Growing Customer Relationships: 90 Days That Make It or Break It

Across the nation, banks seeking to create deeper relationships with their customers are focused on their existing customers rather than on their newest customers. The research reveals that a significant portion of bank investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), lead management, cross-selling and retention aimed at the mature customer base might be misdirected. Why? One of the most striking findings in the performance metrics is that most cross-selling opportunities occur during the first few months of a customer relationship. And in a refrain heard repeatedly through dozens of executive interviews, senior bankers at many financial services companies said that customer attrition rates are significantly higher at the beginning of a relationship than when a relationship is six months old or older-sometimes as much as 100 percent higher.