From David and Goliath to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic hockey team, people love an underdog story. However, that’s not always the case when it comes to the financial industry.
While a majority of consumers — 58 percent — recently told The Harris Poll that they prefer to deal with local and regional banks and credit unions over large national banks, your community financial institution will still be fighting those big banks for market share for the foreseeable future. And it’s not going to get any easier.
As you’ve no doubt witnessed in recent years, those national institutions have spent millions of dollars on the digital banking revolution, while fintechs and other nontraditional organizations have muscled their way into the financial space.
Your bank or credit union might not have the resources to offer a smartphone app on par with Chase or the high-tech functionality of the Goldman Sachs-backed Apple Card, but that doesn’t mean you can’t compete with these big institutions and win the battle in other areas.
Here are some ways you can punch above your weight and make your smaller financial institution stand out against large organizations.
Provide a Superior Experience
What your institution lacks in resources, deposits, and assets compared to big banks, you can make up for in the experience you provide to customers. Smaller banks and credit unions can be more flexible and should have a better understanding of their customers’ financial situations and needs.
Customers want to feel valued no matter where they take their money, and big financial institutions sometimes struggle with providing customers the same level of personal attention as a community bank or credit union. While large banks can certainly offer certain services that appeal to various customers, a small organization’s place in a community simply makes it more capable of a personal experience.
Make Personal Connections
At a large financial institution, an account holder is probably just one of millions of accounts. While technology has made personalization of messaging — whether for marketing or providing account information — relatively simple, there’s still something special about a smaller organization that can tap into local connections.
After all, your institution’s president and managers are going to be recognizable faces from around the community. That personal connection is more difficult to pull off for a large national bank. The CEO of Wells Fargo isn’t likely to be seen attending a Little League Baseball game in Durant, OK.
It’s important for your community bank or credit union to capitalize on that familiarity. Get your staff members involved in community events and make sure each customer feels like a member of the family rather than just another account number.
Maintain Communication
We all have those friends or family members who have drifted away over the years. They simply don’t stay in touch. You might think of them every once in a while, but in many ways they’re out of sight and out of mind. Don’t let that be your organization.
If you want to give your customers a personalized experience that makes them feel like they’re a part of the bank or credit union family, maintain communication. Email newsletters are a great way to keep your customers current on events at your institution and in the community while keeping you in their thoughts, even if they don’t need to visit the branch today.
Continued engagement means your customers will think about you when it comes time for a new house, auto loan, or retirement account. Keep letting them know that you’re a member of the community and you care just as much about their growth and success as you do your own institution’s growth and success.
By offering a more personal experience, being an active member of the community, and staying in touch with your customers, you can better position your community bank or credit union to take on the big financial institutions in your own backyard. What have you done to punch above your financial institution’s weight?
