The Importance of Honesty with your Customers with Linda Duncombe, EVP and CMO of City National Bank

Episode Notes:


City National Bank Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer Linda
Duncombe joins The Customer Experience Show to discuss how City
National Bank is a little different than the other big name
banks, how she deals with difficult situations involving her
customers, and how the recent pandemic has affected CNB.


3 Takeaways:



Great CX leaders need to be willing to break bad news to
their customers. Doing this in the proper way requires bravery
and a gentle touch.


Honesty in marketing needs to be more than a buzzword. A
commitment to be honest and transparent is a key first step in
creating a great customer experience.


Creating a great experience for your customers requires
thinking through needs from their perspective. CX managers need
to be willing to put themselves in their customers’ shoes.



Key Quotes:



“The importance of digital to the relationship with our
clients has grown and grown and grown over the last 12 months,
and we have been very innovative in that way. That we serve our
clients. We basically sent home 80% of our workforce within a
few days of when it got really serious with COVID last March
and we've worked tirelessly to make sure our clients feel that
we're still there for them 24 seven.”


“We put together a workforce that was more than just the
relationship and we had people from operations, from product
strategy, from HR, from legal processing loans. So we could get
these [PPP Loans] through, so our clients could get the money
that they needed to help their businesses. And it was something
that everybody from the CEO, Dan got involved in something that
we feel incredibly proud about, and we're doing it again with
phase two of the PPP program. And it's just what we do, people.
Don't question it.”


“When Frank Sinatra's child was kidnapped, we were one of
his banks and he came to our CEO at the time and said, I need a
bank that can open their safe on a weekend. I'm being told that
that can't be done. And he'd been told no by another bank. And
our CEO at the time said, yes, I can open the safe.”



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This episode is brought to you by IBM. If you are responsible
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Bio: 


Linda Duncombe is executive vice president and chief marketing,
product and digital officer of City National Bank. Ms. Duncombe
leads a team that is responsible for advancing the company’s
brand and digital strategy, articulating its value proposition,
and supporting business development. 


Ms. Duncombe oversees marketing, client experience, advertising,
and communications as well as digital channels, product
development, credit cards, and multicultural outreach. She is
also responsible for the bank’s technology innovation team, which
identifies and deploys fintech solutions for City National and
its clients.