James Bond movies are high-energy and the hero, based on the books written by Ian Fleming a former British intelligence officer, saves the day (and often the world). So, by now you must assume my share this week is about James Bond or Ian Fleming.
Nah.
It’s about PVB’s own – Ian Cantrell. For those of you who don’t know, Ian is a quasi-intern working for PVB while attending UVA-Wise. Ian attended our Bank Day meeting in March 2023 as a high school senior and started working for us last summer.
It was about a quarter to six on a Friday night. A lady waiting at the drive-up shared that her car was overheating and had a child in the backseat. She asked if we had a jug of water or could otherwise help her out. Out zoomed Ian to his car to get a gallon of distilled water he had in his car. He gave it to the lady which she added to her car and drove away happy.
We are all about helping our customers and finding creative ways to do so.
In the past bankers “waited” for customers to call, come in, email, or even text when they have issues. What if we took the bull by the horns and were proactive?
What if we use the tools available and known to us (logging into the Debit Card system in the morning) to see what’s happening with cards early in the morning and know that a “card tsunami” is coming and which customers are impacted? Or, what if we pull up director reports to see who just signed up for online banking and if they have questions about signing up for e-statements?
Being proactive and becoming an “action hero” will show the value of PVB to our customers.
I believe that for a Community Bank like ours to thrive (let alone survive) we need to use the time that we once used dealing with customers coming into the Bank to now look at reports and find ways to help our customers before they call the Bank.
In today’s business (banking) world service is the key to success.
Just ask Ian about great customer service.
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“Letters From Leton” is a blog series comprised of the weekly updates that Leton Harding – President, Chairman, and CEO of Powell Valley National Bank, shares with the Bank’s team members. These newsletters are full of uplifting anecdotes and intriguing insights that are applicable beyond the Bank, so we want to share them with you.
