After Onboarding, Banks’ Most Potent Sales Strategy Is Patience
Bankers may have a natural impulse to push out products to new clients immediately after onboarding. But here’s why executives at Fifth Third, Valley and Frost say holding off is the better strategy.
By Polo Rocha, Reporter at The Financial Brand
Convincing a new customer to trust a bank with their finances is an exciting victory, but lenders should avoid rushing into sales mode before getting to know their clients.
That’s the message from retail executives at three regional banks, who tell The Financial Brand the first months of the relationship are critical to ensuring that clients stick around long-term. Understanding and managing new clients’ needs is paramount — pitching additional opportunities like credit cards, auto loans or wealth management services can come later.
"Our whole goal is to get you onboarded, build a relationship, get to know you and then be a part of the events that happen in your life into the future," says Shawn Niehaus, head of consumer banking at Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank, which is currently expanding its reach in the South.
Bankers have to "earn the right to win other business," says Mark Beausoleil, director of retail banking at New Jersey-based Valley National Bank, and those first impressions are key. The initial conversations help bankers fully familiarize themselves with clients’ financial footings and needs, all while crystallizing their mission to make clients’ "financial life easier," he says.
That advice is a far cry from the aggressive sales practices that plagued Wells Fargo years ago, and perhaps counterintuitive given banks’ desire to improve their bottom lines.
But at Frost Bank in Texas, the goal for initial conversations is "not to sell more products or services," says Mary Soesbee, vice president of statewide consumer banking. Rather, bankers must learn about customers’ financial goals, educate them on account tools and fraud prevention and ultimately try building a "relationship that lasts for generations," she says.
Want more insights like this? Check out Candescent’s content portal: Illuminating Insights in Digital-First Banking
Making Suggestions, Rather Than a Sales Pitch
The payoff may not be immediate, but it does yield big dividends. Banks that make customers happy enough to recommend them to friends grow revenues 1.7 times faster, according to a new study from Accenture. Revenue growth based on these referrals was even faster — 2.6 times — for North American banks compared to those in other continents.
But customers are unlikely to stick around and become advocates if they don’t feel the bank has their "best interest at heart," says Kim Kim Oon, an Accenture managing director who co-authored the study.
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The study, which surveyed 49,300 bank customers in 39 countries, found 46% have felt pressure to sign up for products that they felt served the bank better than themselves.
Bank outreach should "feel less like a sales pitch and more like Google Maps, offering smart, personalized suggestions without pushing them in a specific direction," Oon and her co-authors wrote in a report.
Whether online, by phone or in person, bankers are acutely aware of the need to strike that balance. Pushing a product that’s not a good fit leads to a "very confused and probably disillusioned client," says Beausoleil, the Valley National banker.
That makes initial onboarding conversations key. Bankers should instill that their role is to "make you money, save you money or make your financial life easier," Beausoleil says. Making that mission clear can help bankers ask the sometimes uncomfortable questions on financial goals — and make future follow-ups far more effective.
"If they don’t prove that to you, why are you going to take their call?" he says. "It sounds like just another person trying to sell you something."
Plenty of customers sign up for accounts online, but a personal call from a branch banker or invitation to a nearby branch goes a long way. Frost Bank employees reach out proactively to new customers, to educate them on account features or fraud prevention, but also to learn more about their interests and goals.
"When Frost bankers are making calls, the goal is to educate, discover, and build the relationship," Soesbee, the Frost vice president, says. "We don’t use the term ‘cross-sell,’ and we don’t incentivize our bankers to do it."
And at Fifth Third, the first 90 days are centered around "helping you get started, funding your account, getting access to Zelle," Niehaus says. First impressions are so critical that Fifth Third has focused on making the first moments smoother, including with a partnership with Atomic to help new customers switch their direct deposits within minutes.
Giving Retail Customers ‘White Glove’ Treatment
Those initial engagements don’t just help banks understand whether they’ll be a good fit for a certain products. They also help banks adapt their future outreach — how often to ping customers or whether they prefer phone calls, texts or app notifications.
"I don’t think engagement is one-size fits all," says Oon, the Accenture managing director. "It’s actually quite tailored."
Some sophisticated clients just want a bit of help getting going. Others want more help, are wondering about specific products or indicate they’re more receptive to outreach, says Beausoleil.
"We really need to march at the pace of what the customer needs," Beausoleil says.
Gareth Gaston, Chief Product Officer, at Candescent adds, "The great thing about the digital world is that we can turn something like client onboarding from an art into a science. By using a combination of emails, texts and onsite messaging together with your CRM to track customer contacts and actions, you can learn the best methods of contact, order and cadences for those communications to keep customers engaged."
Once a customer is underway, Frost employees contact them at least three times within their first year. And the bank wants to make sure it’s reachable too, with 24/7 customer service by phone and live chat.
"When anyone calls Frost, an actual person right here in Texas answers the call," says Soesbee. "Our chats are with real bankers, not robots."
Niehaus, the Fifth Third banker, says he’s been surprised at how effective phone calls have been — countering the notion that many no longer pick up the phone. It’s part of the "white glove treatment" Fifth Third aims to offer consumers, he says.
Rather than float its products across the board, Fifth Third leverages customer data to give clients personalized recommendations on ways to save money or products that might be a good fit. While those are displayed on their apps, bankers also call clients to share recommendations as they reach major milestones — either in their personal life or their journey with the bank.
"When you show value at that level, your clients will continue to pick up the phone," Niehaus says.
Managing Fallout/Tracking What Went Wrong
Inevitably, some customers may decide to quietly leave their banks — or end their relationships acrimoniously.
Valley uses exit surveys to ask customers "what went wrong, so we can learn," Beausoleil says. But it also measures client satisfaction with banker interactions along the way, prompting an immediate response from Valley to see if specific issues can be fixed.
The company also works with mystery shoppers to see whether bankers are on track with their messaging that Valley wants to be customers’ long-term financial partners.
At Fifth Third, the bank tracks complaints "very, very closely" to spot any potential trends and nip any issues in the bud, says Niehaus, the bank’s consumer banking head.
"A lot of times, when you do correct a problem or an issue quickly … customers are even more loyal to you," he says.
And it turns to focus groups to ensure the bank is keeping up with clients’ growing demands — because they’re far more complex than the transactions branches were long known for.
"If you can’t be a relationship-based bank, you’re probably going to struggle," Niehaus says. "Because it’s not about a transaction anymore. It’s about how you help me build towards the goals and dreams that I have."
Read more: Do ‘Lazy Loyalists’ Make You Think You’re Better at Customer Retention Than You Really Are?
