Customer Education Based Marketing – Empowers Frontline Staff, Drives Referrals

Posted by Luke Owen on Tue, September 23, 2008

Richard Shupick manages the investment and insurance program at the $15b Flagstar Bank. The program has twenty reps employed by Essex National Securities. Using an education based marketing system from Truebridge, Rich has developed a process that makes it easy for frontline employees to generate more referrals everyday.

From the Flagstar website, customers and employees can directly access an online Financial Answer Center that provides educational information on hundreds of topics. Customers get the information they need when they need it-based on their stage in life. The online content is packaged into a series of downloadable Quick Guides under the Flagstar name and with the picture and contact information of the exact person that can help them with that topic.

“These are not typical glossy sales brochures but educational white papers on various topics with a picture of the rep. They become personalized just-in-time marketing materials that we use to drive referrals,” says Rich.

“When it comes to generating referrals, our frontline staff were not comfortable starting the dialogues that need to occur”, says Rich. “They were afraid of being asked questions they could not answer. That’s all changed,” he says. “Knowing they have a series of Quick Guides to offer, they are comfortable asking customers; What’s Your Goal?.”Handing out a Quick Guide is the perfect time to set up an appointment with the person at Flagstar that can help them achieve that goal.

“It’s all about confidence”, Rich says, “knowing they are adding value to the relationship.” “Bankers come and go,” he says, “so you need a tool and system that is easily taught and repeatable.”

About Flagstar Bank

Flagstar Bank, headquartered in Troy, Michigan, is a growth- oriented community bank with approximately 170 banking centers in Michigan, Indiana and Georgia. Chartered in 1987 as a federal savings bank, today Flagstar has assets approaching $15 billion. It is the second largest banking institution headquartered in Michigan. For more information on Flagstar Bank, visit www.flagstar.com or call (800) 945-7700.

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