Creating meaningful space
By “creating space,” we don’t necessarily mean adding more square feet. More likely than not, “creating space” won’t require one additional square inch and may even lead to reducing your physical branch square footage.
It's about being accessible to your customers in the ways that work for them.
How are your customers currently interacting with your institution?
How are you learning more about their preferences? Through industry research? Directly asking them? Testing and learning new technology?
It’s about selecting and retaining engaged employees who can advise customers on their financial questions.
How have you revamped your recruiting and interviewing processes to attract employees with skills that align with the needs of today’s consumers?
What motivates your employees and how are you aligning your incentive programs to match?
It’s about removing 'clutter' that limits an employee's ability to meaningfully interact with customers.
What processes stand in the way of best serving your customers? In interviews with branch staff, we so often hear that it takes 30-60 minutes to open a deposit account - in what ways are you reviewing your current state processes and working toward streamlining day-to-day tasks – both customer-facing and behind the scenes?
What content is truly meaningful to your customers?
Before you can determine your path to “creating more space,” assess your unique situation – learn more deeply about your customers and what they are seeking. Take stock of what customer experience you are currently creating and determine the experience you want to offer. It may be that the solution for your institution is more involved, such as acquiring and deploying transaction technology, or it may be less capital-intensive, such as tweaking branch choreography, or updating a legacy process, to make space for your customers and employees to interact.
If you’re feeling stuck, give us a call. We've got the data-driven, customer-focused methodology to help build a strategy that will both increase efficiency and enhance customer experience.
