Gaining detailed customer information, one bit at a time. (Marketing News).

Strong customer relationships require knowledge about your customers, and acquiring that information requires a diligent, systematic approach. Second National Bank, a regional bank with $1.58 billion in assets based in Warren, Ohio, has institutionalized the process of acquiring that information.

Second National's proprietary Client Advantage Program (CAP) is more a process than a product. Its purpose to replace guesswork about a client's needs and desires with hard, specific information. To that end, the company has produced questionnaires for virtually every instance of customer contact. The purpose of these questionnaires is to acquire information about each client's preferences, which, in turn, will help bank decision makers to anticipate those customers' future needs.

"The key is in teaching people they need to become a part of their customers' businesses," says Blossom. "Every month we have a scorecard--a monthly achievement report--on every associate. Our personnel are measured on the basis of how many cross-selling opportunities they develop."

The goal of learning more about customers is shared by most banks, with varying degrees of success. What makes Second National's program unique is the emphasis on involving everyone who comes into contact with consumers in the process of acquiring information. In order to encourage its customer representatives, the bank has set up more than a dozen different incentive programs, says, R.L. "Rick" Blossom, the bank's president, chairman and chief executive officer.

There is no formal interview process, Blossom says. Rather, bank personnel try to add to their customer knowledge incrementally, at every contact opportunity.

"The key is that it has to come naturally," he says. "The client preference interview form has the capability to take them right through to the end."

Since the program began two years ago, he says, cross-selling efforts have more than doubted as a result.