I read an article today about how to be an effective public speaker.  It got me to thinking about the role of public speaking in business.  Over the past 30+ years in business I have had many opportunities to address audiences – at conferences, non-profit board meetings, staff meetings, you name it.  Early in my career I would get very nervous before speaking.  With more experience I have gained confidence so now I am only somewhat nervous before speaking.

I think one key to being an effective public speaker is to embrace that nervous feeling and welcome the energy and alertness that comes with it.  Another key is to prepare in the manner that suits you best.  I find that a simple outline works but others prefer a fully rendered script.  Thinking about how you will present is a minimum requirement, practicing while timing yourself is a great idea for more formal presentations.  Breathe, smile, and speak slowly are also keys to success.  Since so many people flee from public speaking opportunities/requirements, good public speaking skills can help you stand out from your peers and move ahead in your career.  So, embrace your nerves and go for it!

I recently had a conversation with a customer who was upset that Biddeford Savings donated money to local non-profits. The customer’s reasoning was that those monies should go to customers of the Bank in the form of higher deposit rates and/or lower loan rates. While I do not agree with this customer (the customer is not always right, you know) the comment got me to thinking. Why do we donate over $100,000 a year to local non-profits? And to be clear, all the community banks I know of in Maine (and many of the big banks) are active supporters of local non-profits.

So, why do we do this? For me it goes back to one of our core values, citizenship. For Biddeford Savings Bank that means helping our customers along their paths to prosperity but also working to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve. Our work in the community takes on a couple of forms – many of us serve on agency Boards and Committees and we also make direct donations to over 30 worthwhile agencies. Those of us who serve on Boards and Committees follow our hearts and support causes important to us. The Bank’s giving targets agencies supporting youth initiatives, education, mental health, and senior citizen programs. I think our time and money help make Maine a better place to live.

Back to our interest rates for a moment – the rates we pay on deposits and charge on loans are determined by market and competitive forces. We do pay and charge in line with economic conditions and the local market, whether or not we donated to charity would not change our rate structures. So, we will keep on giving and I hope you share my view that this is a good thing.

Today I am thinking about technology because I recently attended a national banking conference at which several speakers spoke about it. Before I go any further let me provide a bit of context – I am old enough to have been in the workforce BEFORE computers lived on every desk but still young enough to keep up with (most, OK, with some) of the new technology. So, where is technology, specifically banking technology, headed? Speaking of technology, I cannot ignore social media – or could only ignore it at great peril. Our community bank already offers telephone banking, mobile banking, online banking and bill payment, online account opening, and remote deposit capture for our business customers. We have a Facebook page, many of us are on LinkedIn, I tweet, and now I have this blog. That puts us near the front of the community bank pack as far as technology and social media go. Yet we still see many of our customers in the bank frequently – which is a good thing as far as I am concerned.

Where is it all leading? I really don’t know. One of the speakers at our conference commented that within 8 years there will be more members of Gens X and Y around than there are Baby Boomers (like me). I expect that will accelerate the move to electronic and mobile banking since the Gen X and Y folks want full function banking whenever and wherever they choose. They may still come by a bank branch, but probably just to open their accounts or when they have a complex need or service issue. Even more interesting is the behavior of the Millennial Generation – like my children aged 25 and 21 – who live on their phones, computers, and iPads, and would just as soon not go in to a bank, and rely upon social media friends to make purchasing decisions. To serve those folks we will need to offer them everything online they can get in a branch. Everything! That will be a tall order but it is clearly where we are headed. It is all about giving the customer the choice – we have to be there for them 24/7/365. Wish us luck!

I guess I am getting old, since I now find myself reminiscing about the old days, when things were better. Mind you, I am still young enough to remember rolling my eyes when my parents did this, but that is beside the point. My point today is: why can we no longer disagree agreeably? Our (so called) leaders in politics and the media are setting a poor example for the rest of us. There was a time when we could honestly disagree with another person’s point of view without vilifying them and calling them names. Civil discourse was the process by which we could exchange points of view – sometimes leading to one party having a change of heart, although that was not always the case, to be sure. But the disagreement was limited to the issue at hand and if I disagreed with your view on topic it did not mean I considered you a complete idiot, a reprobate, or an imbecile. It just meant we had different views on that issue. So, we could agree to disagree and move on. No longer does that seem to be the case. This is a shame.

Whichever “side” you are on I hope you can at least agree that our current partisan gridlock is counter-productive and counter to the history of our great nation. If we are not even able to discuss issues how will we ever deal with them? Sadly, we are doing neither these days. I hope we can change that.

I recently read an article online entitled, “What Happens If Banks Help Their Customers Instead Of Trying to Trick Them?” As near as I can tell, if “Banks” did that they would look like Biddeford Savings. For the past 145 years we have been helping our customers and our community.

Yes, we charge fees for certain things and we are in business to make a profit. However, we have not and will not engage in practices designed to confuse our customers. Rather, we work diligently to get to know our customers so that we can better match their needs with our services, helping them along their path to prosperity. I am comfortable making that statement because it is what our customers tell us in our annual customer survey. Our well-trained bankers take the time to get to know each customer and tailor a banking program to meet their needs, to help them reach their financial goals.

To help our consumers better manage their funds we offer FinanceWorks, an online financial management and budgeting tool. And we offer it free of charge. We also let our customers choose how and when to do their banking – during our office hours, online via internet banking, or on the go with our mobile banking app. A growing number of our business customers have taken advantage of our Remote Deposit Capture service, which allows them to deposit checks in their account without driving to the bank, 24/7/365. It is like having a bank branch on your office desk, saving our customers time and money. Our experienced Business Bankers help their customers by getting to know their business and making suggestions about how they might reduce costs or increase revenue based upon what other businesses have found successful.

So, we do not believe in gotcha’ banking, we believe in serving our customers, helping them along their path to prosperity.

For almost every consumer a good credit rating will help you on your path to prosperity. In fact, without a good credit you will be hard pressed to qualify for a car loan, a home mortgage, a credit card, or even open a checking account. At a minimum your loan rates will be much higher if your credit is bad – up to 5% higher in many cases.

OK, I get the idea but how do I get a good credit score? Here are a few key steps that will help you get and maintain good credit.

• Have a budget and stick to it – live within your means.
• Choose and use credit cards wisely. Pick the right card by thinking about how you will use it and reading the terms and conditions before applying. The information is available online, making it easy to come to informed decisions.
• Pay the full credit card bill each month, if at all possible. If not, pay more than the minimum payment or you will likely be in debt forever.
• Pay all your bills on time. Always.
• If you can’t pay your bills on time tell your creditors what is going on, don’t hide from them and come up with a plan to get back on track (like a budget).

By observing these simple rules of the road you will greatly improve your chances of building and maintaining a good credit history and a good credit score. And those two items will smooth your path to prosperity!

Do you actively solicit feedback from your customers?

If you do, congratulations! If you do not, start immediately. All businesses lose customers over time, the key is knowing why you are losing them. Did they move out of your trade area, stop using the product or service you provide, or have you lost them due to service or price? By knowing the answers to these questions you can increase customer satisfaction, retention, and profitability. And you may even generate referrals from your customers. If you don’t know why customers are leaving, customers will continue leaving. Often at an accelerating pace especially if there are systemic service, product, or price issues which are not being addressed. Conversely, engaging your customers gives them a much stronger connection to your business – simply because you told them that their opinion mattered – while helping you to do a better job of meeting their needs – since you have a clearer picture of what those needs are. A key point here, it is vitally important that if you ask for their input that you take action on their recommendations. Not all of them, but some of them. You also want to let them know you have heard their concerns by following up with them, either one-on-one or as a group.

How do I get feedback?

There are several easy and affordable ways to ask your customers for their input. Using your web site or social media home pages is a quick and easy way to get started. An annual survey via the mail can provide valuable data, too. We conduct an annual survey and results are shared with our entire staff and our Board. If you have a formal complaint process make sure that complaints are properly resolved and that the appropriate employees know what happened. All written complaints come across my desk. Something new we are trying, placing my name and direct line phone number on the back of every employee’s business card, along with an invitation to call me if you have problems, concerns, or ideas you want to share with the CEO. Simple, but the message to customers and to our employees, is that customer comments are valuable and will be taken seriously in our company.

Summary

Your customers are willing to give you feedback, you simply need to make it easy for them. Oh, and the vast majority of comments are positive, which I am quick to share with our staff. Good luck!