With a motto like “America’s Most Convenient Bank,” TD Bank has built a reputation of putting customers first.
Doing it any other way would go against the company’s own best interest, according to Peter M. Meyer, President of TD Bank’s New York City market.
“Common sense tells you that if you are open more hours, you will get more customers,” said Meyer. “The volume we see in our stores is many times higher than what you will see in our competitors, and that is no coincidence.”
Meyer’s confidence in TD Bank’s performance stems from its tradition of personal and commercial success in the banking business. Even before it acquired Commerce Bancorp in 2008, TD Bank had a customer service arm that was unmatched in the industry. Combining its own ideals with Commerce’s unprecedented hours of operation catapulted TD miles above other banks in terms of an overall banking experience and customer satisfaction.
“The hours are only part of it,” said Peter Sarantos, Vice President, Retail Market Manager. “We count coins free for our customers, our ATMs are easy to use and we offer a friendly banking environment. Every second we are open, we have a greater number of employees on duty than anywhere else.”
TD Bank’s steadfast approach to customer service is no accident, according to Meyer. It is a highly calculated process of ground-level observation whereby regional managers are given a chance to relate their ideas to the higher-ups.
“We allow, encourage and support local branch managers and business leaders to work with the community and find out what concerns they have,” said Meyer. “They are allowed to have thoughts and ideas, and then they bring these thoughts and ideas up to us. We believe our greatest achievements are built from the bottom up, not the top down.”
One of TD Bank’s greatest achievements might be the physical buildings that house the banks. They build their stores in highly visible locations, always at corners in areas where volume is high. When you consider location, number of stores and aesthetics, TD Bank has done what is necessary to stay in the forefront of community banking.
“Everyone is consolidating right now; we are going the opposite way,” said Meyer. “We want to stay visible and in as many places as possible so that our customers can find us. Other banks make their customers go to the phone or the ATM or the Internet or some other channel other than the branch. It is about providing good service in really nice looking places.”
TD’s buildings are about more than just looks and convenience. TD Bank opened its first totally green store in Queens Village on April 24, 2010. The 3,800-square-foot building is designed to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent, with nearly 20 percent of the store’s energy produced onsite through solar panels. It is also targeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
“Everyone is headed in that direction,” said Richard K. Dzwlewicz, Regional Vice President, Queens. “The majority of new TD Bank stores constructed in 2011 will be targeting LEED certification. It is the right thing to do by our community and beyond.”
When it comes to doing right by its community, TD Bank goes beyond most other businesses: they customize each one of the stores and gear them specifically toward the characteristics of the neighborhood.
“There are over 120 different languages spoken in Queens. When we opened in the downtown Flushing market, where over 90 percent of the population is Asian speaking, we went out and hired a team that could serve that specific population.” said Sarantos. “We turned to the community and hired from it in order to gain experience in the downtown market.”
TD Bank is also fully engaged in the improvement and enrichment of the communities it serves through the support of local organizations. TD is committed to promoting economic empowerment, youth development and community involvement.
TD employees support public libraries, little leagues and civic associations, sit on various community boards and the bank’s parking lots host numerous community events. For Meyer, it is all part of the job description.
“This is what I do for a living. In order to be effective, you have to understand the community where you work. It is important to find out what is going on out there at the ground level,” said Meyer. You are not going to find out what is happening sitting in your tower.”
With a population of over two million in a borough that is more diverse than any other place in the country, the type of service they provide is both needed and counted on in Queens. TD Bank is able to provide its customers with this level of service due in large part to the class of employees they hire and the training they provide.
“We do a lot of our hiring based on attitude,” said Meyer. “If you don’t like people, then why be in this business at all?”
Moreover, TD Bank employees are trained to help all customers with whatever type of service they require. And that is the same throughout the country. No matter if the bank is in the northeast, the south or anywhere else, their banking professionals are ready to assist all comers.
“No matter if it is a branch in Florida, Brooklyn, Westchester, Queens, it is the same feel in all of the stores,” said Meyer. “You can take an employee from one region and drop them in another and they will always deliver the same consistency of service.”
That goes for all divisions of TD Bank: their employees are trained in both the personal and commercial banking fields.
“We don’t have different silos for our retail, personal and small business divisions,” explained Meyer. “We coordinate our staff so that anyone can help any customer with any issue. People should not have to search around for help at a bank.”
Small business owners coming in for help will be glad to know that TD Bank is equipped to provide them with the services they need to keep their business running smoothly. If you are looking for a loan, TD’s small business lending officer will help you determine which loan is right for you. They also offer insurance and investment options that will ensure you stay focused on what matters most: your business.
“We do not see a difference between how we treat personal banking customers and how we treat businesses,” said Meyer. “It is the same integrity of service, the same ‘WOW!’ service.”
TD Bank knows that businesspeople often do not separate themselves from their businesses. That is why they put such emphasis on both their small business and corporate divisions. They are a big, financially sound bank, yet they look and feel like a community bank; that is why they are so attractive to small business customers.
“This business operates the way most successful business do. That is why we are the bank of choice for small businesses,” said Meyer. “We are open when they are open and when they need us; seven days a week.”
TD’s commitment to availability and visibility is something that they have refused to cut back on, even in these challenging economic times. While other banks are scaling back on services, TD Bank continues to push forward, with an eye always on service as well as fiscal responsibility.
“We have not compromised our service model, which some other banks might have done,” said Meyer. “There have been no cuts in our hours, our services or in the amount of time that we invest in the community. With the tough economy, some companies have vacated the marketplace of being seen in the community. On the contrary, we look to be seen in our communities.”
TD Bank’s expansion into different aspects of banking goes against the current trend of banks consolidating in order to try to spur financial growth.
This is precisely what sets TD Bank apart from the competitors. They have won the J.D. Power and Associates customer service award four years in a row for a reason; they do not believe that cutting expenses and eliminating their small business operations is the optimal way to entice potential customers.
“Most banks in New York grow by consolidation, acquisition and by cutting services. We have done the exact opposite of that,” said Meyer. “When we open a bank in any area, every other bank there is sweating. Nobody has the name that we do and nobody offers what we offer.”
It seems so simple: make yourself available and your business will grow. However, as Meyer points out, the most obvious solution is not always the one most utilized.
“I question why most banks do not function the way we function,” said Meyer. “Why wouldn’t you make things more convenient for your customers?”
Meyer and the rest of the TD family often refer to their banks as stores and their bank managers as store managers. They want the customers to feel they are walking into an establishment that provides innumerable options for them to browse through and consider before settling one way or the other.
“We see ourselves as a retailer, more than anything else. We are selling banking opportunities to the community. Our stores have become destinations,” said Meyer. “We are open seven days a week and 40 to 50 percent more hours than most other banks. This is how we promote our customer experience, by being there for the customer and making ourselves available to them.”
About TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®
TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 7.4 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,250 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD bank and its subsidiaries offer customized wealth management services through TD Wealth, and insurance products and services through TD Insurance, Inc. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Portland, Maine. To learn more, follow TD Bank on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US or visit www.tdbank.com.
TD Bank is a member of TD Bank group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America and one of the few banks in the world rated Aaa by Moody’s. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol “TD”. To learn more, visit www.td.com
