Comments on: The State of Branches In The Age of Automated Banking http://thefinancialbrand.com/26055/bancography-branch-strategy-briefing/ Ideas and insights for financial marketers. Sun, 19 May 2013 23:11:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Spotlight: Frontier Bank – Life Behind Our Brand | brass Media http://thefinancialbrand.com/26055/bancography-branch-strategy-briefing/#comment-67260 Spotlight: Frontier Bank – Life Behind Our Brand | brass Media Tue, 07 May 2013 18:53:50 +0000 http://thefinancialbrand.com/?p=26055#comment-67260 [...] Every financial institution would love to have branch traffic increase year over year. In reality, however, customers are doing the opposite.  In the past 5 years (across the industry), median branch transactions have dropped 25%. [...]

]]> By: Robert M Chapman http://thefinancialbrand.com/26055/bancography-branch-strategy-briefing/#comment-52078 Robert M Chapman Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:13:24 +0000 http://thefinancialbrand.com/?p=26055#comment-52078 Very interesting article! I first heard a banker speak in the early ’60s about having to “sell” banking services. Now 50 years later bankers still resist “selling” concepts. I have just been engaged to train a small chosen group of bankers to sell checking accounts without using the word “sell”! This concept came as a result of teaching thrifts to sell annuities in the mid ’80s.

My challange is to find language that these select bankers can embrace without feeling like they are selling. The great expense banks have invested to teach their people to sell has been used to create static selling concepts for everyone to use. Relationship people need language they, idividually, can be comfortable with to address the needs of the prospective customers.

Most bank employees have chosen their career because of their
comfort in providing service verses selling. They just need language with which they can get comfortable.

]]> By: Jim Marous http://thefinancialbrand.com/26055/bancography-branch-strategy-briefing/#comment-51713 Jim Marous Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:54:31 +0000 http://thefinancialbrand.com/?p=26055#comment-51713 The math is clear: Lower transaction count + higher costs + lower transaction revenue = recipe for disaster. And while the industry would love the branches to become locations to provide advice and the center for selling, this has been our goal for as long as I have been in the business (very long). The difference now is that there are more accessible options for advice (i.e. the internet) and more customer centric ways to buy (vs. sell) online.

In the end, the industry has to read the writing on the wall and find a way to downsize significantly before the consumer shrinks it for us (this has already started).

]]> By: Brendon http://thefinancialbrand.com/26055/bancography-branch-strategy-briefing/#comment-51712 Brendon Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:37:53 +0000 http://thefinancialbrand.com/?p=26055#comment-51712 Fantastic article. Fits everything we’re seeing and talking about in community banking in northwest Ohio.

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