to develop strategies to improve customer satisfaction, especially during the first 90 clays following new-account openings. The strategies were then tested in branches for three months.

The strategies boosted customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and employee engagement between 10 and 30 percent among participating branches, according to Deluxe. Little things can have a big impact on customer satisfaction, according to Marnie Hermann, senior executive vice president and director of marketing for Security First Bank, which has 22 branches in South Dakota and Nebraska. it was one of the institutions that participated in the 90-day test. "A series of small changes can...