Day One: June 24th 2024

·      Focusing on the experience your customers are having and making sure any issues are easily resolvable

·      Showing customers how much you value their opinion by asking feedback through surveys

·      Building a thoughtful approach to long term customer relationships, and harnessing the best tech to foster them

·      Capturing and catering content and financial education around individual customer interests

·      Using data and customer insight proactively and meaningfully boost engagement across all channels

·      Sharing your values and helping customers understand how you align with their values

Nick Krumbholz

SVP, Director of Retail Products
Academy Bank

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Brian Read

Chief Retail Officer
STCU

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·      Evaluating where artificial intelligence makes sense across your institution

·      Instituting quick wins with easy to integrate solutions like chatbots and AI voice assistants

·      Finding places across your front and back office where automation or RPA might create efficiencies

·      Looking at technology like ChatGPT for things like training plans

Ray Ragan

Interim CEO and Chief Information & Technology Officer
Securityplus Federal Credit Union

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Not all growth is equal. Learn how to drive low-cost core deposits that are sticky, profitable, and drive real growth.

Alisha Crafton

Chief Growth Officer
Kasasa

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·      How do you begin to understand where customer data is located?

·      Looking at the tools that would be able to pull this data into one place for you

·      Working on integrating this data into your core, so that it is present in all systems/locations that your customer interacts with

Training front-line employees to find the customer records that give an end-to-end picture of where your customer interacts with your brand

Stephanie McClendon

Chief of Retail Community Banking
First Federal Bank

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• Investigating some of the ways you can better train your employees to be seen trusted advocates
• Finding courses can you offer them either in house or online that can teach them what they need to know
• Setting up qualitative AND quantitative performance metrics
• Investing in technology that can help them better serve the customer
• Ensuring they are constantly learning and engaged in their role

Catrina Tate

Vice President of Retail
Teachers Credit Union

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Kristen Pepper

Vice President, Retail Development
Suncoast Credit Union

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Matt Beaulieu

Assistant Vice President, Member Services
Service Credit Union

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Ralph Scannell Jr

Senior Vice President, Senior Strategy Leader Transformative Management
City National Bank

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• Understanding how the role of the branch employee (especially the personal/relationship banker) has changed
• Deciding what success means to you now that this role has changed
• Improving retention with metrics that validate relationship building as opposed to JUST sales
• Reevaluating these metrics as time goes on in order to keep up customer AND employee expectations

Andrew W. Fenster

Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Data, Analytics, Reporting, & Incentives
M&T Bank

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In the dynamic landscape of financial services, frontline staff are not just service providers but potential advisors who can significantly impact client decisions. Join us for an insightful session on how to effectively empower your frontline team to step into advisory roles. We'll delve into strategies for equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to guide clients toward optimal financial decisions, ultimately enhancing their financial health and well-being.

• Learn how to nurture your frontline team into confident advisors with the insights and information needed to effectively guide clients.
• Discover techniques for ensuring your staff has access to the right information and resources to make informed recommendations, which will boost client confidence and satisfaction.
• Explore the importance of fostering an environment of continuous learning and growth within your organization.
• Understand how investing in developing your frontline staff as advisors can improve client retention, increase sales, and enhance brand reputation

John Findlay

CEO
LemonadeLXP

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• What are the different formats that financial institutions are exploring?
• How are you best using the space you have to reflect your updated branch goals?
• Are you thinking about your customer’s in branch journey when making these updates?
• How do you keep the identity of your brand present within your updated space while implementing new designs and technology?

Priscilla Awkard

VP, Member Advisory Centers
Coastal Credit Union

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Cody Willis

Senior Integration Strategist
Kinective

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• Acknowledging how foot traffic has changed over the past several years
• Utilizing market intelligence to decide where having branches makes sense based on the demographics
• Figuring out if your current branches have significant overlap and how each is performing
• Deciding where to close, how to select sites for openings and where to remodel
• Establishing what the success of your future network looks like so you know how to measure along the way

Michelle Kile

Vice President, Branch Services
DCU

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Description: Financial institutions like Chase Bank have doubled down on their branch strategy, committing to build 500 new branches in the next 3 years. Despite what “experts” long predicted, these branching strategies have yielded positive results. In this session, the experts from La Macchia Group will discuss how financial institutions use data-driven insights to inform successful market expansion strategies, and how to optimize your current branch network for enhanced organizational growth.

Takeaways:

1.    Understand the importance of data-driven insights in the success of physical branch strategies.

2.    Gain insights into practical approaches for fine-tuning existing branch networks.

3.    Learn how financial institutions have leveraged data to execute successful market expansion strategies.

4.    Identify key metrics that play a crucial role in evaluating the success and effectiveness of physical branch expansion initiatives.

Dave Throndson

Vice President of Sales
La Macchia Group

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Tim Klatt

Vice President of Strategic Services
La Macchia Group

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• ·       Pinpointing overlooked markets and customer segments ripe for growth opportunities
• ·       Developing customized offerings and solutions to cater to the specific requirements of previously underserved customer demographics
• ·       Implementing targeted marketing and outreach initiatives to expand your presence and deepen engagement within newly identified customer markets
•  Leveraging these insights to diversify revenue streams and drive sustainable growth 

Robert Sims

SVP Retail Services
Greylock Federal Credit Union

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·      Using machine learning or process mapping to gain insights into your existing operations

·      Finding routine procedures that could be done more effectively with technology

·      Looking into RPA & other forms of automation to figure out what works best to automate these tasks

·      Boosting the productivity of your remaining staff who no longer have to deal with these basic procedures

Heather Wood

Assistant Vice President – Operations,
AmeriCU Credit Union

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The employees in your branches represent the best possible opportunity your branches have to remain relevant. They have the power to provide better customer experiences, keep things running efficiently and facilitate growth. Are you giving your in branch employees the tools they need to live up to the expectations being placed on them?  

·      Knowing the role your employees are playing within your branches 

·      Asking them what technology & training would be helpful for them in their role 

·      Finding training programs and methods that meet their upgraded needs

·      Picking the right tool for them to use while assisting customers 

·      Making sure they right data and documentation is in their device 

·      Understanding that customers are going through a tough time financially at the moment

·      Coming up with education that fits their specific needs and offering it in a way that makes sense for them

·      Comparing tools and technology you can use to be providing this information

·      Getting your team members trained to have conversations surrounding a customer’s financial health

·      Harnessing the power of your branch to be a place where this information can be shared

Jonathan Meeks

VP, Community Development and Growth
Wellby Financial

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With customer expectations changing rapidly every minute, it is hard to commit to massive network changes without putting some precautions in place that allow new or renovated branches to be adapted in real time. Designing new branches with the pace of change in mind is crucial to your business as it will allow you to adapt in real time. How do you put certain precautions in place to make sure you can adapt your designs to incorporate new technology or updated working areas for branch staff so that you don’t have to make expensive changes later on down the line?