Which Banks Do You Love?

Which banks do small and medium sized businesses love?

According to a J.D. Power and Associates Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study noted in this month's issue of SMB Finance, you love the big banks. PNC won the top spot for overall satisfaction with Wachovia, Suntrust, Washington Mutual and American Express filling out the top five.

The 2006 Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study is based on 4,996 responses from financial decision makers at small businesses with annual revenues from $100,000 to $10 million. Didn't see a single community bank on the top ranked list - seems if you did not have a national or regional presence, you were excluded from the survey results due to the small sample size.

So given that many small and medium sized businesses use community banks, how does a small or medium sized business get much value from the results?

The banks which rated the highest scored well on the criteria focused on relationships. Businesses know that choosing a bank isn't just about the lowest rate or who has the most product offerings. According to J.D. Power, "Satisfaction is highest among customers who identify a loan officer or bank manager as their primary contact".

Banking - it's still a relationship business.

Need help finding the right relationship or telling your story the right way? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!


Related Tags: small business, banking, J.D. Power, business loan, SMB, bank loan