Just as not having the right technology can play a role in losing customers or members, having the right technology can play an important role in cross-selling them. For example, as Bain noted in its study: “Banks have copious data on their customers’ risk profile and stage of life, which allows them to present the right offer at the right time and place—before competitors step in and poach a willing customer.”
However, some community financial institutions cannot access the data easily to analyze it or use it for strategic decisionmaking, because data is siloed in different systems -- those for processing commercial loans or opening checking accounts, for example. A customer relationship manager (CRM) solution built specifically for financial institutions will integrate core customer data with data from lending, credit analysis, and other systems, and the resulting database and analysis can be used for cross-selling opportunities. It provides that 360-degree view of a customer or member’s ongoing activities, financial history, profitability to the bank or credit union, and relationships to other parties. This helps the institution to offer services and products, track cross-sale opportunities, or lean more heavily into relationship pricing when it makes sense to do so.
Effective loan-pricing tools, along with a disciplined process, are another way technology enables financial institutions to lean into relationship pricing when it makes sense to cross-sell a customer or member – without losing money.
Cross-selling is relationship building, pure and simple. Matching your customers and members with products and services they need fits in with the mission of community financial institutions. By talking with them and using technology to identify the right offer at the right time and price, community financial institutions will generate more revenue, loyalty, and profit.
