By Kevin L. Shivers, CAE
President and CEO, PACB
“What Makes You Want to Put Your Money in This One?”
That comment was said by the VP of Sales for Williams Manufacturing, highlighting the fact that between 1955 and 1970, coin-operated amusement machines made more money than the entire American movie industry combined.
The correct “guess” or decision often meant added revenue and success. Incorrectly forecasting demand and not giving customers what they desired, created disappointing financial results for company owners and shareholders.
We can see that question at work still today, at those moments when people in communities all across Pennsylvania ask themselves this same question about their bank: “Why Should I Put My Money in This One?”
At PACB, we know that customer capture and retention is an increasingly important part of your business.
We want to ensure that each day, we give our community bank members the tools and information that can help differentiate them to their customers in increasingly clear and positive ways.
At our “Creating a Sales Culture in Your Community Bank” conference on March 7, presenter Todd Cohen detailed the growing importance of the mindset that every employee is a sales person. That the first impression to your customer is the most critical, especially in community banking. Rarely do you get a second chance to make that first impression!
For our educational programming throughout 2023, you will see other top presenters with timely topics that will deliver new insight and skills to all levels of your team, meant to further their engagement in meeting your institution’s need to deliver outstanding customer satisfaction and memorable experiences. We’re offering comprehensive packages in Commercial Lending, Marketing, HR and Risk Management to do just that.
Our government relations and advocacy work this year will bring our concerns and issues with banking in the Commonwealth into a clearer focus for our elected representatives, hopefully providing for you and your shareholders more time and resources available to grow assets and deposits, and to better position your organization to increase loan activity and the number of account holders.
For all that PACB can offer in terms of tools, talent and networking, it remains each members prerogative to best maximize the value of their membership dollar in our Association. It’s an investment that can reap dividends many-fold by your team becoming better educated about financial products and services and participating with others in community banker education, and in networking with our Associate and Preferred Providers. Gathering face-to-face will also further increase the exchange of new ideas, and initiate new thinking which can lead to better processes and customer outcomes.
I invite you to spread our outgoing information to your fellow workmates, concerning our 2023 training curriculum and events—and to take note of the recent mini wall-posters that detail training events and the PACB Scholarship program—so that others on your team can become even more engaged.
Our mission is simply this: When it comes to a potential customer’s question of “Why should I put my money in this one?”, we want PACB’s programming and member networking to best position our member’s community bank for future success. And that means their decision will always be an easy one!
