President's Blog

SO WHAT if the calendars date is arbitrary and established by a culture long gone and forgotten.  And just because they weren’t exactly right in their calculations, leaving us with some crazy formula for “leap year,” along with that century adjustment every 100 years or so, we shouldn’t hold it against people who didn’t have iPhone apps and HP 12-C calculators.  I mean, come on, we made the calendar change in 1582 and the colonies finally caught up with the party by losing a bunch of days in 1752 (which screwed up George Washington’s birthday, by the way).  Still, all in all, it’s a pretty good party.

And arbitrary or not, I have yet to find someone who doesn’t carry some sense of renewal and a fresh start when we start talking about January.  Who can’t get behind naming a month for a Greek god whose very existence means doors and gates?

So it’s January.  It’s time to renew, rethink, recalculate.  It is the perfect time to put your house in order and prioritize how to improve yourself (resolutions?) and your world of relationships.  And since it’s a favorite topic of mine, it’s a good time to think about how you want your banking relationship to improve and provide more value to not just your money, but to your overall plan of life.

We community bankers are big on the relational aspect of our dealings with our clients.  You will see it in the literature and advertisements we write.  It is a central theme for any of the associations to which we subscribe.  And it is on this very fundamental truism that a good bank customer should seek their January renewal ritual.

We want your financial information.  It’s impossible to give you input regarding your banking if we can’t see the path you’ve chosen to take so far.  If you’re already a borrower, remember the good old days when we could ask for your financial updates but didn’t really pester you if you didn’t provide them?  Those days are way over.  The financial meltdown wasn’t caused by that lack of oversight, but I can guarantee you that from the current age forward, financial documentation will be a permanent way of life.  Enjoy it; it’s for your own good.

We want to exchange in a dialogue as to what you’ve done to survive the past three or four years and we want to be a part of the conversation about where you want to go.  There is nothing worse for a banker than to get surprised.  I am not going to disclose the secret punishments, but trust me when I say that most bankers are like long tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs right now when it comes to surprises from clients.

We want you to take advantage of the range of services we provide.  You are correct in the assumption that it’s good for the Bank when you do that – several of those services drive either direct income or engender a lasting relationship that is profitable to the financial institution.  But it also serves to allow us the power to correct problems or leverage additional benefits to you if you take advantage of multiple lines of business under our roof.

So hurry!  Make this the best resolution of 2012 and sit down with us.  It will make the celebration of December 31st just that much sweeter.

A day doesn't pass that I don't get asked to follow some business on Facebook, Twitter, or some other social media, networking site. Maybe I'm just too old; maybe I'm not in touch; or maybe I don't understand the intrinsic value. But just what can a bar of soap or a carbonated power beverage tell me through the magic of their "page" that would endear them to me? And am I really going to click "LIKE" for my favorite brand of hemorrhoid cream?

Since before the advent of the Burma Shave sign series (Google it if you're not of a certain age), marketers and advertisers have been trying to get our attention. We are honestly enamored by their process. We sing along with the jingles - are you really stuck on Band Aid's or is the song just stuck on you? We incorporate their slogans into our every day life - just where is the beef? Mad Men is one of television's most popular new dramas. All this is because one group (sponsor) wants another group (consumer) to interact (purchase) on some level.

I'm a lover of the internet. It is truly powerful, accessible, and useful. For goodness sake, I'm an adopter of the blog. My question is, "How do I most efficiently and appropriately use this channel to accomplish my business & banking goals for those I want to serve?"

A recent estimate from a marketing friend of mine is that the average internet user will be bombarded by well over 200 electronic messages and solicitations before getting to the point of choosing a lunch spot on any given day. Thanks to the advent of the extended umbilical through your very smart smart-phone, the access starts long before you sit at the computer in your home or office. With all that information streaming in front of you every day, does any of it help you choose the who or the how of your financial services provider?

Here's my personal commitment. As always, it is you who will decide how to interact with us. We'll open the door here at 9 am and hang around until 5 pm, if you want to come by and see us in person to do your banking. We'll offer the Merchant Remote Capture services and online banking through this website to let you take care of business while in your favorite pajamas, if you like (but please consider changing before reverting to the first option of visiting here). We will do our very best to stay current on the tools and techniques of the banking trade, so you have every option and opportunity afforded to those who choose bigger banks. If its voice mail you hear, it's because I wasn't able to answer the phone and not because we refuse to let you talk to a real human being. If you like ATMs, we've got them, but if you want to come in and chat with Tim while he counts out the dough, that's okay too.

And if I ask you to follow me on some of those social media sites, I'll try to make sure and have somewhere to lead you that actually makes the journey seem worthwhile.

Gregory Patton