3 Important Elements of a Successful Branch Transformation Project

You’ve been following the trends in retail banking and realize your current branch design is old and simply isn’t working.  Perhaps you had an epiphany that your teller lines just aren’t creating the atmosphere to increase customer engagement. Whatever the issue, the thought has crossed your mind – it’s time to redesign your branches.  

A branch transformation is no easy task, and unfortunately, financial institutions rarely take the proper approach, resulting in a complex process that goes over budget and fails to deliver the expected results. 

So what is the right way to get your Branch Transformation strategy off on the right foot?  Here are 3 simple steps to help you take the complex and make it into a well-defined plan for success:

1. Identify Your Outcomes

As Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.”  This holds true for branch transformation projects even more so.  Branch Transformation means different things to different people, so the first step is to identify what you would like to accomplish with a redesign. What are your goals and objectives? 

Is it to lower operational costs? Create a better in-branch experience?  Design smaller branches? Or maybe increase transactions via self-service in lieu of tellers? Find ways to increase cross-sells? 

2. Assess Your Own Organization

Once you know what you would like to get out of your new branch design, the next step is finding out what is currently getting in the way of allowing your branch to accomplish these initiatives. 

What is keeping your staff from optimal sales effectiveness and service delivery?  Is it teller lines or long teller counters?  Truly think about what you are seeing in your branches and write that down.

3. Navigating the Barriers

The final step in starting a branch redesign is deciding how to accomplish your vision. What can you expect in terms of process, time and money?  And what kind of Design Company is right for you?  Overall, it’s important to find an organization that takes the time to understand your goals, can help you navigate the right innovations to adopt, and finally has all the resources to help take your project to the finish line.  

The Point - The pre-planning stages are crucial and it’s important to have clarity of direction, clarity of what your success is, and clarity of tangible steps forward.