Up Close: SunTrust exec seeking new opportunities

Q: What is your definition of marketing?

A: At Harvard I took classes on service management taught by the authors of the “The Service Profit Chain.”  While I was at Bain & Co., I worked with Fred Reichheld, who wrote [with Thomas Teal] “The Loyalty Effect.” It helped me see that everything must be client-driven versus a standard business P&L viewpoint. If you gain a consumer’s loyalty, you have a lifetime value proposition.

Q: How do drive loyalty?

A: The brand is your experience. The experience enables you to deliver exceptional client loyalty that will then make you money. You have to engage your employees to think differently about the job. You have to define loyalty from the client’s perspective. What really matters to them?

Q: How do you find those drivers?

A: It’s a priority process. We get lots of data from our clients and then we place our bets. Client loyalty is driven by front-line employees. They have to be energized so they can deliver exceptional value to clients. We also have to give them to tools to do it. It’s a different mindset than marketing based on demographics. We no longer think of ourselves, especially on the front line, as having transactional jobs. Our clients want to talk about money, especially now. Money is totally intertwined with people’s lives and we want to be at that intersection when people need help with their lives and money. It’s a different attitude than opening up an account. We see things in a bigger context.

Q: How do you energize front-line employees?

A: Changing people’s lives is inspirational. You can get really energized when you help someone get a mortgage or learn how to control finances better.

Q: How does an experience drive sales?

A: It’s the way we’re going to deliver results – holistically across the enterprise rather than vertically. We will provide experiences that will serve our customers and will get their loyalty. Then the sales will result. People can sniff out a sales job where there is a direct line to the product. Don’t be shortsighted.

Q: How has the economic downturn affected the bank?

A: Before, people thought more about what dry cleaner to use than their bank. All of a sudden the bank stopped being a commodity and an errand that you had to do; it became a really emotional relationship. The consumer base is engaged with their finances like they haven’t been in years. It was a great way to redefine ourselves.

Q: Isn’t this a radical change for SunTrust, which has a conservative reputation?

A: We’ve had new leadership and, again, a new set of opportunities. Wachovia went under. It created a reason to look at us. Our brand’s reputation has weathered the economic storm really well. We weren’t connected with the Wall Street types of banks; nor were we a micro bank that the FDIC might takeover. We had a long-standing reputation of trust and maybe being conservative, and we could leverage that.

Q: How does the bank market on social media?

A: We launched LiveSolid.com this February and it’s not like most banks’ sites. It’s very consumer-oriented and talks about planning for a wedding, saving for college, dealing with your parent’s finances. Same with Facebook and Twitter. Our Facebook has 9,000 fans and we have 1,000 following us on Twitter. Those numbers are much higher than a lot bigger banks.

Q: Why?

A: We’re not selling them products. We’re engaging them in a conversation about how to live their life better, more solidly. The group that we’re attracting the most is under 40s who maybe never even balanced their checkbook before.

Rilla Delorier, chief marketing officer, SunTrust Banks

Age: 43

Education: B.S. in marketing, University of Virginia; MBA, Harvard

Husband: Louis Kun

Children: Isabel,11; Laurel, 9

Hobbies: Hanging out with my family and playing tennis

Little known talent: I learned to juggle when I was 10

Hometown: Katonah, N.Y., in Westchester County

Currently resides in: East Cobb