Loyalty360 caught up with Erin Pryor, First Vice President, Director of Marketing & Social Media, Opus Bank, for an exciting interview about the bank’s successful customer engagement and CRM strategies.
The bank, focused on successful entrepreneurs and business leaders who’ve proven their ability and need a partner for growth, has expanded from five banking offices in Southern California to 58 locations in the Western region including offices in Portland, Seattle, Northern California, and Arizona in less than five years since its inception.
How do you account for that rapid growth?
Pryor: In 2010, when the bank was started, the financial industry was in turmoil. There was a need for a new bank – a different type of bank. Our CEO, Stephen H. Gordon, has always said he wants to take banking back to a time when to when clients respected their bankers and vice versa. We have grown both organically and through mergers and acquisitions. “Great service” is cost of entry in the banking industry. Opus is focused on relationship based growth. It’s about putting the client at the center of the table and surrounding them with industry experts.
How do you benchmark your customer engagement efforts?
Pryor: We look at what behaviors and solutions our clients consider to be valuable. How do our clients define loyalty? Is it the frequency of engagement? Is it the size of the purchase? Is it the quality of the engagement? Many times companies become too internally focused. They look at how they would answer these questions, rather than how their clients would answer.
How do you keep up with the technology and metrics?
Pryor: Whether it’s online, direct mail, social media, or an email campaign we always test it first. We want to know something is going to work and add value prior to distributing it broadly. For example, on a recent email campaign, we incorporated multiple calls to action enabling us to see where prospective clients engaged and what content piqued their interest. We’ve done tests on our social media platforms as well to see the kinds of content people are clicking on to ensure that our content is relevant and focused toward the client. Having targeted goals and tailoring your metrics in a manner that allows you to gain valuable insight is imperative, otherwise you’ll lose sight of what you’re trying to accomplish. Make sure your data is working for you.
What kind of content works well to drive customer engagement?
Pryor: Provide content that is valuable to helping your client or prospect achieve their mission. Make sure your content is relevant and engaging. For instance, part of our social media strategy is to utilize third-party content from credible sources that we think our audience will find relevant and helpful. We’re also generating original video content through “Behind the Scenes” interviews with our CEO, insights from our bankers, and client testimonials called Client Spotlights. We see some of our highest engagements when promoting those assets through email marketing and social media.
How do you engage customers through your website?
Pryor: Our website is our largest banking office. We want to engage clients and prospects and get them in front of a banker. One thing that sets Opus apart from other banks online is the concierge feature on our website. The feature provides users the ability to find a banker, from any division of the firm, who is nearest to them. The banker’s name, phone number, and email address are readily available. Since it was launched in 2011, thousands of users have utilized the concierge feature.
How do you keep up to date with new technologies?
Pryor: It’s not about chasing the competition or new technologies. We put more emphasis on recognizing the channels being used by our target markets – then we focus on what they want and need, identify their pain, and figure out how our product or service can solve it.
Are clients asking for things different today compared to a couple of years ago?
Pryor: The state of banking is constantly changing. Right now, we’re in a strong economic period and we’re seeing a lot of business growth. That’s a win-win for us.