Study: Banks Find Strong Relationships Mean More Sales June 07, 2007
By Leo Jakobson
Even without adding an extra zero to their customers' balances, there are plenty of ways that financial institutions can build stronger relationships with their customers, according to a new study by Minneapolis-based Carlson Marketing.
The Carlson Relationship Builder 2007 study found that while financial institutions are doing a reasonably good job of winning customers' loyalty, they have been less successful in translating that into the sale of more products or into the referral of new customers.
"Building authentic relationships has been shown to dramatically influence the propensity of a customer to recommend a financial services institution to family and friends, to remain loyal, and to buy more products and services," says Luc Bondar, vice president of loyalty marketing for Carlson Marketing. "For marketing professionals in financial services, building better relationships isn’t just a nice precept—it is a key principle to getting, keeping and growing their most scarce and valuable resource: namely, their customers."
Among the findings:
* Customers who feel a strong relationship to their financial institution are 75 percent more likely to recommend it to others than customers who have a weaker relationship with a bank.
* Fully 16 percent of customers say staff courtesy is the most important factor in creating a strong loyal relationship.
* Almost half of the respondents agree says they choose a primary financial institution based on shared moral values.
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