In banking, products don’t differ much. Most institutions offer the same suite of solutions. What separates one from another isn’t the product, but the experience consumers have when visiting a branch. That’s why The Element Group is challenging leaders to adopt a retail mindset, designing branches with greater intentionality and a sharper focus on engagement.
In this episode of The Bits Matter Podcast, host Doug Ridley sits down with Marc Healy, Executive Director of Sales and Business Development at The Element Group. With more than 30 years of experience in retail banking operations, Marc explains why institutions need to embrace retail thinking to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Why Branches Need a Retail Mindset
COVID pushed people away from branches, making in-person engagement more valuable than ever. Marc challenges institutions, “If you don’t think of your branch as a retail store, you’re missing something.”
In retail, every detail feels intentional: signage, digital displays, employee engagement, even the way conversations begin. Banks and credit unions can take the same approach to create branches that feel welcoming, supportive, and modern.
Engagement at the Core of Design
Retail-minded branches prioritize engagement. That means creating spaces for conversations and using interactive technology to make those moments meaningful. Touchscreens, digital surveys, and gamified account openings transform routine transactions into opportunities for connection and brand building.
Technology With Intentionality
It’s not enough to add screens. Placement and content matter. Interactive brochures should tie seamlessly into digital signage, reinforcing promotions and financial literacy at the right moment. When technology is integrated into the customer journey, it drives both satisfaction and retention.
Building Relationships That Last
Perhaps the biggest shift is cultural. Branch staff must think less about transactions and more about relationships. Asking simple, human questions like “Why did you move into town?” builds rapport and shows care. As Marc notes, “Financial institutions already know so much about their customers. What’s missing is the personal connection.”
Design Critiques as a Retail Checkup
Design critiques, a process Element offers to clients, function as a retail checkup. They identify issues that local architects or contractors often overlook, such as traffic flow, technology placement, and the alignment of the member journey. Just as in retail, execution matters. Reviewing designs through this lens saves money and creates spaces that actually work.
Key Takeaways for Leaders
- Think of your branch as a retail store, not just a transaction hub.
- Create engagement zones where conversations start naturally.
- Use interactive technology with intentional placement and content.
- Train staff to become trusted advisors, not just complete transactions.
- Leverage design critiques to ensure your branch is designed with the consumer journey in mind.
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Transcript
Doug Ridley: Welcome to the Bits Matter Podcast. I’m your host, Doug Ridley, and today we’re continuing season two, a strategic approach to branch design with episode five, Adopting a Retail Mindset.
In this episode, I’m joined by Marc Healy, our Executive Director of Sales and Business Development. Marc applies his 30 years of experience in retail banking operations and management to help our clients deliver the best branch experience. Today, we explore why financial institutions need to embrace a retail mindset when revolutionizing their branches.
Now, let’s get started. So, Marc, thanks for joining us.
Marc Healy: You’re welcome.
Doug Ridley: One of the things that you and I have talked a lot about this year is around the importance of institutions having a retail mindset. Walk me through what that means and how we’re talking to clients about it.
Marc Healy: Well, financial services has been very, very traditional and conservative in nature. And funny, I was just having a conversation with a client about this exact topic. I go, “You know what? Is how you look at your branch?” And I go, “If you don’t think it’s a retail store, you’re kind of missing something.” And he’s going, talk to me about that.”
We’re trying to get people into our branches and COVID didn’t do us any favors of bringing people into the branches, actually pushed people away. So you got to look to do something a little bit different. How do you utilize technology? How do you utilize digital signage? How to use aesthetics, branding, etc, in your branches to create a true retail environment. And all those pieces have to come together and work in harmony with each other in order to deliver a unique experience.
We all have the same products and services, you know, pretty dang close. We all have auto loans, checking accounts. But what do you do uniquely different to stand out from the crowded noise of all financial institutions in every corner and how you do that, you create an experience with a retail mindset as the overarching frame to uniquely differentiate yourself.
And I say this to clients, I say it internally as well is that how do we become more consultative? How do we become more advisory in nature when somebody walks into a branch and create a different environment that most people perceive or think a branch is or financial institution should be.
Doug Ridley: I love that idea around creating that kind of different environment when someone comes into the branch. So when we’re talking about these intentional design choices, you’d mentioned, the outward facing signage, making sure that when you walk in, you’re greeted, etc. We talked about private spaces for more in-depth conversations if we’re asking questions, opening up loans, etc. You mentioned technology as well.
Is there anything else there that, as we look at a branch that might be 700 square feet or 2,000 square feet, anything there that you would want to add in or people should be intentionally putting into their layouts.
Marc Healy: Yeah, great question. And I’ll start with just one word engagement. You need to create spaces that allow engagement. And what I mean about that is conversations with members or customers for customers, perspective members, you just said, like, if you need an in-depth conversation, you can go into private spaces, yeah, but let’s start creating and you first got creating an environment an area where that conversation can actually start. And so things that are more interactive. So, I think that a big piece is interactive technology. And when I mean that, things such as touchscreen technology, things that you can apply to that of whether it’s brochures, digitized brochures. It could be surveys. How was that interaction? When you walked out, when you walked out of that branch, talk to me about that member service or that customer service, that experience that you had because and have actionable things that can then change behavior from the employer or the financial institutions that it can make meaningful, tangible change to behavior, to improve customer satisfaction type metrics.
The so you think about that on interactive touch technology, you think about things celebrating success when somebody opens up in a new account, you know, here’s a retail mindset tactic to execute on that overall theme is that how cool is it if somebody opens up a new account and then you go to some interactive touch screen and you create some type of a game, scratch off game, that they’re playing, and then they win some type of a real cool price that they’re going to use. Branded to your financial institution, and something that they’ll use, like in this office that’re the studio we’re in right now, you see this branded merchandise there. It’s really good stuff that I would use outside of my branch or outside of work. So how cool is that that you’ve just now extended your brand outside the four walls of the branch? Then well, you can see on here, you know, I’m wearing branded apparel right now, because I think it’s important that how do you get not only your customers, but your employees to be brand ambassadors of your institution.
Doug Ridley: Yeah. And, you know, you mentioned too, that interactive technology and the screens and the touchscreens, I think more than ever, we’ve been so much more intentional about where we’re putting them, too. It’s not just, oh, it’s they need to be in the branch, but now it’s where are they placed in the branch? Where are they going to be most accessible? And then I know talking with Chris and our team that it’s also that what content is being placed in different areas of the branch as well?
Marc Healy: Well, 100%. You think about, again, another tactic on touch interactive type technology. There’s intentionality behind the design and where it needs to be. You’re absolutely 100% correct. You can’t just place it on a wall. It’s got to be part of that journey, that customer journey. So it’s intuitive enough that as part of the part of the journey that customer, that member is experiencing when they walk into that branch, but you also think about if I am if I’m looking through some type of an auto brochure or auto loan brochure on an interactive test screen, how cool is it that then all traditional digital signage in that branch starts to resonate some type of an auto message, made car buying service, some auto promotion loan promotion going on. But you’re going, wow, look at that. I’m just looking on some type of an interactive device, and now I’m getting content pushed around.
Doug Ridley: To improve financial literacy, how much you can save, depending on how much you put down and this sort of things.
Marc Healy: Targeting the messaging based upon what’s going on in that branch and being nimble enough to react. And that’s where the retail mindset comes into play. And so, you know, having a conversation, I had the privilege of an honor, I guess, to go help one of our clients train a financial institution, a very large financial institution over $20 billion in assets and after that, we were debriefing it and I asked him, I go, you know what? I gave you some information. Why didn’t you talk to me about it? I told you that I was roleplaying, that I just moved into town, and you never asked me why I moved into town. And I go, why didn’t you ask me that? Just build that relationship, start a rapport, and start a conversation because people deal with people, they like to do business with, build a relationship. And you know what his response was? I think that was two personal. I thought that was too personal a question to ask. I’m going, what is the difference if I just went into a restaurant? I just sat down and you just asked me if you were a waiter and you asked me, hey, is this your first time here? Yes, it is, or repeat customer, etc. And I’d say, no, first time I just moved in town. You probably would have right off the bat asked me, “Oh, what brought you in town?” New job came in, etc., but he thought that was too personal. And I’m going, “Isn’t that crazy?” And I debriefed with the entire branch team in the leadership team about that comment because I’m going, of anything, financial institutions have so much personal information about you. Social security number, they know everything about your income, etc., your credit score and all that type of stuff, but you thought it was too personal to ask why you moved into town. So even that a little bit of just changing your mindset of, you know, build that relationship with Doug.
Doug Ridley: And I think that when we are talking about the space as well, we’re giving, it seems like the frontline staff, those areas where here’s where those conversations can happen. And I think we talk about, we use the word choreography a lot is here’s where people are coming out from behind the desk and welcoming people in, getting people checked in. I know that some of our branches are so busy that they have someone there at the front to check people in, make sure that they have paperwork, you know, questions, answered. Oh, this is just more of a transactional thing. Here’s where you can maybe self-serve if you’re comfortable with that versus waiting to speak to somebody. Would you like coffee? And then giving in that space, that same area, more private places where those conversations can really occur.
Marc Healy: Yeah, you know, it goes back to what we’ve talked about, is that being engaging, you know, proactive in your conversations, be very advisory in that, and don’t just let the person walk in and say, okay, next, and you wave them over. I’m going, why don’t you come out from behind and greet them, just like you’re walking into your home? Again, differentiate yourself a little bit better than that your competition because a lot of people don’t do that, unfortunately. And you know, for the life of me, I still don’t know why, because it’s I think I know it is because people are focusing on transactions and geez, I got a busy line. I got to get these transactions pushed through quickly. But you’re not having real, meaningful conversations, which you need to have. And so I think you’re right on what you’re saying, Doug, and it sounds like you’ve been a banker for a long time.
Doug Ridley: I learn the best.
One of the last questions I have is we mentioned that journey that someone takes within the branch itself. When we were talking with William in episode one, we talked quite a bit about design critiques and how those are actually a great way for an institution to engage with Element to say, “I have this vision or I have an idea, or maybe just I just have an existing place, and help me understand that journey that someone takes or should be taking within my branch.” How, though, have you seen? Because you’ve been on both sides, been a client, you know, working with Element. How have you seen clients use design critiques effectively over the years?
Marc Healy: I think there’s a couple things and first and foremost, I would say that maybe in no particular order is that am I doing things right? Because most of the people we deal with are clients have worked with local architects or local general contractors and they come up with, I need, I’m going to have five, six people in this branch. Here’s the roles, and we just go design it. But there’s what been talking about in this episode, Doug, is that journey and that customer member journey when they open up the door, when they drive into the parking lot. A lot of times that’s not considered. And intentionality of where you place devices at to making sure that execution is done properly, because in retail, it’s all about execution. Just recently, actually, it is a nice, good-sized community bank in Georgia. Came to us. Their documentation was already going to remodel their main branch, which is inside their headquarters, and the president, whom I tipped my hat to, said something just wasn’t right for him by looking at the design. They’re literally permits issues, the general contractor was about ready to mobilize and start construction. He goes, “I’m pausing the brakes on this. I want you to take a look at this.” Brought our team in, two or three of our senior designers and architects looked at and literally, within 10 to 15 minute conversations solved 41 items of opportunity that they question, why are they doing this? Why are they doing that? And we went back to the president with that, and he’s going, “Well, you know, I should have brought you guys in law sooner in the game.” But he decided to pause and let us take a look. So that started with the design critiques and that here’s what the plans was, tell me what should be different.
Also, we’ve got a credit union in Colorado just recently, is, they had remodeled a branch, probably about, it was right, I’m losing track of time, but it was right prior to COVID. So it was a year so, I guess, in 2019 or so. So 5-6 years ago. And the there you go, something’s just not right with this as they’re in the process now. And COVID didn’t do many favors. They go, can you just critique this thing up and tell me, did we miss something? The most important is to realize what their space could become?
And we do this stuff complementary, too. Let us give you some thought process and what we think the space could actually look like. And we embed technology into that. Everything from transactional technology to other type of technology, that interactive type technology, but just trying to push the narrative about your retail approach as you should be taken.
Doug Ridley: That’s fantastic. and I know Nate recorded a short kind of video talking about those deliverables of a design critique, so we’ll add those into the show notes as well as some of the other projects that have ended up being so successful because of the design critiques as well.
But it’s been great talking with you. Marc, thanks for coming into the studio. and talking about design here. And I appreciate your time.
Marc Healy: I appreciate you. Thank you very much.
Doug Ridley: And that’s a wrap on this week’s episode, a big thank you to Marc Healy for joining us. Today’s episode was produced by Bryn Baldasaro with music by the George Brown band. Be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for our next episode, where Marc and I will talk about aligning design, your people, and ROI. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.
