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I have a friend who is a Kung Foo master. I don’t think he’s at the level of an IP Man or Bruce Lee, but he’s the real deal and community bankers could learn a thing or two from him. To be honest, I really don’t know anything about the marshal arts other than what I’ve seen in the movies from guys like Bruce Lee, Jet Lee, and Jackie Chan or conversations with my friend. Nevertheless, he suggests he has honed his senses to feel where an opponent might be weak and tries to exploit that weakness in combat.
Being skeptical, on several different occasions, I’ve called him out by asking, “Where am I weak today?” He’s pointed out the lower back pain, the headache, or the hitch in my knee. I’m not sure how he does it, but he’s spot on every time.
Not too long ago, Harris Polls research exposed a big bank weakness community banks should exploit.
40 percent of those surveyed by Harris who are customers at large national banks do not feel “very loyal” to their bank and 58 percent say they don’t believe their bank has their best interests at heart. 42 percent of them feel their bank takes advantage of them with the fees they charge.
I’m personally not of the opinion that national banks are particularly evil or are trying to take advantage of their customers. In fact, as a small business owner, the best “community banking” experience I ever had was with a wonderful banker who happened to be at of one of the big boys. That said, if this poll is correct, nearly half of big bank customers are unhappy and could be “…ripe for the pickin’,” as my grandmother was fond of saying.
The bad news is that dissatisfaction isn’t always enough to convince them a smaller community bank is a viable option. Discussing this same report, Bryan Yurcan of Bank Systems & Technology writes, “While 23 percent reported they’re at least ‘somewhat likely’ to switch their checking account to a local community bank or credit union this year, 63 percent of large bank customers say a recognizable brand name is at least somewhat important to them when choosing a bank.”
Our banker, let’s call him the ‘big bank community banker’ did a few things I’ve found to be unique over the last few years that made a big difference for us. Enough of a difference that when he became the president of a community bank a few years later, we took all our banking business and followed him to the community bank. What he did wasn’t rocket science, it wasn’t a bigger list of small business banking services, it wasn’t the recognizable brand of the particular bank, but it was the way he worked to create a real relationship with us rather than just talking about it.
It doesn’t matter what your radio ads or your billboards along the Interstate say. Successful community bankers who spend regular time with the small businesses in their community will be able to exploit a weakness of their bigger national colleagues and as Mr. Miagi told Daniel-san, “If do right, no can defend.”
I’d love to hear any of your success stories about building relationships instead of simply talking about them.
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Small business evangelist and veteran of over 30 years in the trenches of Main Street business, Ty makes small business financing and trends accessible in common sense language devoid of the jargon.
Blog
4 min read • Aug 11, 2022