|
This month, a further look at managing your core vendor relationship, and some thoughts on keeping all your points of customer contact fresh and clean
The Voice of Your Bank
While many customers are choosing digital channels rather than in-person banking, it remains important that the impression created by a person to person contact be a positive one. Take a look at all the ways customers are reaching out to you, and be sure that the way each call or contact is "answered" puts your bank's best foot forward.
Customers are still walking into your branches. Are they greeted and served promptly? Customers are calling on the phone - is it someone's job to make sure the call is answered promptly and courteously? Let's not make tellers have to choose between the customer in front of them and a ringing phone. Centralizing phone calls can be the first step toward a call center environment, a topic we will discuss soon.
If it is necessary to place a caller on hold, what are they going to hear? Consider:
> Have you spent any time investigating how your on-hold messages sound?
>You could have anything from static to a station that plays ads for your competitors.
My point here is that every customer contact represents your bank. Take time to make sure that you are represented well. This includes investigating current systems and practices, AND taking the time to educate and train employees about customer contacts.
Core Corner
Our core banking software word for the day is "sunset." In the software world, vendors discontinue a product by announcing a sunset date beyond which there will be no further development or support for the product. In the early days when the various software vendors were merging and acquiring other products, sunsetting was a common practice.
But the vendors soon learned that these planned or forced events might result in lost customers. So a software approach was begun, whereby a particular product might be placed in a phase out mode, with a clear migration path to another of the vendor's products. This phase out mode would include limited development, primarily regulatory changes, and reduced support models over time. Banks responded better to these solutions and vendors were able to retain customers.
While a "hard" sunset is unlikely today, it IS important that you are aware of the status of your current software solution relative to other vendor offerings. I can promise you that any pronouncements that "all of Vendor X's products will be merged into a single product in 1 to 2 years" are false. The sheer number of banks, running different software solutions, makes this impossible. Instead of worrying about a secret sunset date, focus on knowing your solution, and your vendor's plans for it. The term is "roadmap." Ask your vendor to show you their plans for your current solution for the 3 to 5 year term. Plans under 3 years should be very specific, while longer plans can be more general. Understanding these plans for your current solution are critical to effectively managing your core vendor relationship.
SIDEBAR: The Core of the Future
I've written about this extensively, and will do so again, but let me give you some quick guidelines. I think that most of the current banking vendors will develop a cloud based solution, one application at a time, allowing existing banks to migrate in a piece by piece way to a newer application. So yes, over time I think most vendors will consolidate to a single solution. But it will be done in a way that provides the easiest possible migration path.
As always, I stand ready to help you with these or other matters. Feel free to email, call, or text. I am always glad to learn more about your bank and ways I might be of service.
Trent Fleming
trent@trentfleming.com
901.896.4007
If you are new to my newsletter, you should know that I serve as a trusted advisor to financial institutions. My goal is to help community banks make good decisions on matters of strategy, management, and technology.
| 
