Independent Banker - December 2024 - 52

Williamstown Bank's customers
know that they can get their banking
and financial needs handled at any
of its four branches, but they also
know that waiting behind the entry
door every day is a freshly brewed
cup of coffee or handcrafted beverage.
The $226 million-asset community
bank in Williamstown, W.Va., is
situated in what president and
CEO Sharon Anderson calls " a very
competitive market, " populated with
community banks and a large regional
bank presence.
A warm greeting and a hot drink
A few years ago, Williamstown Bank
assessed its traditional interior setup
and decided that a refresh was in order
to differentiate itself in a new local
market. Customers had gravitated to
more digital banking, for example, and
the bank was looking for new ways to
drive more foot traffic into its branches.
" Our goal is to survive and remain an
independently owned and operated
community bank, " says Anderson.
The bank's solution: a donationbased
coffee shop built right into two
of its four branches. " We visited a
bank that was using a similar concept
up in Ohio and really liked it, " says
Anderson. (Read about Williamstown
Bank's inspiration, Richwood Bank, in
the August 2024 issue.)
Today, the in-branch " The Giving
Cup " coffee shop offers everything
from espressos and lattes to frozen
drinks, with all proceeds given to one
of the six different local nonprofits
the customer gets to pick from. That
donation is what " pays " for the drink
the customer receives. " As a 'thank
you' for the donation, we craft a drink
of the donor's choice, " says Anderson.
To date, Williamstown Bank
has raised over $57,000 for those
organizations through The Giving
Cup program. " You don't have to be
a customer to participate, " Anderson
says, " but as people come in and
make their donations, we're hoping to
build rapport and start conversations
with them. " Those interactions touch
on the person's current banking
relationships, their mortgage needs,
anything they're unhappy with at their
existing bank and so on.
During the COVID shutdowns, the
community bank offered a curbside
version of its coffee service and rolled
out more tech tools, such as iPads
or laptops that universal bankers
could use to get e-signatures from
customers while delivering the drinks.
It has also started using interactive
teller machines (ITMs), which use
touchscreens and video technology
to " virtualize " the in-person banking
experience, in all four of its locations.
Anderson says Williamstown
The power of focus groups
Customer focus groups can help
community banks determine what their
current brand image is and what they
need to do differently to improve their
brand and name recognition. Dave
Throndson, SVP of sales at La Macchia
Group Inc., says this is a fairly quick and easy way to figure
out if a bank's brand is old-fashioned, out of touch and in
need of a makeover.
To gain a broader perspective, be sure to include
people of all ages in the focus group, knowing that
those consumers may have different wants, needs and
expectations of a bank. Then, use that objective data to
begin conceptualizing what your branch update should look
and feel like.
" Getting that objective data on how people see your bank
can be a great first step in the right direction, " Throndson
says. " From that exercise, you may find that it's time to
switch things up to ensure that your bank is staying relevant
and not falling behind its competitors. "
Bank's goal is to make its branches
feel warm, welcoming and inviting.
It wanted to make interactions feel
less transactional, which is why it
moved away from using teller lines.
For customers who are making
larger cash deposits, the bank has
also set up more private areas for
handling those transactions. " Our
ultimate goal is to give customers
a great experience and build those
one-on-one relationships with them
using a more conversational-and
less transactional-approach, "
Anderson says.
Blending tech with personalization
If they want to capture a wide swath
of younger generations of customers,
banks " can't just keep doing what
they've been doing for the last 20 to
30 years and hope to thrive, " says
Dave Throndson, SVP of sales at
Milwaukee-based La Macchia Group
Inc., which designed Williamstown
Bank's new branch concept.
52 // ICBA Independent Banker // December 2024
Photo (opposite page) courtesy of F&M Bank
Independent Banker - December 2024

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