Don’t Underestimate the Personal Touch - Customer Retention and Events

It was early on a Thursday morning in Nashville, and sunlight streamed into the hotel lobby, glinting off the silver serving trays filled with pastries. A well-coiffed man walked up to the SunTrust Committed to Growth event registration table. He greeted me enthusiastically, shook my hand firmly and introduced himself. He was an entrepreneur and business owner and, from the looks of him, most likely a successful one. 

Suddenly, his winsome smile darkened. He leaned in toward me, his thick southern drawl even more pronounced. “Now. Whom do I speak to about my dissatisfaction with SunTrust?”

A stout, smiling banker to my left stepped forward. “Hi sir, now what’s the problem?” The banker whisked the man off into the crowd, attentively listening to his issues.

In that moment, it struck me what a gift this was for SunTrust. To have a customer call you while angry and for you to scramble to band-aid an unsavory situation is one thing; for them to show up in person at your event and to give you the chance to repair a bad relationship face-to-face is another.

King Fish Media, in partnership with Profitable Channels, has been producing and managing SunTrust Small Business Growth seminars for the past several years. After every event, I hear this comment in various forms: “Gosh, it’s so good to be able to connect with prospects and current clients face-to-face.” It’s the personal touch that makes a relationship thrive, and in an industry that’s as dry yet as personal as banking, it’s essential for customer retention.

The value of live events extends beyond just delivering informative, relevant content to your valued customers. It opens up endless possibilities for customer service and stewardship that other media channels don’t provide. Although at times difficult to accurately measure, it’s clear that a timely, well-produced live event is often the most impactful channel through which customers can fully grasp your commitment to them.   

By the end of the morning, the smile on the business owner’s face at the SunTrust seminar couldn’t have been more genuine, and the banker sent him off with a flourish. He returned to his banking colleagues are remarked, “Now that’s good stuff.”

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