Every year when the Providence Business News releases its annual list of Top Private Companies, BankNewport is comfortably ensconced in roughly the same secure spot. For the past 15 years, when the numbers are crunched, the bank comes up in the high-20s or mid-30s. It’s an impressive record, especially at a time when banks and other financial-service sectors have been bombarded with deregulation, burst bubbles, mergers and the subprime meltdown. So how does the bank do it?
“It sounds trite, but we really put our customers’ needs first. We treat each and every customer like they were the only one we had,” said David Murray, senior vice president of marketing for BankNewport.
Both Murray and the 260-plus employees that work for the 12-branch bank share a passion when it comes to customer needs, and going the extra mile or bending over backward is just business as usual.
The commitment to customer service starts at the top at BankNewport. Tom Kelly, president and chief executive officer of the bank, said “It’s easy to say you have the best service. It’s another thing to constantly deliver it. The large numbers of complimentary letters I get from customers say it all.”
Kelly knows that exemplary customer service is not delivered by accident. “I’ve never seen a team of professionals work as hard at being focused on the customer’s success as the employees of BankNewport,” he said. “Without exception, every BankNewport employee is extensively trained to understand that they, directly or indirectly, work for our customers.”
But it goes beyond training to getting the staff to internalize the message, something the bank works hard to make happen.
“One thing we firmly believe is that happy employees do a better job, and we strive to keep our staff motivated,” Murray said. “The employees at BankNewport look at their jobs as careers and as a result they’re very professional. When it comes to customer service we’re all like-minded.” Proof of the bank’s approach is its recognition as one of Rhode Island’s Best Places To Work in 2007 and 2008, as presented by PBN and the Best Companies Group.
BankNewport was founded in 1819 and was one of the first banks in Rhode Island at which sea captains conducted business. Today, the bank holds $1 billion in assets.
Employee interaction and morale are important factors that help keep the staff at BankNewport smiling, and therefore motivated. When they are not attending corporate-culture training classes, Murray said there is always something fun in the works designed to help employees get acquainted and work together as a team.
“It isn’t uncommon for Tom Kelly to pop into someone’s office to tell them they did a good job this week. And we’re on a first name basis here,” Murray said.
In an effort to connect with his employees personally, Kelly and the bank “hoopla team” is planning a two-day trolley ride (including a small band) that will take him to all 12 southeastern New England branches for brief visits.
“We really have a good time at work, and I think that feeling makes our customers more comfortable,” Murray said. It isn’t just about getting a job with good benefits. It’s about finding a place where you belong. So many of our employees stay with the bank for a very long time.”
Customers of BankNewport have come to expect polite, caring employees and sound advice no matter which branch they stop at.
“Our customers trust us and think nothing of coming in and asking us what we think they should do with their money,” Murray said. •
