Survey finds customer service is tops for banks

When individuals look for a new bank, the institution’s brand image is the chief decision-driver, with branch proximity coming in second, according to the 2009 Retail Bank Shopping Study released Tuesday morning by J.D. Power and Associates.

Products and services are important to an individual’s choice, but come in third in the decision-making process, according to the study.

“I’m not surprised,” said Norm Beatty, chief executive officer of First Hope Bank, a six-branch institution based in Hope. "It’s easy for bank managers to get wrapped up in loan and deposit products, but in the end the real difference between banks lies in the way they service customers.”

The J.D. Power study appeared to back that view.

Customers’ personal experiences at a bank can have “a considerable effect on that bank’s position in the shopping process,” the study noted, adding that “service experiences of other customers are also important.”

Recommendations — both positive and negative — account for 31 percent of importance in a bank’s brand awareness among individuals, while positive recommendations drive 36 percent of a shopper’s consideration of a bank, according to J.D. Power.

“The concept of a brand is tied to a customer’s emotional attachment to an institution,” said Linda Verba, executive vice president of retail operations and service at TD Bank, in Mount Laurel. In May, TD Bank announced its Mid-Atlantic region — which runs from Connecticut through New Jersey to Florida — was ranked highest in customer satisfaction in another J.D. Power and Associates study.

“Customer satisfaction is driven by face to face and other customer experience,” Verba added. “Before we hire someone, we see if they smile at us during the initial interview. Then we continue to measure and monitor their attitude to customers.”

Given the weak economy and its effect on financial institutions, “brand image is increasingly important," said John E. McWeeney Jr., co-chief executive officer of Cranbury-based New Jersey Bankers Association. “Banks are telling us that brand image isn’t necessarily just tied to products. Instead, it’s based on customer service.”