Bank Roundtables

Earlier this week, local bloggers/tweeters were invited to Coco’s Cafe, in Mt. Pleasant, for a food tasting event.  This was all setup by Lyn Mettler of Step Ahead Web Strategies.  I’d never heard of Coco’s and had never eaten at a French restaurant.  I must say, the food was great, especially the desserts.  Normally, I feel chocolate and mint are a bad combination, but Coco’s has definitely changed my opinion in that regard.

By inviting local bloggers, I’m sure Lyn hoped that we would blog about our experience.  From what I saw that evening, I’m sure most did.  There were a couple of people that even posted pictures on www.brightkite.com.

This get-together made me think about how banks could do something similar.  Commercial customers are more profitable, on average.  Arranging bank sponsored get-togethers would be beneficial to both the bank and their customers.  Normally, bank customers are invited to events that showcase the bank’s products.  Events that showcase the customers would be a welcome change.

Commercial customers offer a diverse line of products and services.  Getting a group of them together would be a win for them and the bank.  With the economy in the dumps, any way that could help drive new business to commercial customers would be greatly appreciated.

Imagine it, the bank invites restaurants and caterers so that they can provide and showcase their food.  Other companies could give five minute presentations about what they offer. Afterwards, more networking could be done.  The bank would be seen as a partner, not just a money lender.  In this economic crunch, banks need to do everything they can to get more customers on their side.  This would definitely be a step in the right direction.