Community Bank Drives Business Growth with Better …



Overview

Country or Region: United States

Industry: Financial Services

Customer Profile

For more than 140 years, County National Bank has provided financial solutions to residents and businesses throughout central Pennsylvania. Currently, 20 branches serve 52,000 clients.

Business Situation

To capitalize on the one-on-one interactions between tellers and customers, County National Bank sought a solution that would help increase qualified referrals for add-on products and services.

Solution

Teaming with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Plus Consulting and Fincentric, County National Bank implemented Microsoft CRM 1.2 in conjunction with Wealthview Leadbuilder™, Fincentric’s financial software.

Benefits

■ Enables organic growth

■ Yields increases in qualified referrals

■ Provides visibility into employee performance

■ Increases the value of existing technology

| | |“Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder give our frontline the confidence to speak knowledgably with customers and to create better-qualified leads.”

Helen Kolar, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, County National Bank

| |

| | | |The 20 branches of County National Bank serve more than 52,000 customers in central Pennsylvania. To |

| | | |encourage greater growth and revenue, bank executives researched ways to increase the volume of |

| | | |qualified referrals generated by tellers. With the help of Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Plus |

| | | |Consulting and Fincentric Corporation, County National Bank implemented Microsoft CRM 1.2, now part |

| | | |of Microsoft Dynamics™, and integrated it with Wealthview Leadbuilder™, a lead-generating solution |

| | | |software. Targeted product prompts provided by Wealthview Leadbuilder help enable the bank’s tellers |

| | | |to speak knowledgably about the services and products offered by County National Bank. In the first |

| | | |quarter of 2006, tellers have created 11,000 qualified leads—with close rates ranging from 35 to 37 |

| | | |percent. In addition, the bank expects to save more than U.S.$20,000 in 2006 through increased |

| | | |awareness of its e-Statement programs. |

| | | | |

|[pic][pic] | | |[pic] |

| | | | |

Situation

Residents and businesses of central Pennsylvania have depended on County National Bank for more than 140 years. Its 20 branches provide integrated financial services, contributing to the company’s reputation as the premier financial institution in its communities. Assets numbering upwards of U.S.$764 million allow County National Bank to offer competitively-priced products and services to 52,000 clients.

Forging long-term, beneficial relationships with customers comes first with all 250 employees of County National Bank—and especially with the 100 tellers. To capitalize on the one-on-one, daily interactions tellers have with customers, County National Bank executives set out to expand the tellers’ role.

“It’s difficult to keep gaining market share. You get to a certain point, and then the costs are prohibitive. Instead, we’re concentrating on developing deeper relationships with our existing customers. As our frontline, the tellers are at the center of that strategy,” states Helen Kolar, Vice President of Marketing and Sales at County National Bank.

Customers are most open to considering offers and new services during a personal interaction. County National Bank tellers already received training on the many products and services the bank offers, but referring the right product to the right customer was still challenging. Often, a teller would simply try to sell the monthly special. And if a customer expressed interest in the offered product, the teller would need to fill out a detailed—and easily lost—contact form, while a lengthy line formed at his or her window.

County National Bank sought a solution that would further develop the sales capabilities of its tellers, drive more meaningful customer relationships, and foster greater growth.

Solution

County National Bank teamed with Fincentric Corporation and its exclusive value-added Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM reseller in the northeastern United States, Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Plus Consulting. With the help of these technology providers, County National Bank deployed Microsoft CRM 1.2, now part of Microsoft Dynamics, and integrated it with Fincentric’s financial services solution, Wealthview Leadbuilder™. Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder work together to increase teller referrals for County National Bank.

Before making its decision, County National Bank evaluated multiple options. A specially formed Service & Sales Task Force ultimately decided upon Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder because, as Kolar says, “Fincentric brought us something that was unique—and very easy to use. That was important to us. If it’s not easy, it’s not going to be used, no matter how many great features it may have.”

Fincentric specializes in practical, yet innovative, software solutions that increase customer retention and revenue for financial institutions. And with Microsoft CRM as its backbone, Wealthview Leadbuilder from Fincentric provided the capabilities and ease-of-use County National Bank needed.

Wealthview Leadbuilder monitors a customer’s session with a teller and, by using address and propensity-to-buy information, the software alerts the teller if a cross-sell opportunity exists. A banner then appears on the teller’s computer screen with a detailed, targeted script. For example, if a customer has a maturing Certificate of Deposit worth more than $35,000, the banner may prompt the teller to refer the customer to the bank’s wealth management services.

If the customer is interested, the teller simply selects “accept,” and the qualified lead can be dealt with in a more detailed and formal manner by County National Bank salespeople at a later time—and at the customer’s convenience. The line keeps moving, and the teller doesn’t have to take additional action.

As transactions occur, Wealthview Leadbuilder acts as the user interface, yet each opportunity can be created and tracked in Microsoft CRM. The leads can then be filtered through Microsoft CRM and sent to the appropriate branch managers for viewing, reporting, and follow-through.

“Microsoft CRM not only has the flexibility to gather lead information from Wealthview Leadbuilder, it also provides customized views and reports for our branch managers and salespeople,” says Kolar. “With the two systems, we’re well on our way to reaching our financial goals.”

Benefits

A rolling, gradual release of the integrated solution allowed County National Bank to concentrate on familiarizing tellers with the new software. However, the intuitive systems required minimal training. “Our people became proficient with Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder very quickly,” states Kolar. Customers have also been responsive.

“Studies show that 75 percent of bank customers expect you to ask questions about their financial needs and to let them know what the bank has to offer so they can make the right choices and decisions. Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder give our frontline the confidence to speak knowledgably with customers and to create better-qualified leads,” continues Kolar.

Enables Organic Growth

Gaining increased market share in a small community comes with a high price tag. Therefore, “organic” revenue growth is key to the survival of a community bank. By implementing Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder, County National Bank enriched the relationships it had already developed.

Says Kolar, “In order to budget monies more wisely and to get a greater response to marketing efforts, we’re concentrating on our existing customers. That’s what will make the bank profitable: our ability to create deeper relationships with customers.”

Wealthview Leadbuilder draws tellers’ attention to cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. The tellers, who are the face of the bank for its customers, can then personalize their marketing conversations with existing customers—and get results—while selling the appropriate services and products County National Bank offers.

County National Bank realized immediate return on investment with its e-Statements program. Wealthview Leadbuilder provides a default prompt for tellers to offer e-Statements, which replace traditional paper statements with statements delivered through e-mail. That change saves the bank up to $1 each month for each customer. In six months, County National Bank saw a 114 percent increase in the number of customers who received e-Statements. And because of the rolling implementation, that increase was with just 13 of 20 branches using Wealthview Leadbuilder. The volume of customers using e-Statements will continue to rise.

“We’re already reaping the benefits of e-Statement,” states Kolar. “County National Bank expects to save at least $20,000 in 2006 by simply asking customers if they have e-mail capabilities.”

Yields Increases in Qualified Referrals

The ability to use customer information to offer targeted services and products led to an increase in the volume of leads generated by tellers. And since the leads are better qualified, the end results have also been impressive. During the first quarter of 2006, tellers at County National Bank have produced more than 11,000 leads.

“We’re seeing a nine percent response at the point of sale. Just compare that number with the one or two percent response that a direct mail campaign gets,” Kolar says enthusiastically. “And of that nine percent, we’re running at a close rate of 33 percent for products sold and at 40 percent for services, such as e-Statements, sold. That far exceeds our goal of 25 percent.”

In the future, County National Bank plans to increase the sophistication of its targeted marketing efforts and build on the success of Wealthview Leadbuilder. After a customer has been offered a product or service in-house, the bank will follow up with a direct mail campaign.

With all 20 branches now using Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder, County National Bank expects its referral numbers only to grow. The bank’s goal is to get one accepted-referral a day from each teller.

Provides Visibility into Employee Performance

In addition to its inefficiencies, the paper-based system previously used by County National Bank provided little insight into employee performance.

The robust reporting capabilities of Microsoft CRM give County National Bank insight into teller activity. The integration between Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder helps managers track whether or not tellers acted upon cross-sell prompts. Reports also show the progress of a lead once it has been given to a salesperson for follow-up.

“One of our most important objectives was to determine if we have the right people in the right positions. Microsoft CRM together with Wealthview Leadbuilder is showing us that. We’re able to pinpoint the employees that need additional mentoring or training,” says Kolar.

Increases the Value of Existing Technology

Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder work together with the bank’s existing technology—and even enhance it—for a quick return on investment.

County National Bank has used Harland Marketing Customer Information Files (MCIF) technology from Harland Financial Services for more than 11 years. MCIF software allows the bank to segment its customer database to create targeted marketing campaigns by using household and demographic information. For example, when County National Bank wants to mail a home equity offer to customers, MCIF creates a list of addresses of customers who are likely to purchase that product.

Microsoft CRM and Wealthview Leadbuilder extend the capabilities of MCIF, enhancing its value. Now, County National Bank can enter a targeted list of customers generated by MCIF into Wealthview Leadbuilder and, the next time the customer talks to a teller, a prompt related to that marketing campaign will appear.

“Wealthview Leadbuilder, in combination with Microsoft CRM, is helping us extend the value of the investments we’ve already made in technology. We’re getting more out of our MCIF system than ever before,” states Kolar.

Though Wealthview Leadbuilder is currently integrated with Microsoft CRM 1.2, County National Bank plans to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 in the winter of 2006.

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems that your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:

dynamics

-----------------------

| |Software and Services

■ Microsoft Dynamics

− Microsoft CRM 1.2

■ Partner Solutions

− Fincentric Wealthview Leadbuilder

− Harland Marketing Customer Information Files |Partners

■ Plus Consulting

■ Fincentric | |

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics, and the Microsoft Dynamics logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Document published May 2006 | | |

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access inform )*34:FYhj & ç ò

&

.

0

<

>

„

š

È

ð

!

:

;

R

e

f

i

|

‡

‹

Œ

ª

µ

ý

þ

[pic]

)

4

I

J

K

L

P

~

ž

²

üôìôüèüôüèäüèàèüèüèÕèÑèÍèÂèüè»´»´è»´­üè©èÍèàè¥èüèàèü?•üèäèhñ1B* |phÿ™h¨kcB* |phÿ™h-ÏhP:_

h²

=hñ1

h²

=hº&ö

ation using the World Wide Web, go to:

For more information about Plus Consulting products and services, call (412) 206-0160 or visit the Web site at:

For more information about Fincentric products and services, call (800) 667 - 1185 or visit the Web site at:

For more information about County National Bank products and services, call (800) 492 -3221 or visit the Web site at:

“We’re seeing a nine percent response at the point of sale. Just compare that number with the one or two percent response a direct mail campaign gets.”

Helen Kolar, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, County National Bank

| |

“Microsoft CRM … has the flexibility to gather lead information from Wealthview Leadbuilder … With the two systems, we’re well on our way to reaching our financial goals.”

Helen Kolar, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, County National Bank

| |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download