Since my last update a week ago, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with several of you as you consider how to respond to the COVID-19 situation. There’s of course the need to assess CDC recommendations and local government issuances, in order to determine what your operations should look like. There’s the possibility of closing lobbies, closing branches, changing working hours, or reducing staff. Among other things.
Here’s my key advice – focus on communication. You can either tell your own story, or let rumors tell it for you. Guess which is better?
A part of your response plan has to be keeping employees and customers up to date on your efforts, and how you will provide service. We talked last week about evaluating current activity, leaning toward drive-thru service and promoting remote delivery channels that you already offer. These are the basics.
Please also consider offering home/office pickup for deposits or the return of signed documents, if customers are concerned about coming into the bank. Even curb side pickup of documents and deposits (park outside and let us know you are here) may be needed to alleviate customer fears. The bottom line is this: make sure you are doing what community banks always do well – meeting the needs of your customers, however unique. Of course, make sure you can do this efficiently and safely.
Internally, extra precautions to keep exposed surfaces clean are certainly important, and you want to advertise that you are doing this, as well as instructing employees who don’t feel well to stay at home. Remember too that money is always dirty. Extra treatment with disinfectant is probably a good idea (all the time), and make sure to emphasize handwashing after handling cash.
Closing the lobby will be seen as a big deal, so do this thoughtfully and with plenty of notice. Limiting lobby traffic (some of you already have experience with this in high crime areas) is another consideration, but some combination of reduced lobby hours, and limiting the number of customers in the bank at one time, may be the right course of action, depending on the situation in your area.
Again – communicate. Use customer email addresses if you have them, leverage your Facebook or Twitter presence for one to many communications, and issue press releases to local media so that you are controlling the message.
Finally, a word about your ongoing projects, whether you are considering acquisitions, adding new products or services, or replacing existing systems. Now is not the time to shelve those projects. When business returns to a normal pace, you will be behind if you haven’t kept abreast of new things. So let’s leverage technology to keep these projects moving forward, so that you don’t fall behind. Consider devoting employees who are working remotely to the task of addressing data quality and integrity in your files, working to improve the overall value of your customer data. Employees in the bank might have enough free time to help you catch up with the scanning and indexing of documents. I’m sure you can find other examples. A proper response to the current situation will not consume all your time unless you allow it to.
I remain ready and able to advise you in these matters.
Trent Fleming
901-896-4007
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