Case Studies
Frandsen Bank & Trust
Scenario:
Frandsen Bank owns and manages a large portfolio of different banking brands that cater to smaller markets and communities. Their banking brands include Frandsen Bank and Trust, Valley Bank, Queen City Federal Savings Bank, and Rural American Bank. As with most industries, competition is heated at the local level when fostering new account holders. They were looking for a solution to help spur commercial account openings and referrals but wanted an innovative way to create incentive over competing financial institutions.
Solution:
WOW! designed two programs to meet Frandsen's needs.
The first was targeted at increasing the perceived value that new commercial clients received. This program entailed rewarding all new commercial account openings with a fully tailored, personal assistance VIP card by including it with every new account's information packet. Each card came with 30 minutes of talk time and full branding of the personal assistance service's greetings and closings.
WOW! was then tailored to entice current customers to refer their friends, family, and business associates to bank with Frandsen. Advertisements were strategically placed throughout Frandsen banking lobbies informing current clients of the new referral program. The program rewarded both the referrer and the new referral account with:
- A Frandsen branded 20 minute personal assistance VIP card
- A $50 prepaid Visa card
To help sustain the referral program, the closing script of every VIP referral card was customized to read, “don't forget to refer your friends and family to {Frandsen Brand Name} and you will receive a $50.00 Visa gift card!”
Results:
Since the first program was targeted to commercial clients, recipients of the service often came back to the bank asking for more cards to give their own employees. The demand was so high that most banks ran out of cards before our immediate backup shipments could even arrive. Frandsen was incredibly pleased with the success of their new promotion as more and more clients showed interest in both their financial solutions and the benefits of their customized WOW! program.
The referral program proved just as effective; referring clients asked for multiple cards at a time for their friends and family members. Although the program was originally designed to reward new account openings, most account managers accommodated their clients' requests and gave them multiple VIP cards at no extra charge. The banks saw an immediate increase in the number of referral accounts that were opened and the program was deemed an incredible success.
