More than 50 senior banking execs explored art and science of customer engagement
BrandPartners, ROCHESTER, NH June 25, 2007-BrandPartners’ sixth annual Spring Symposium in early June examined evolving customer experience trends in retail delivery, as more than 50 senior executives from financial institutions across the nation collaborated with customer service experts from the Disney Institute, BrandPartners and other industry thought leaders.
Through the symposium, BrandPartners brings together some of the best minds in the business. The event continues to build in attendance and creativity and has become an important way of advancing retail financial services thinking.
“The symposium provided an opportunity to bring together the insights of some of the best minds in banking and the customer experience,” said Eduardo Alvarez, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Strategy, BrandPartners.
“Our collective goal was to better understand how to create unique and defining experiences for financial service customers, which is a crucial topic that retail banks are focusing on today.”
The symposium was held at the scenic Wentworth by the Sea Hotel and Country Club in New Castle, N.H., and the historic BrandPartners Mill complex in Rochester, N.H. Attendees included senior executives from a range of financial institutions, including large regional and national banks to community banks and credit unions.
“The symposium was spectacular, and brought people together to make new friends in the industry,” said Smiley Dugan, Senior Vice President, Allegiance Bank. “BrandPartners is not only a first-class act in the business but a first-class act in the social world. You have good people in your world…and we benefit from them!”
Applying Disney Magic to Retail Banking
Disney Institute facilitators led a discussion-based three-hour workshop, “Leading and Sustaining a Service-Centered Culture,” which was specifically developed for the BrandPartners’ symposium. Participants explored best practices from the “business behind the magic” and applied them to retail banking. As the number one vacation destination in the world, Walt Disney World® Resort is also the largest single-site employer in the United States with more than 58,000 cast members. The Disney performance excellence formula engages customers through detailed environments to service-focused front-line employees.
Facilitator Rob Morton noted that Disney hires individuals that fit its service-oriented culture first and then the actual position. The company has built into its daily business practices the Walt Disney’s definition of quality customer service: “Keep it clean. Keep it friendly. Make it a fun place to be.”
Discussions on the Changing Customer Experience
Interactive work sessions at the BrandPartners Mill complex explored the dynamic changes in retail delivery and the implications for creating a new banking experience for customers and were hosted by industry and BrandPartners experts. The sessions featured effective engagement models used by other service providers, alternatives for leveraging the in-branch experience, and intelligence from industry experts and peers. “I can honestly say that the symposium exceeded my expectations and was not only a fun-filled event but very informative, too,” said Shawna Thompson, Vice President of Member Services for Community 1ST Credit Union. “The synergy of the BrandPartners team definitely was evident during the various events.”
John Mathes, Vice President, Brand Strategy, for BrandPartners, discussed the shift in marketing communications to an environment where customers not only control when and where they engage marketing communications, but also help to shape those communications with the explosion of citizen marketers on the Internet from blogs to many social networking websites, including YouTube and Facebook.
“Marketing is now an invitation to engage with your brand,” Mathes said. “Your brand is in the public domain and can be impacted by customer comments in social media. Consequently, the only customer contact point for your brand that you still fully control is the retail experience. Given the way marketing is changing via the Internet, the retail customer experience is even more valuable in shaping your brand.”
“The Art and Science of Customer Engagement” was hosted by Eduardo Alvarez, Executive Vice President of Marketing & Strategy for BrandPartners; Jessica Gilsdorf, Vice President, Retail Communications Strategy for BrandPartners; and Lisa Cathie, founder of Optimum Performance, a company that works with financial institutions to support branch staff development. This session explored the seven touch points, five crucial behaviors and three most memorable tools to engage customers.
Peer networking opportunities included a charity golf tournament at the Wentworth by the Sea Country, which benefited The Homeless Center for Strafford County.
About BrandPartners
BrandPartners (a BrandPartners Group, Inc. company) is a leading provider to the financial service industry, and provides an integrated approach to customer environments through brand translations, business strategy, design-build services, retail display and in-branch communications products and services, from concept and design through implementation and training. BrandPartners’ installations are in more than 1,800 companies at more than 28,000 locations worldwide. The company is headquartered in Rochester, N.H., with a New York design studio, and several regional offices throughout the U.S.
Statements in this news release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
