Building trust

Need to know the moment your paycheck lands in your banking account? There’s an application for that. Want to make a deposit while you’re hundreds of miles from home? There’s an app for that, too. Want to feel good about the people you pay to manage your money? That one is still in the works.

“Undoubtedly, technology has provided many great tools in the arsenal to serve client needs,” says Tony Mayfield, president of UMB Bank for the central Missouri region. “But, while people love convenience, they still want people who know their families and business and current financial situation. They want the human touch — and so far, there’s nothing that can replace that.”

In the banking world, customer service is measured in a variety of ways. From the aesthetic appeal to the dollars and cents, banks have a list of criteria that include account operations, ATM convenience, mobile options and professional behavior and appearance.

At The Bank of Missouri, staff members never stop thinking about ways to reach out to customers. In an age where business is easily conducted without ever meeting or speaking, it becomes increasingly important to get creative about ways to build personal connections. The bank’s drive-through teller system is one example of its strategy to overcome communication barriers.

The “fast food” approach to banking — just having customers conduct fast transactions without getting out of the car — isn’t enough, says David Keller, president of The Bank of Missouri. To help counter that lack of connection, live video screens have been built into each banking lane that provide “face to face” personal communication.

Supporting clients

Customer service also means supporting the client after he or she has made the decision to do business with the bank, says Mary Ropp, Bank of Missouri business development officer. Example of that, she explains, are the full-page advertisements the bank runs each month in the Columbia Business Times. Each month the bank spotlights a new client. Afterward, that ad continues to live on in a rotating pool of ads to be seen by readers who access the magazine’s website.

The bank also makes good use of such social media sites as Facebook. This month, it is running a game called “Business of the Day.” If online “friends” are the first to guess which business they are describing, he or she wins a batch of fresh cookies.

“Those are just a couple ways we keep in communication with our clients,” Ropp says. “We are always looking for ways to connect and ways to better serve those people and businesses that do banking with us.”

Calling clients

Good customer service is a win-win situation for everybody. Clients benefit, of course. But it’s smart business for the banks, too.

Mary Wilkerson, senior vice president of marketing with Boone County National Bank, says it is much more cost efficient to manage current relationships than to court new clients. Attracting new customers is costly business, she says — with hidden costs like marketing campaigns and hiring sales staff.

Boone County National Bank has one direct approach for overcoming the gaps created by electronic business: They pick up the telephone. As part of the bank’s ongoing efforts to collect feedback, staff members often call clients for the sole purpose of making sure they are happy customers.

“It was easier in the old days when people walked inside to do their banking,” Wilkerson says. “You could ask them how they’re doing. You could see facial expressions. But in today’s world, it’s important that we make that effort to reach out.”

Another way to reach out to customers is to handwrite thank-you notes. “Handwritten thank-you notes go a long way for people,” says Cheryl Jarvis, senior vice president of Landmark Bank. She says the bank has been doing this for several years, and writing notes to customers they haven’t seen lately or people who have just done business offers a personal touch.

Dealing with service fees

Historically, customers tend to express the most disappointment regarding service fees. But banks operate like any other for-profit entity, offering a service with a value.

“We offer support for the money movement and management; and providing those services comes with a cost,” Mayfield says. “We hire staff, maintain various locations, keep up with technology. I think most area banks make the cost of those services transparent. Bank statements show what those fees help pay for.”

Valerie Shaw, executive vice president with Commerce Bank knows that it is crucial to provide customers with the latest and greatest in electronic banking options. Technology has moved the industry forward in great leaps, providing ways to recover account history or provide mobile banking access.

But beyond all the gadgets, good customers service always has, and always will, come down to building trust. And that means listening and responding to customers’ needs.

“It’s about more than just selling a service,” Shaw says. “Many times we are doing business with our friends and neighbors and people we know in the city. I really believe that’s a big part of what makes us great. We not only work in our community, we live here — and we genuinely care about our customers.”