Careless grammar, "ain't," and "dunno" were once common behind the teller counter at Palmetto Bank - so it took action.
After repeated complaints from customers the Laurens, S.C., bank made all its employees - from the chief executive officer on down - pass a verbal communications course it set up in late 2001.
"Verbal skills are very important in sales, and customers respect you more when you speak well," said Bill Stringer, the president and CEO of the $809 million-asset bank.
Two or three years ago most employee training was about new technology. Now banks are shifting focus to customer relations. Employees are being taught how to speak properly, calm irate customers, and sell certificates of deposit to young adults, as well as simple tricks to remember customers' names.
Mark Stenson, the president of Stenson Management Consulting Inc. in Marshall, Minn., said the shift reflects pressure from larger banks. They have the edge in products and services, he said, so the only way small banks can stand out is with better service.
In recent years several of the nation's largest banks, most notably Bank of America Corp. and Bank One Corp., have also undertaken fairly public efforts to improve service.
"The only difference between two banks is their people, and the only way to make people better is to educate them," Mr. Stenson said. "And the high-performing banks already understand."
Bob Calvert, the principal of Calvert Consulting in Roswell, Ga., said competition from other financial sectors has forced bankers to rededicate themselves to customer service. "Stockbrokers, insurance companies, and everyone else is in the banking business, so what bankers are learning is that in order to compete they need to have ongoing training."
Commerce Bancorp of Cherry Hill, N.J., was one of the first banking companies to take training beyond the technical. In 1992 the $14 billion-asset company started up "Commerce University," modeled after Walt Disney Co.'s "Disney University."
Since then other large community banks, including the $7 billion-asset F.N.B. Corp. in Naples, Fla., have formed their own schools. And now smaller ones are starting to follow suit, on a lesser scale.
First State Bank in Stockbridge, Ga., focuses chiefly on cross-selling. David Gill, its president and CEO, said the employees at the $1 billion bank are taught how to sell products such as mortgages and checking accounts and what types of customers would most likely buy them.
Palmetto requires employees to take a "principles of banking" course so they can speak more intelligently on banking matters and can answer the customers' questions without referring them to someone else, Mr. Stringer said.
"People were not comfortable with financial terms, and many people that work here have never had a formal course in banking, so we thought the bank should provide them with one," he said.
All 80 executive officers at Palmetto are also rotating through a nine-session course on how to manage their time better and how to delegate so they can spend more time in the community drumming up business.
American National Bank of Texas in Terrell also trains its upper management personnel. The $472 million-asset bank offers all of its executives a course in supervisory skills and how to manage people, said its president, Bill Hulsey.
Last year the officers were taught how to use the Predictive Index, a personality test used to match people with the right job. And all of its 157 employees are required to take some training courses each year.
"We absolutely require 20 hours a year for every employee, even me," Mr. Hulsey said. "If I don't sign up, then why should everyone else?"
Most customer-relations courses are held in classes of a dozen or more employees; they typically borrow curriculum from the Bank Administration Institute in Chicago or from state and national trade groups. Many use other employees to teach the classes, or bring in outside speakers and consultants to hold a class on a specific issue. Unlike the larger banks, few community banks actually have teachers and training coordinators on staff.
First State Bank is one of these few. Two years ago the Georgia bank hired an executive to develop curriculum and organize its employee education. Since then it has created a manual for customer service representatives, established courses tailored specifically to the bank, and developed policies to deal with customers.
Palmetto also hired a training director, Willis Fortson, two years ago. Mr. Fortson helped set up the verbal communication and principles of banking courses and also designed other courses on product knowledge, security issues, and courteous customer service. Now that most all employees have been through these courses, Mr. Fortson said, "I have noticed that employees are much more conscientious about their professional image and are more aware of the products and services we have to offer."
With the shift toward more service-focused training, fewer banks are relying on online training programs - once thought to be the wave of the future. Though most banks still use them to update employees on new regulations and compliance issues, most have realized they are not effective to teach employees to deal with clients, said Mr. Calvert, the Georgia consultant.
"The big problem with online training is self discipline. Bankers always do a better job when they have some live feedback," he said.
Some banks have gone beyond classroom training to instill good customer service values in their employees. At American National Bank of Texas, new employees shadow more seasoned employees to see how they deal with customers. And in certain situations where the bank's training won't do, an outside human resources consultant will come in and work one-on-one with an employee and a supervisor to help improve the performance.
Still, Mr. Stenson said that no one has perfect customer-service skills - even the star loan officer or seasoned CEO has room to improve.
"Training is an ongoing process for all staff," Mr. Stenson said. "Educational development is not something that happens once. When you are trying to improve service skills, you need to do it over and over again."
