How Do I Sell and Serve Remote Customers?

A question I've heard recently as we become a more decentralized, computer-driven society: Most of our customers are remote and don't visit us at our locations. How do we service and sell to those customers?

The simple answer is "With the same approach you've always used in serving customers, just using different technology and tools." If bank customers are not getting the face to face time with tellers as they once did, then they must be connecting with the bank through drive-through traffic, on the phone or online.

What are the demographics of your customer base? Do you find the more senior customers still walk in, the middle-aged customers drive through and use the call centers, and the younger customers are all about online services? (Anybody order a pizza from Domino's online? You can actually track who is making it, and when it goes in the oven and when it's out the door with the delivery driver. Beats the old days of waiting on hold until a harried part-time employee can take your order and you guesstimated when it would arrive.)

Once you find the breakdown of these demographics, you can then approach them in the ways they are connecting with you.

Do the research. List the reasons why each group chooses their point of contact with you. Why do senior citizens prefer to do business in person? Who does the phone service appeal to? Once you understand their reasons for that method, then you know why it is appealing to them and how to use that to your advantage.

Blogging and YouTube will not be the best approach for some customers, yet others may find that their preferred method of getting information. Get to know your customers by the products they use and the way they access your products and services.

Bottom line, providing good product information to the customer, maintaining common courtesies, and speaking to the customer about the specifics they are interested in hasn't changed. It's only the method and where the information is best placed that have changed.

To maximize your marketing efforts, know the strategically correct channels to reach a target audience with a specific initiative. This will guide you in the direction of better returns for your efforts.