“Hospitality is absolutely the expectation,” said Jeff Martinez, PNC’s head of Branch Banking. “When you’re working here at PNC, you’re at the service of others.”
Martinez is speaking of PNC’s expectation for its Retail Banking team as it reshapes and grows its branch network. It reflects a renewed focus on hospitality and making customers feel welcome through personal interaction and intentional design choices. Beyond the ergonomic design of branches, that welcoming atmosphere will be cultivated by small things, like opening the door for each customer, making sure everyone is greeted, or walking them back to their car with an umbrella on a rainy day.
The intention is to make customers feel comfortable in the branch and leave a lasting impression long after they’re done transacting business. And though it may seem like a “feel good,” the focus has its genesis in business performance. Martinez noted that hospitable branches are the best performing in the bank’s network, so it makes sense to scale it. Additionally, as artificial intelligence plays an increasing role in people’s everyday interactions, the model serves as a human touchpoint.
“Sometimes it feels like the world is getting less personal,” Martinez said. “This can be a real differentiator for us by providing that oasis for human connection.”
The look of these newly built or renovated branches will change a bit too with layout and furniture choices reinforcing the welcoming theme, but also accommodating customers’ unique needs. Functionally, the branches will remain a place where customers can perform both basic transactions or discuss longer-term financial goals and products. Under the hospitality focus, customers can have an informal conversation over a cup of coffee or a private consultation, depending on the type of interaction they’re seeking.
Rollout Over Time
The benefit of focusing on hospitality is that for many, it is innate. PNC’s program will have standard aspects that are formal – such as the greeting, door opening, or a post-experience exit survey – and parts that just happen naturally based on employee-instinct. Some of those employee-led initiatives may eventually become standard practice as well. More than anything, the focus on hospitality is a mindset rather than a set of activities. Martinez noted that there are employees already embracing the hospitality mindset that is making the initiative better.
To that end, hiring decisions and training will have a hospitality focus as well. Recruiting employees with hospitality industry experiences and training them on the necessary financial services tasks will take precedence over a focus on only banking industry experience. Additionally, existing branch employees and PNC Retail Banking leaders will be trained on our newly adopted hospitality practices.
While the initial implementation will be focused on in-branch interactions and post-visit touchpoints, Martinez said the next step is working through how the hospitality model will be executed in drive through banking and call center conversations. It’s a new model that will take time to implement.
“We’re working under a long-term timeline because this isn’t necessarily easy to do,” Martinez said. “This will be a growing and learning experience, but we’re going to invest the time and resources to do it right because our clients deserve it.”
