Deluxe

We strengthen Deluxe’s Collaboratives as they seek solutions to industry issues

Deluxe Financial Services has long spearheaded Knowledge Exchange Collaboratives to address and solve industry issues. (You should really check out their Collaborative.) A Collaborative brings industry leaders − often competitors − together to discuss and solve a shared problem.

The issue: An immediate need to increase small business owners’ banking loyalty

Deluxe’s clients – financial institutions throughout the nation – had alerted Deluxe to a looming crisis with their 26-million-strong population of small business owners. Attrition rates had skyrocketed, while loyalty figures plummeted. Financial institutions tended to look at small business owners solely on credit worthiness. Yet, small business owners wanted a partner who understood and supported their business goals and life dreams.

The Collaborative sought to achieve a significant change in the business-as-usual approach – a disruption that would create an entirely new model. Deluxe employed the Mantel Method to guide the Collaborative to new models, strategies, and solutions.

The Collaborative unearthed vital truths

We quickly discovered that Collaborative members were eager to learn.

• We led the Collaborative members through a review of relevant, third-party research to educate them and identify the knowledge gaps.
• We developed and conducted ethnographic research, which included activities and discussions designed to help small business owners talk about their goals, dreams, and needs.
• We shadowed bank employees to learn how they view and treat these small business customers.

We uncovered seven traits common to small business owners

By understanding the specific traits of each small business owner, financial institutions could find ways to support these customers and strengthen their relationships. The seven traits that emerged are:

1. Revenue trends
2. Life stage of the business and owner
3. Bank experience
4. Staff size and growth plan
5. Owner’s assuredness in the business plan
6. Owner’s vision for the business
7. Community involvement and networking

(Source: White Paper: Deluxe Small Business Collaborative, 2006 Copyright Deluxe Corp.)

Using research to develop a plan

Armed with this information, Stone Mantel led the Collaborative through a customer experience storyboard. We put the concept through a series of intensive reviews, and the concept blossomed into a pilot program called The Blueprint of Belief.

Implementing The Blueprint of Belief pilot program

The Collaborative was ready to implement the pilot program in 27 financial institutions across the United States. Stone Mantel and the Collaborative trained branch employees responsible for the pilot and set timelines for implementation. Within each branch, we tasked Relationship Architects (RAs) to select and contact business owners to participate in the pilot.

RAs visited business owners at their workplaces to gather their stories and learn about their dreams and needs. Plus, RAs held networking meetings with independent business owners. Based on the information gathered at the meetings, RAs assembled a Blueprint Crew for each independent business owner, including a branch employee and other business experts to advise the business owners and help them create specific goals to achieve their dreams. Successes came rapidly!

Results reveal a true success story

Loyalty
Stone Mantel conducted loyalty surveys before and after the pilot program with all participants. In every instance, the results prove the pilot created a statistically significant change toward increased loyalty.

The following statistics indicate strong loyalty:

• 97% of the small business owners said they were likely to recommend the host financial institution, a 6% increase as a result of the pilot program.
• 89% of the small business owners said they would likely use other products and services of the sponsoring financial institution, a 14% increase.
• 88% of the small business owners said they would likely remain a customer of the bank or credit union sponsoring the pilot, a 12% increase.
• Nearly 75% of the small business owners who participated in the pilot program considered it time well spent. This shows the experience has value, particularly because the majority of small business owners in the pilot indicated they were time challenged.
• More than 8 in 10 found the pilot experience enjoyable, and a similar number of participants considered the host financial institution a trusted resource.

(Source: White Paper: Deluxe Small Business Collaborative, 2006 Copyright Deluxe Corp.)

Likelihood to recommend
Customers may be loyal, but will they refer their colleagues? Prior to seeing the new experience concept, only 32% of small business owners would definitely recommend their bank to colleagues, and 7% said they would not recommend. After the pilot program, 75% said they would definitely recommend their bank, and none of the small business owners said they would not recommend their bank.

(Source: White Paper: Deluxe Small Business Collaborative, 2006 Copyright Deluxe Corp.)

Financial results

Loyalty measurements are valuable indicators, but customers vote with their money. The financial results are equally impressive:

• Account values increased across all participating banks and credit unions. At one sponsoring financial institution, deposits increased by $250,000 from 10 pilot participants.
• Previously declined loans were revisited and reversed. At one financial institution, loans to 10 small business owners increased by $1.8 million as a result of the pilot program.
• In numerous cases, loan officers informed Collaborative members that the pilot provided a rich source of information to help them make better loan decisions. For example, one small business had been declined for a loan three times. During the pilot, the loan officer issued the loan due to the comprehensive and meaningful information gathered about the business.
• One-third of all participants in the pilot program were not customers. After the pilot, the majority of these non-customers became customers.

Stone Mantel continues to support Deluxe’s Collaboratives

Deluxe was thrilled with the results of this Collaborative, and we have assisted with several Collaboratives since 2005. 

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