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| Colleen Conaty constantly looks for ways to help small businesses get more out of their banking |
The PrivateBank thrives on finding solutions for customers
There had to be an easier way.
A The PrivateBank employee had noticed that one of the bank’s customers was calling in nearly every day to check her account balance. And while the employee was glad to help, she thought there had to be a better solution for the customer.
So she called Colleen Conaty.
Colleen, a The PrivateBank Associate Managing Director, paid the customer a visit. The customer explained that it was her job to keep the books straight for the used car business where she worked. But the owner frequently wrote checks from the business account and didn’t record them – and couldn’t remember them later. So she had to call in to get the account balance to be sure she didn’t overdraw the account.
Colleen sat down at the customer’s PC and logged in to the The PrivateBank Web site. She demonstrated, step by step, how to check account balances online. Then she showed off a feature she knew the customer would love: an area for viewing images of cancelled checks. With this tool, the customer could see the checks that had been written, to whom and for how much.
“To me it seemed like an easy fix,” Colleen admits, “but she was thrilled.”
Another time, Colleen dropped in to see a husband and wife who own a medical office. The wife was in charge of billing, a monthly chore that she dreaded. In addition to the tedious printing, stuffing and mailing of invoices, she often had to call patients later in the month to remind them to send their payments.
Colleen suggested an automatic draft system and helped the customer set it up. Since then, nearly all the patients have agreed to have their bills paid directly from their bank accounts. The draft system saves time and trouble. And since the payment dates are set up in advance, the practice can better anticipate its monthly cash flow.
Problem-solving missions like these are a long way from Colleen’s days in management with a large, regional bank. Back then, she mostly pushed papers according to the rules she was given. And once a customer was set up with service, it wasn’t Colleen’s job to provide support. Instead, customers had to call an 800 number for assistance.
Now with The PrivateBank, Colleen likes being able to give hands-on help and even adapt the rules if it helps fix a customer’s pain. “Every teammate here at The PrivateBank is empowered to make a difference,” she says.