How WFH convinced me we’re finally taking the ‘ugh’ out of digital implementation (hint: it’s all about the clients)

Connectivity … it seems easy.

In our personal lives, having a smart phone means we’re connected with any number of businesses and banks. You can use your phone for literally anything. Buy groceries, pizza orders, transportation, paying bills or friends and family … the expectation for simple and easy has become a way of living, and that is very much flowing over into our business lives. We’ve come to expect it from our vendors and stakeholders and, of course, that’s what you should expect from your banking partners.

As experience will tell us about business and technology, implementation has often been the most complicated and time-consuming part of bringing on a new “solution.” We’ve even passed the point where you mention implementation, and everyone just goes … ugh. And now it’s like we’re looking to solve for problems within the solutions themselves.

One good thing about the past year has been the absence of travel time. I can connect with my colleagues and customers back-to-back, any time or day without needing a long commute or schlep through the airport, taxi to a hotel, conference center – you name it and I’ll tell you how much time it takes away from my productivity. And while I’m still very excited to begin meeting in-person again, the new digital connections I’ve enjoyed (without travel lag or delay) has afforded me a lot of growth, both personally and professionally.

And I’m not just talking about learning to bake bread; I’m talking about a digital bridge connecting me with my business friends.

I’ve been able to digitally connect with more customers and partners than ever, hearing diverse stories about how we’ve all navigated the truly unexpected, and the lessons we’ve learned to take forward. With customers, the digital relationship means I have more time to dedicate to what I love: listening to what their needs are – like, really listening. That deep listening has now transformed into a dialogue about not only what the “digital relationship” means for their business, but the best way to establish that connection so our clients can focus on building exciting new digital relationships with their customers.

As the result of those continuing conversations (and some really cool-but-friendly tech innovation) I can promise you: simple, easy ways to connect with U.S. Bank has become our focus.

I mean, we even won an award for customer experience in the middle of a pandemic.

I can’t wait to connect with payments industry friends (including those I haven’t met yet) again this year at MPC21. See you there!

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AUTHOR

Nina Hanselman

Nina Hanselmann, vice president, working capital, U.S. Bank, creates and develops client partnerships. Her financial expertise and counsel help clients uncover opportunities for creating effective business solutions. Her focus at U.S. Bank, in collaboration with sales, product, implementation and operations, is to ensure client access to U.S. Bank’s thought leadership and extensive resources. Nina joined U.S. Bank in August 2014, bringing over 25 years of experience in treasury management. Previous roles include sales management, business development, senior relationship management, international and domestic correspondent banking sales and strategic partner alliances and payments product development for leading financial service providers. Nina holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame. Her community involvement includes board work in public and private education and prevention of child abuse.