Engage Members at the Branch

CUNA’s E-Scan Newsletter
August 5, 2010 | COMMENTS

Despite dire predictions, the branch is very much alive and viable according to Bancography.com. “The branch is your institution's most important marketing vehicle,” says John Mathes, Bancography's branding expert. Unfortunately, Mathes reports seeing mostly missed opportunities in the hundreds of branch visits he makes every year.

The top 10 areas of opportunity for branch engagement, marketing, and sales, according to Mathes, are:

Windows. As the retail industry has long known, windows are usually the institution's first chance to make a branding or promotional statement. Studies show that most people will glance at a retail window, but not that of a financial institution—usually because there's nothing to see. Today, there are dozens of window-specific products and materials, many of which allow you to display a message and still be able to see out.

Drive-up. To sell to a captive audience, drive-up lanes offer the perfect opportunity for your promotional messages. Banner stands, window clings, weatherproof poster frames, and ATM surrounds are standard fare. But are there other marketing opportunities? Wrap a pole with a graphic. Put your web address on the tubes. Think outside the box, but keep it simple.

Entry/vestibule. A buffer between the exterior and the interior of the branch helps the visitor acclimate upon entering the branch. It's the perfect place to make your members feel welcome, while you deliver soft brand messages. Additionally, this area can offer an opportunity to converse with them as they leave.

Engagement strategy. If greeting members is your first priority as they enter, think about how you accomplish this. From a meet/greet station? From the teller line? Avoid the most common misstep—the empty greeter desk. Built when staffing was more robust, many of these are now uninviting barriers to doing business. If you're not going to staff the desk, get rid of it.

To staff a greeter area during busy periods, construct a small café-height table that someone can stand beside. When the table is not staffed, it doesn't look abandoned. You can dispense literature from it or equip it with technology for online demos.

Wayfinding. Beyond heading straight to the teller line for a transaction, most people don't have a clue what purpose those offices and desks serve. They may be hesitant to sit down in a waiting area for fear of being ignored. Help them out by pointing the way to products, services, and navigable areas. For signage cues, look again to retail, where the best store designs help customers find their way to products.

Teller line. The teller line can quickly become the most abused area in the branch. As a magnet for clutter, it's the toughest area to enforce good housekeeping policies. Three items belong on the teller line: small, tasteful, regulatory mandates in permanent fixtures; teller names in matching fixtures; and marketing messages. Stick to these three and you're your members will gain a favorable first impression of your teller line.

Promotional goods. Becoming increasingly popular again, promotional giveaways present a great way to secure new business. Displaying items in the branch for visibility makes sense, but haphazard placement does not. Designate an area, table, kiosk or other fixture for the promotion and use effective signage to explain how to obtain the goods.

Community messages/hand made signs. It's important to support your community, charitable efforts, and local business partners, and displaying related messages is part of that support. Just remember to contain everything in one area. The simplest solution is to use a bulletin board. The downside to this approach is lack of control over the postings and visual arrangement. Another option is a controlled display behind glass so the designated branch associate can maintain the look and validity of the messages.

Digital signage. Commonly called “flat screens,” digital signage is everywhere.

Used correctly, digital messaging is a highly effective selling tool. But sadly, most flat screens are installed and forgotten, or tuned to a cable news network. It takes a lot of content to keep the messages new, relevant, and motivating. Suffice it to say that most branches have digital signage in the wrong place, at the wrong height, and running someone else's content.

Point-of-sale messaging. Point-of-sale messaging, according to Mathes, is the most critical component on the list. The biggest issue with point-of-sale is too much content. Treat a poster as if it were a billboard, not a newspaper ad. Keep the messages to five or six words or less. Do you really need your logo if the viewers are already inside your branch?

Effective promotion should generally follow the “announce, amplify, explain” approach: announce the promotion in a few words on a banner, window or poster; provide more information on a counter card at the check writing desk or teller line; give a full explanation in a brochure or take-one slip. And don't tape point-of-sale signs to walls or windows. Invest in a branded merchandising system.

You're probably familiar with many of these opportunity areas already, but Mathes points out that with branch housekeeping and marketing messages, things can quickly go astray. The result—missed sales opportunities, which in a competitive marketplace no one can afford to lose.

This article originally appeared in CUNA's E-Scan Newsletter. Reprinted with permission.