3 Ways to Strengthen Relationships with Your Small Business Customers
Thought Leadership |
Above Average: Unlocking the Full Potential of the Small Business Market
key points
Financial Institutions in the U.S. have a potential for growth by utilizing small business banking services.
Financial Institutions must find a balance between traditional and innovative approaches, ensuring a high-tech and high-touch experience.
Technology provides institutions with the competitive advantage needed to successfully serve small business customers.
For many financial institutions (FIs) in the United States, small businesses represent a vital market that hasn’t yet been fully banked. Depending on what these FIs do next, this could be viewed as an occasion for growth, or a lost opportunity.
Small business in the U.S. has continued to grow since the COVID-19 pandemic. Today there are over 33 million small businesses in the market, who represent $115 billion in revenue. With today’s advanced technology, financial institutions can tap into the unmet potential of small business banking. To do so, they must strike the right balance between a traditional high-touch strategy and an innovative high-tech approach.
Time for Innovation: Delivering High-Tech to Small Businesses
Traditionally, small business banking has been approached with a high-touch process. However, it’s no longer enough to rely only on in-branch experiences and services when it comes to small business banking clients.
“Our small business customers today aren't just a mom-and-pop shop necessarily,” said Anni Mollett Head of Centralized Commercial Credit Management at TD Bank, during a recent webinar with nCino. “They have a variety of interests, and they need a variety of products that we must bring to their institutions, whether it’s a traditional product or a more bespoke product.”
Technology is a crucial part of meeting the small business customer wherever they are, whether this is in a branch, completely online, or at their business.
Leveraging Technology to Create a Balanced High-Tech High-Touch Experience
Although the world is shifting to be more digitally focused, consumers still value in-person interactions. Therefore, it’s still important to provide a human aspect to the banking journey.
“It’s not just about the digital experience,” said Garrett Adams, General Manager of Small Business Banking. “Digital experience is really important, especially a slick frictionless front end. It’s very worthwhile and something that should be focused on, but customers really care about things like time to money, time to yes, the value they’re getting out of that experience too.”
“Any financial institution that doesn’t constantly think about the client experience and isn’t relentless in the pursuit of better client experience loses in today’s world,” added Anni Mollett.
The four top factors that will contribute to a successful high-tech high-touch approach are:
Personalization
Understanding the unique needs of small businesses
Technology
Competitive nature
With the technology available today, a high-tech, high-touch model will give institutions the competitive advantage they need to successfully serve their small business customers. Having a strong digital banking platform is a great place to start.
For more insights into finding the right balance in small business banking, watch the on-demand webinar now.
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