By Laura DeLaCruz, Vice President, Business Development Officer & Chief Client Services Officer

In a bank merger, the weeks and months following conversion weekend are critical moments in the timeline. After the systems have been integrated and accounts converted, the focus needs to shift to maximizing the value of these new relationships. With the right strategies, acquiring banks can use this transition period to enhance loyalty, deepen relationships and increase profitability.

Deliver a Warm Welcome, Again

The systems conversion may be complete, but for many customers, the experience is still fresh. They’ve just had their accounts changed, their online banking updated, and their routines disrupted. Now’s the time to make good on the promises made in conversion communications and reassure them that the hard part is over and better things are ahead. Use targeted messages via direct mail or digital communications to welcome and thank customers. Highlight benefits they may not be aware of, like expanded branch and ATM networks, new digital tools and products, or longer customer service hours.

Give Your Front Line the Tools to Build Stronger Relationships

Your customer-contact staff play a key role in helping customers feel confident and valued after a conversion. Support them with clear talking points for outreach, easy-to-understand FAQs and tools that help them identify opportunities to offer relevant products or services. Every phone call or branch visit is a chance to build trust and strengthen the relationship.

Use Data Intelligence to Drive Post-Conversion Success

This is where real growth begins. Leverage rich third-party data to analyze your newly acquired customers and identify post-acquisition opportunities. Client profiles, customer segmentation, product ownership analysis and behavioral scoring can help you understand your new customer base, prioritize products for cross-sell and drive smart strategies.

• Client profiles determine how these customers compare to existing, legacy customers or the market at large.
• Customer segmentation helps you identify patterns within your newly acquired customers to create effective segments for targeted campaigns. These segments, or personas, play an important role in developing communications strategies and personalized creative to optimize engagement.
• Product ownership analysis shows current product ownership by customers and provide insight into the number of products and the combination of products held by each customer.
• Modeling and scoring can help prioritize which customers or products provide the best cross-sell opportunities.

With this insight, banks can develop specific communications plans for these newly acquired customers, delivering the right message, to the right customer, at the right time, which will ultimately increase retention and share of wallet.

With a careful post-conversion strategy, acquiring banks can build lasting loyalty and gain long-term value from every newly converted customer. By combining personalization, frontline engagement, and strategic data insights, you’ll retain and grow these relationships.

MKP communications inc. is a New York-based marketing communications agency specializing in merger/change communications for the financial services industry.