It’s the beginning of the week. You just spent your weekend watching remodeling shows on cable. You’ve seen how an outdated restaurant with a staff of felons can be brought to salvation through a new menu and 48 hours of inspired paint and carpentry.
But as you look around your bank, it looks more like an episode of Hoarders than Celebrity Getaways. With all the critical investments in technology, maybe your lobby image has fallen off the radar screen (or perhaps off the table entirely).
The community banking story is one that is best-told face to face. You have the ability to show your customers why community banking is the right choice. The opportunity is to make the most of the limited time your customers give you while in the bank. We need to convey your facility from transaction-based to relationship based.
To find the direction for remodeling your space, ask yourself (and your key staff) the following questions:
What do we do that our competitors don’t? Asked another way, if our bank didn’t exist anymore, what would people miss?
- What is the heritage of our bank or our town?
- Does our layout encourage sharing of responsibilities?
- Do the carpet, wall covering, ceilings and furniture support our image?
- Are only 2 of our 5 teller stations being used? Are we still using a teller station vs concierge station?
- Is our lobby & drive-up teller area as efficient as it can be?
- Are we cross-selling to our customers with monitors and technology when they come into the bank and at the drive-up?
- Are we providing our staff with the technology tools, such as teller cash recyclers, to make their job easier so they can spend more free time with customers?
Customers are drawn to experiences that are memorable. There are a lot of great ways to gain efficiency and convey your bank’s personality in your space. By making the effort to redesign your space, you can put your building to work for you as a marketing tool, cueing staff to say the right things and showing customers that you are the place to bring their banking needs.
