STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--An increase in the willingness of U.S. small businesses to use new providers is giving banks an opportunity to grow their franchises—if they can protect the client relationships they already have. In this increasingly competitive market segment, banks with the high-quality service required to win a Greenwich Excellence Award in Small Business Banking have a significant advantage.
Small businesses are using more financial services providers. This trend reflects growing optimism about the economy and openness to choose specialist providers for certain niche products (e.g., 401(k), merchant services, leasing, card products) that are: easier to do business with, have superior service, better product capabilities, or provide more value.
At the same time, banks face the risk of client attrition stemming from turnover among their own employees. Almost 40% of U.S. small businesses experienced turnover in their primary points of contact at their banks in the past 18 months. Thirty-percent of those small businesses say that change was disruptive to their banking relationships.
“These dynamics reflect just how important it is to deliver the kind of distinctive service that can attract new clients and preserve existing client relationships through trying times like personnel transitions,” says Greenwich Associates consultant Dana Schwaeber.
2016 Greenwich Excellence Awards
This year Greenwich Associates evaluated the Small Business Banking platforms of more than 600 banks. Of these, only 30 had the distinctive quality required to win a Greenwich Excellence Award. The Greenwich Excellence Awards cover a range of qualitative categories, including Overall Satisfaction and Likelihood to Recommend, as well as important product and service factors like Branch Satisfaction, Credit Process, Digital Functionality, and Ease of Product Implementation.
Frost Bank and Synovus Financial are the year’s big winners, each taking home 16 national and regional Excellence Awards. Hancock and Whitney Bank made a strong showing with 14 awards.
