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Recent Analyst's Journal Articles:
Nov
14
2018
Analyst's Journal
PNC Has Been Successful at Selling Deeply to Their Primary Small Business Customers
By Sandy Hanson
There really are only two ways to increase sales. You either have to find new customers to sell to or sell more to your existing customers. Selling more to your existing customers is something that we all should be focusing on. Why? Well, it can sometimes be easier to cross-sell since you already know the customer rather than doing a “cold call” sales pitch. With selling to your current customers, you already know important...
Nov
7
2018
Analyst's Journal
Chase and KeyBank Account Officers Continue to Be Consultative as Many Struggle to Add Business Bankers
By Joel Mueller
Finding and retaining Account Officers/Relationship Managers to manage middle market ($10MM-<$500MM) relationships has become increasingly difficult as the labor market tightens. Based on the number of job postings for business bankers on indeed.com, there are nearly twice as many open positions in 2018 (average = 13,947) as there were in 2012 (average = 7,708). Not only are there more positions to fill, middle market customers continue to have high expectations of their Account Officers and...
Oct
31
2018
Analyst's Journal
Use the Net Promoter Score to Assess Brand Loyalty, but Don’t Stop There
By Emily Cade
The Net Promotor Score (NPS) is widely used in many industries to measure the likelihood of a customer referring another individual with similar needs. Many financial institutions are now using NPS to gauge customer loyalty. Identifying which of your customers are promoters, passives and detractors is important because the outreach methods and servicing strategies for each group can differ, as do their views of your brand. Historically, Barlow Research has asked small business ($100K-<$10MM...
Oct
24
2018
Analyst's Journal
The Transformation of the Digital Account Opening Process Continues
By Youa Yang
An interplay of technological advances and government regulation has created high demand for additional insight in the digital account opening process for demand deposit accounts (DDA) for small business companies ($100K-<$10MM in annual sales). As of May 11, 2018, new AML/BSA regulation requirements now require banks to identify individuals, who directly or indirectly own 25% or more of the equity interests of the company. If there were ever a time to start thinking...
Oct
17
2018
Analyst's Journal
Top Reasons for Changing Banks in the Middle Market Are Ever-Changing
By Emily Anderson
Reducing customer attrition in the middle market ($10MM-<$500MM) space is always of high priority. Although a small percentage of middle market companies change their banks every year, there are many factors affecting the complex relationships between larger companies and their primary bank. It is important to understand why a company would switch to another primary bank. In the last couple of years, we have observed dramatic shifts in these top reasons as well as...
Oct
10
2018
Analyst's Journal
Businesses Express Interest in Sending and Receiving Payments via Email Address or Mobile Phone Number
By Dustin Greelis
Businesses have many ways to send and receive payments, whether through ACH transfers, wire transfers, online bill payment or by mailing a check. A more recent competitor in the payments market has been the ability to send or receive payments using an email address or mobile phone number. What makes these payments competitive is the ability to easily send payments to/from anywhere using a mobile phone or computer instantaneously without having to enter bank...
Oct
3
2018
Analyst's Journal
Middle Market: Reducing Retail Branch Network Dependency Is in Reach
By Donna Arce
Branchless banking for all will never come to be until we can solve for cash transactions. However, there is a lot to be learned about our ability to reduce branch dependency from those companies that are no longer using a branch. Is there opportunity to change the branch banking behaviors of middle market companies ($10MM-<$500MM in annual revenue)? Several learnings were identified in Barlow Research’s 2018 Middle Market Banking Study. Today, 70% of middle...
Sep
26
2018
Analyst's Journal
Brand Drives Overall Satisfaction in Small Business and It Should Be Emotional
By Sandy Hanson
Every business in every industry wants to delight their customers. This is no different in small business ($100K-<$10MM) banking. Reasons for wanting to delight your customers are simple: delighted customers are less likely to fall suspect to attrition, have higher product penetration and are more likely to buy with the primary bank in the future. Only 4% of small businesses who were delighted with their primary bank planned to change primary banks in the...
Sep
19
2018
Analyst's Journal
Improved UX Needed for Online Small Business Lending
By Joel Mueller
Demand for additional credit in the small business market remains low and unpredictable. According to Barlow Research’s latest third quarter Economic Pulse study, only 23% of small businesses have applied for additional credit in the last 12 months. The need for bank loans continues to be scarce with more and more small businesses indicating they have decreased need for bank loans. This puts added pressure on financial institutions not only to find credit opportunities in...
Sep
12
2018
Analyst's Journal
Monumental Changes in Business Banking Require Being Agile
By Emily Cade
At the 2018 Barlow Research Business Banking Conference, Tim Welsh, Vice Chairman at U.S. Bank, presented a strong message on the importance of Keeping Up with Our Customers. As part of the presentation, Mr. Welsh discussed how expectations of customers are often changing faster than what we anticipate. In order to keep up with these changing expectations and not be left behind, it’s important for the financial institution to incorporate an agile work environment. Customer...