Brickstream Corporation Declares 'The Value of a Branch Banking Experience'.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2004

Brickstream Corporation, a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, today published the findings of its branch banking customer market research, developed with the support of Gartner Group and A.C. Nielsen.

What constitutes a better branch experience in the mind of the customer? What is the financial impact of from a bank's perspective? The answers to these questions have far-reaching implications on where banks focus investment to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and value. To assist bankers with these questions Brickstream initiated a custom research project to factually understand what retail banking customers want from their bank branch, how well banks are meeting those expectations, and the financial implication of performing - or not performing - up to those expectations.

The survey was conducted during November, 2003, and polled 500 branch banking customers equally distributed across age, gender, income, education, and rural/urban locations.

The survey substantiated that the branch continues to have a central role in the customer banking relationship. The majority of customers visit their branch weekly or biweekly, and 97% of customers visit their branch at least once a month.

Respondents indicate they value customer service and competitive prices more than product selection and branch amenities. In fact, the top reason customers switch banks is poor customer service. Customer service attributes customers rank highest include, in order of importance:

    1. Fast teller service

    2. Convenient locations and long hours

    3. Error-free banking

    4. Availability of multiple channels

    5. Quick service branch layouts

Speed and convenience are essential components of good customer service. Customers want to get in and out of the branch quickly. 29% stated that a wait time of more than five minutes was unacceptable and only 36% stated that they would remain in line if the wait time was longer than ten minutes. A strong correlation exists between the amount of time a customer has to wait in line and their likelihood to remain a customer of the bank. Individuals unlikely to remain customers wait almost twice as long in line as those who say they are likely to continue to remain a customer.

Two-thirds of the customers surveyed prefer service from a human teller. Customers do not place high importance on the availability of newer banking channels, such as Internet banking kiosks.

Customers value branch formats that facilitate quick service, including high availability of assisted and self-service channels and an easy-to-navigate layout with clear signage. Branch investments in additional amenities do not add significantly to the customer experience. Only 4% of customers say additional amenities including drive-through windows, play areas and customer lounges are important enough reasons to switch banks.

Consistency of the banking experience is critical. Nearly half of the customers would give their bank only two chances to fail before considering switching. Seventy-percent of retail banking customers said that they have had at least one negative banking experience during the past year. 40% of respondents had up to five negative experiences in the last year. Teller wait time and longer-than-acceptable transaction times topped the list of negative experiences. 37% of bank customers say that they have abandoned the queue one or more times during the past year.

Overall there is room for improvement. Three-quarters of the respondents say that customer service has stayed the same or declined over the past year. The Brickstream research suggests that banks should more aggressively prioritize investment and management attention towards exceeding expectations for branch customer service. There are some immediate opportunities for branch banking providers:

-- Focus on five. Implement and continuously monitor a service

level policy that keeps wait times and counter transaction

times under five minutes.

-- Re-evaluate the convenience of existing locations. Consider

expanding the number of branches with extended and weekend

opening hours, particularly in urban areas.

-- Ruthlessly focus on quality in handling customer transactions.

Quality improvement approaches, such as Six Sigma, offer

rigorous methods of reducing the number of defects in

transaction processes.

-- Improve the availability and choice of channels. Offer the

right mix of assisted and self-service channels to meet local

needs. Remove unused teller stations to improve customer

perceptions.

-- Refocus branch development investments. Create

easy-to-navigate layouts that facilitate speed of service.

Reevaluate investments in newer amenities, such as coffee bars

and customer lounges.

"Our research shows that the winning financial institutions will offer a value proposition based on consistently delivering speed, convenience, reliability, and choice in the branch," said Simon Angove, President of Brickstream. "Banks can make advocates of existing customers and win new customers by offering a clear choice in the marketplace."

For a copy of the research summary, "The Value of Delivering a Better Branch Experience", please call 1-866-274-2578 or email [e-mail].

About Brickstream

Brickstream sets the standard for a new generation of customer relationship management (CRM) for the brick-and-mortar economy. Brickstream provides the Brickstream System, a closed loop CRM solution that enables businesses to continuously capture and analyze information about their interactions with customers in a brick-and-mortar environment, and act on this information in real-time to improve the planning and execution of sales, service, and marketing processes. Developed over a period of eight years, the Brickstream System is protected by numerous patents. Brickstream serves retailers, retail banks, and consumer packaged goods manufacturers throughout North America and Europe.