When it comes to growing market share in the financial world, most institutions will say they plan to increase their scope through adding branches. And, if you look on any street corner on the main drag of any city across the United States, you will find most are populated with a bank. So with all the branch building going on, is it justifiable to make the assumption that location remains to be the single most important facet of successful growth?
According to the March issue of the ABA Banking Journal’s Community Bank Competitiveness Survey, 7 out of 10 banks have either built or renovated at least one branch within the last 5 years. Yet those same institutions that are building and renovating also agree that their markets are overbranched. In today’s hyper competitive environment, it should be expected to have a competitor and possibly multiple competitors just across the street from your branch. So the question must be; how do you differentiate your brand from the one across the street while at the same time defending margin and refraining from leading the relationship with an attractive but fickle product such as a CD? We believe the answer lies in customer retention and maximizing the sales opportunity the first 60 days of a customer relationship presents. With a solid branch retail campaign in place, Digital Signage can help augment these efforts.
Consider the following statistics for digital signage:
· Customers are 5-10 times more likely to notice dynamic signs over traditional static POP signage
· Customers are 2-5 times more likely to retain the information they see on the display(s)
· Financial customers have experienced a 10-15% increase in product inquiries after the installation of digital signage.
There are more statistics that populate digital signage reports as they relate to increasing sales but I believe these are the key indicators for the financial industry. They are of high importance because of the impact these figures suggest Digital Signage can have on cross sell success. Ultimately, if customers in the branch are more likely to notice, remember and inquire about the information on the display(s), the opportunity to penetrate a customer account with multiple products increases.
Digital Signage is certainly not the cure for all cross sell and retention challenges but if integrated with a well rounded plan, it can definitely contribute to the overall strategy and long term success of the branch campaign.
