Some banks continue to fall short on how they treat their small business customers as the credit union industry touts its reputation for its treatment of members.
According to an ath Power Consulting survey of nearly 600 in-person visits to 20 large and mid-size banks conducted in the second and third quarters, 24% said they would not become a customer based on their initial experience. The survey was designed to uncover the customer experience offered by frontline sales and service staff.
"We would expect to see average evaluation scores above the 90th percentile for this market, but only 24% of the banks in our study scored that high; 29% scored less than 70% for overall service measures," said Frank Aloi, president of ath Power Consulting, a Boston research firm.
Business bankers who want to cement a relationship with small business owners after that first visit should try to determine what matters to the customer in business banking products and services, the data showed. They should also exhibit a clear understanding of business banking products and take responsibility for servicing inquiry or know where to refer the customer. Respondents said it would help if business bankers tried to determine their needs before beginning a conversation about specific products and services.
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