Former banker helps community banks deploy technology

Northwestern Financial Review, Apr 1-Apr 14, 2004 by Hilgert, Jackie

Wadena State Bank's recent addition of an express drive-through facility opened up the opportunity of using technology to solidify its brand. The $95 million northwestern Minnesota bank competes with three other financial institutions for the banking business of Wadena's 4,000-plus residents. Something new - something attention grabbing - installed at the four-lane facility located just across the street from the bank's main office was appealing, said Jeannie Carlisle, assistant vice president.

"We wanted to promote our services - cross-sell - knowing full well we would have a captive audience of people sitting in their cars," Carlisle said.

The marketing solution that caught the bank's attention was an all-weather daylight readable LCD monitor encased in stainless steel that would promote bank products and services to customers waiting on the return of their pneumatic tube. The bank installed two of these LCD monitors last spring and Carlisle said the bank uses them to promote everything from real estate lending to insurance, debit cards to its online banking service. The three-minute-long bank commercials also can include staff profiles or safety tips for consumers.

The plan to go after the customer who sits right under the banker's nose came from DuWayne Johnson, a former community banker. Now CEO of Premier Management Consulting, Johnson developed this high-impact marketing tool along with a host of other marketing products and services when he diversified his consulting business three years ago. Through his company's design arm - Studio 78 Platinum Design - Johnson is helping community banks inject the "wow" factor into their marketing vehicles. It's a critical approach, he said, to retain and cross-sell bank customers who become more media expectant every day.

When you look at your bank's advertising, Johnson said, you can certainly continue with traditional routes. But, he added, "multi-media is the strongest vehicle out there." Johnson's company has worked fastidiously to help banks incorporate multi-media in kiosks, in the drive-through lane, in email campaigns, on the desks of personal bankers and in the development of web sites. "Our goal is to help community banks deploy technology," Johnson said.

His affinity for community banking comes from almost 20 years spent with the industry in Minnesota. He started on the teller line at the State Bank of Fairmont, moved into a management program at Northwest Bancorporation in Ely, then settled at Bremer Bank in Alexandria. At Bremer he was chief financial officer, performed asset/liability management, did strategic planning and managed human resources. "If it didn't have to do with loans, it probably fell within my area," Johnson said.

One of his goals while at Bremer was to find a way to get the bank's personal bankers to present product in a consistent manner. "We accepted that some people are natural sales people and others are not," Johnson said. His idea was to create a point-of-sale solution that would prompt personal bankers to pique customers' interest in certain products based on the nature of their initial product inquiry. He called it the McDonalds method: Do you want fries with that burger?

But a couple of roadblocks emerged. Technology hadn't evolved as quickly as Johnson's ideas, and then Bremer decided to consolidate all of its back room operations into a central service center in the Twin Cities. Developing cross-sell solutions got pushed to the storeroom while Johnson sorted out his career choices: move to the Twin Cities...move into lending...move to another bank. Or, move to providing solutions to community bankers as an independent consultant. "A community banker typically doesn't have a lot of options for a support system like a big staff available as a resource," Johnson said. He figured with his varied experience in back room operations he could be a resource for community banks. He said he often worked to launch projects at a bank, then would provide training to staff so they could maintain the project in-house.

Johnson spent the next six years consulting and offering a training program in leadership development. That was how Ginger Adams, executive director of the Independent Community Bankers of South Dakota, came to know him. Through his work with her association, Adams said, she developed a rapport with Johnson. "We worked well together and I trusted him," Adams said.

Adams turned to Johnson's Studio 78 design firm last year when the association board decided it was time to develop a web site. Adams spent a day with Johnson's design team brainstorming on how the ICBSD site should look. "I said it has to be generic, timely and catchy, all at the same time," Adams recalled.

Johnson said branching into web design isn't stretching beyond offering other marketing solutions. "I do several strategic plans a year with banks," he said. "One of the broad categories where I always see a critical need is in marketing." Studio 78 focuses on helping community banks with marketing, whether it's brochures, logo design, web sites, email campaigns - or the sales assistant solution he had dreamt about back at Bremer.