A Note from our CEO, Scott Soderberg

 

Any good marketing professional knows that the first rule in advertising is to capture the customer’s attention.  Using a catchphrase that appears to offer great value for an affordable price (see above headline) is a time-tested strategy.  If you’re still reading, it worked, right?

Businesses spend tons of time and resources figuring out how to up their customer service game.  Top quality customer service is the bedrock of business at all levels, and whoever provides the highest level of customer satisfaction has the happiest customers.  But what separates good customer service from great, impactful, and difference-making customer service?  Is there something that is part of all superior interactions with customers?  The answer, of course, is yes.

Think about it from the customer’s perspective for a minute.  Why is that person in the store, on the phone, or in an online chat interacting with a representative of a company?  It might be a buyer making a simple purchase; a potential customer seeking an answer to a question about a product or service; an aggrieved person lodging a complaint; or, very commonly, someone attempting to explain a very unique situation that affects the relationship between merchant and customer—inability to pay, dissatisfaction resulting from the use of a product or provision of a service, etc.  If that person is you, what are you looking for at a very basic level on your way to a hopefully successful resolution of your transaction/issue?

It sounds simple, because it is.  It’s no different than what you would expect from any other meaningful human interaction in your life.  The magic potion is…genuine compassion for the other person’s situation.  Compassion is unlike any other commodity in the marketplace—even though it is unfortunately hard to find these days, it is cheap and always available.  But it is even more important when the subject of the interaction is something that is deeply personal.  Financial matters, especially starting/expanding a business or buying a home, are often the biggest financial decisions made in one’s lifetime.  When contemplating these significant money moves, it makes sense to work with a financial institution that understands their importance in your life.  Knowing you, and therefore what is most important to you, is the very foundation of everything we do here.  We do it because we can—we are a small community bank made up of your friends and neighbors, making all decisions right here where you live.  True compassion is based on familiarity and understanding, and it literally is our mission: “To be a trusted partner with our customers, prioritizing their financial health and well-being, delivering best-in-class banking services, state of the art technology, and exceptional customer service.”  Thank you for trusting us with your business, and feel free to refer others who could use a little…well, you know…in the New Year.