Franklin Savings Bank recently launched a new loyalty program that targets supporting local businesses in Central New Hampshire.
Loyalty360 caught up with Jeffery B. Savage, president & CEO of Franklin Savings Bank, to find out more about this new loyalty program.
What factors prompted FSB to launch a loyalty program and what are your goals for it?
As one of a few remaining mutual institutions in New Hampshire, Franklin Savings Bank understands the importance of supporting our communities as well as our locally-owned businesses to enhance the economic viability of our great state. We are a bank that has always tried to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to offering the latest technology to enhance a customer’s experience in banking with us. We were looking for ways to increase loyalty amongst our customers. Buzz Points rewards customers for shopping locally, provides small business owners with the marketing tools they need to compete against national merchants, and provides a digital experience that enables users to track, manage and redeem points through a web interface or mobile app. By partnering with Buzz Points, we hope to continue to support our local businesses as well as encourage and incent customers for shopping locally.
What makes this program unique?
The local approach is what attracted us to the program. While customers are rewarded for making purchases by using their FSB debit card, they have the ability to earn more points simply by shopping with independent businesses in their communities. Most importantly, local merchants can join Buzz Points as a Preferred Merchant and receive a suite of turnkey marketing tools to help them promote their business. It provides a win-win for customers and businesses.
What trends do you see in your space related to customer loyalty?
As a community bank with branch locations in rural populated areas, we find customers tend to support their independent businesses as opposed to shopping at a national merchant. The communities we operate in are relatively tight knit. In the banking industry, customer loyalty is more widespread based upon relationships customers have with bank employees. For example, in our business lending group and wealth management division, relationships are developed among these groups based upon referrals from existing clients. If a customer is happy with the relationship they have with their lender or financial adviser, they are less likely to leave for another bank.
How do you define customer loyalty and has that definition changed in recent years?
In our business, customer loyalty is extremely important. We continually look for ways that we can enhance our customers’ experience with Franklin Savings Bank. In fact, we recently re-aligned our retail department to provide more focus on enhancing and supporting external business development efforts in the communities we serve, to increase our focus on retaining and expanding customer relationships, and to continue developing a sales and service culture focused on the customer experience. The latter is becoming more important based upon the competitive environment in which we operate. Given the limited growth in our population based upon recent Census Bureau statistics, the only way banks will continue to experience growth is if they go above and beyond in delivering world-class service to their customers while providing attractive products and services that make banking easier and more convenient.