By Robert W. Steiner

Never in the history of banking has the power been as firmly in the hands of the end user as it is today. The customer will continue to dictate when, how and where they will interact (if at all) with your bank. The influence of the Internet upon the choice and the delivery of products and services will only acerbate this situation. Remember the line from the movie, Fields of Dreams: "build it and they will come"?

That may be very good advice if you are building a ball field in the middle of Iowa. However, in spite of the fact that there are some bankers who do believe in such a naïve approach, it just plain does not happen that way in today’s financial service industry. The day of opening the doors of your bank and watching the flood of eager-to-be customers rushing in to establish accounts is gone forever (if that truly ever was the scenario).The present organizers and management of community banks must constantly remind themselves of two important facts: a) if they cannot (or will not) effectively market their products and services to the community, someone else will; and b) it takes a high degree of experience and skill to successfully market a financial institution today. It is rare, if ever, that we find members of bank management who are both consummate bankers and outstanding marketers. This is not a failing on the part of any member of the senior management team, but rather a result of both disciplines having been honed in distinctly different environments, under a distinctly different set of drivers. This is not to imply that the senior management team is incapable of being responsible for the effective administration of the bank’s marketing program. Rather, our message is that the actual designing and implementation of marketing campaigns today are best left to marketing professionals who can and will work in concert with senior management.

If today’s bankers intend, or pretend to be marketing alchemists (who can turn an empty lobby into one filled with golden customers), then they must have an intimate working knowledge of the following:

• Product development
• Public relations
• Direct print response
• E-mail marketing
• Advertising placement
• Graphic design
• Product roll-out
• Market research
• Branding, brand ID and extensions
• Sales culture development
• Promotions and fulfillment

With all due respect, if bankers possessed the skills and competencies necessary to effectively deal with all the areas listed below, then they most likely would not be practicing the fine art of banking. They would in turn, be marketing experts. It is just not realistic to assume that the bank will find both of those disciplines in the same body. The point is that the banker and the marketer can meld their talents to create synergy in order to grow the bank and enhance shareholder value.

In the golden 1970’s and 1980’s the marketplace was much more forgiving. Many banks succeeded in spite of themselves. Other banks failed because they had no definitive marketing plan in place to counter the intense pressure exerted upon them by their fellow competitors and other non-banking entities. The rules have changed and we can no longer assume (hope?) that customers will deal with us solely because of their disenchantment with the level of service they are currently receiving from their present financial service provider (although this is a critical selling point). We must craft and send a consistent message that speaks to value-added, cost-effective relationships built on products and services that the customer wants and controls. In order to do this effectively, you need marketing professionals on your team to support your plans and help you realize your goals.

However, before you can develop a well-crafted and effective marketing plan you must do the research necessary to answer the following questions about your potential market:

• Who will constitute our specific target markets?
• What are our potential customers' needs and preferences?
• What financial service products are they currently using or not using?
• Who are our key competitors and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
• How do you plan to differentiate our bank from the rest of the pack?
• Who are the bank’s stakeholders and what can we do involve them in the process of growing the bank?

Those to whom you want to attract as customers believe that your bank is going to be a "cutting-edge" organization. Cutting-edge organizations have cutting-edge strategic plans driving cutting-edge marketing programs. The public today is demanding and has very little patience with the ordinary.

Is your bank up to the task?