It’s no secret that banks and credit unions sell essentially the same products and services. The scope of competition over deposit and loan rates, products and services, and quantity, location and hours of branches and ATMs is very narrow. Marketing efforts hype each institution as “better” than the others for the same tired reasons. As a result, consumers navigating available banking alternatives feel like they’re drowning in a sea of equivalent choices.
So, how do you answer your customer’s question, “Why should I do business with you?” By being different, not just better. To separate yourself from the pack in today’s market, you must become something for which there is no available alternative. You must offer your customers what your competition cannot.
The specifics of what makes your financial institution unique will emerge from a deep knowledge of your customers – who they are and what’s important to them – and an honest assessment of your institution itself. If you’re a local bank focusing on the rural retail market, you might highlight your personal relationships and deep historical roots in the community. If you’re a regional development bank expanding into new territories, you might emphasize your strong research department and unparalleled knowledge of regional and national growth trends.
The key is telling your brand story in a way that makes an emotional connection with your customers, so that they understand your narrative and trust that you understand theirs. In all successful branding efforts, the narrative must reflect the reality. Your institution must actually be what its messaging claims it to be. So, maybe the local bank invites a farmers’ market to its parking lot and opens its doors for a couple of hours on Saturday mornings. Or maybe the development bank holds monthly informational seminars for local and regional developers.
In today’s increasingly anonymous world, we all want to be known and respected – by our families and friends, and by the institutions with which we do business. Consumers are willing, even eager, to make emotional connections with businesses and institutions they trust. Demonstrating a unique commitment over time to meet your customers’ needs is one way your financial institution can open the door to that trust.
