Adding a digital solution to complement a full-service customer experience   

The small business team at Bank of Tennessee have long seen the value of providing in-person support and expertise to their many business-owning customers — the challenge is for those customers to find the time to meet. 

“We want to make sure that we're taking care of those business owners. The challenge is that they’re busy, and they can’t always make it into a branch —that's become an important factor in how we support them,” explained Detra Clevin, the Chief Operating Officer for Bank of Tennessee.

With a customer base that is growing more comfortable with technology, Bank of Tennessee is expected to deliver a smooth user experience that incorporates the latest capabilities — just like the many fintech challengers competing for the same customers.  

Understanding the changing competitive landscape, the bank began their due diligence in 2018, singling out Autobooks as the right partner. “We had quite a few conversations, making sure it was the right fit for our strategic plan. But we knew that we needed to compete with all the players out there in the digital world — and Autobooks was the answer,” said Cleven. 

In late 2020, Bank of Tennessee made the partnership official. Partnering with Autobooks just made sense, for a number of reasons. 

“The Autobooks team has been wonderful in helping us onboard the product, and to develop a go-to-market plan that has us asking the right questions,” explained Cleven. “Really, it's about learning what's going to work. Who is the right customer? Who should we target first? How do we get our branches involved in the conversation? But the training materials, monthly and quarterly updates that we receive, have been quite helpful.” 

“The Autobooks team has been wonderful in helping us onboard the product, and to develop a go-to-market plan that has us asking the right questions.” 

Since the initial implementation of Autobook’s small business solution, Bank of Tennessee has seen marked growth with the platform. Every time the bank deploys the marketing material offered by Autobooks, product awareness increases among customers — and more importantly, so do sign-ups. Enrollments in the solution, for example, typically more than double during these short campaigns. 

Recently, Bank of Tennessee has given more prominence to the payment acceptance tools powered by Autobooks — and now promote these features on their business checking pages online. Customers have been quick to adopt them. The bank has seen a 366% increase in engagement with the product since launch.  

Another unforeseen benefit has been the long-term loyalty associated with Autobooks. According to Cleven, “Once we get a customer enrolled, we have had a lot of success with them staying on. They think it's easy. As a result, we’ve seen a lot of recurring payment cycles.”  

“Once we get a customer enrolled, we have had a lot of success with them staying on. They think it's easy. As a result, we’ve seen a lot of recurring payment cycles.” 

This payment data, in turn has helped the bank to fine-tune their customer outreach. “The information that Autobooks provides us on a monthly basis to see who the customers are and the type of transactions they are making are helping us to refine our frontline messaging and the conversations they’re having with those businesses,” added Cleven. 

By implementing and iterating on innovative solutions like Autobooks, the Bank of Tennessee team has been able to establish a reputation among their customers as a company at the forefront of small business banking.