Pub. 11 2020 Issue 2

Pub. 11 2020 I Issue 2 15 West Virginia Banker the majority of employees have embraced this both phil- osophically and practically. You really can’t have the latter without the former. All of our customer conversation framework (workshops, training materials, communication, observations, feed- back, etc.) is built on the philosophical premise that people generally want to be helpful, and if “helpful” is properly and reasonably defined and they are confident in their approach, they’ll be much more successful, and as a result, feel a greater sense of satisfaction in their roles. Also, the foundation of our “business development” ap- proach is proactive outreach with the sole objective of being a resource for our customers first, no strings attached. New busi- ness opportunities will result over time based on relationships. City has a large branch network; do you encourage each branch to tailor local marketing strategies to serve the individual needs of its community? To some degree, yes, but primarily we encourage branches to serve the local community needs in two ways. First, we want our branches to support the organizations and initiatives they care about. Secondly, we don’t expect people to follow a cor- porate script for customer conversations and service because that would sound scripted and robotic. What we stress is that the details of exceptional service are universal. Hundreds of studies have shown that culture is the leading predictor of future growth and profitability. What does City do to keep its employees motivated and excited to come to work? The famed management consultant Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s true. To try to define it by rattling off a list of things would be missing the essence of culture. I wish it were that simple. It’s like dissecting and making sense of DNA. At its core, I feel the leadership at City genuinely cares about its employees, and its employees care about each other. City is far from perfect, but at its core, there resides a good corporate soul; one that places a premium on honesty, transparency, a desire to give people the tools and, more importantly, reasons to contribute; and then trusting people to do their jobs well. What have been the biggest challenges City has faced and how have you embraced them? As customers continue to shift to alternate and digital bank channels, our number one objective has been to provide per- spective for our branch employees; emphasizing and re-em- phasizing that the growing use of other channels doesn’t make their jobs and the service provided less important. And that the great thing about this is that we control how impor- tant we remain by the service and advice we provide. As for challenges, they certainly exist. In particular, one ongoing challenge is the speed of vendors we rely on to deliver suitable, reliable digital products or services. The largest banks in the country typically beat community banks to the market in this space because they have the internal resources to build what they need. And with other non-bank players entering the space in recent years, we’re not just competing with other banks. As more customer’s transition from branch depend- ent to using mostly digital services, what are some measures City has implemented to help maintain customer experience? I would argue “mostly digital” is a perception and overstated. We’ve embraced the need to focus on digital services, but they are complementary to the in-person experience, not exclusive of it. Year after year in JD Power’s retail banking study, the digi- tal-only customer group has by far the lowest satisfaction rating of all groups. People want, need and value a personal connec- tion and advice based on their individual circumstances. In fact, City’s Net Promotor Score (a measure of how likely customers would be to recommend a company to others) was the 15th highest in the country in the most recent JD Power survey. By far, the most common reason stated as to why the rating was given was the “in-person service” provided and the fact the customers “knew” the staff. The details that matter are universal for any career where being engaged, personal and helpful are of value (and I’m still trying to find one where it doesn’t). It just isn’t enough for most people to hear it’s the “City way” or to hand them service standards and expect them to care. It has to matter to each individual. There has to be a personal connection and they have to see, believe in, and experience the value of making it habit.  City National Bank Continued on Page 16