#6 The World's Greatest Banker

ISSUE #6– Wednesday, May 16, 2018

The World’s Greatest Banker

Posted by Denny Hatch

Frank Brock, President, First Bank of Troy Idaho

In 1960 Troy’s population was 555.

Frank Brock’s bank had 6,000 active accounts.

He had customers in 45 states, and around the world as distant as Pago Pago and American Samoa.

Frank Brock knew precisely what business he was in. "I am in the business of providing financial services for my customers—from cradle to grave.”

Brock’s Very Personal Approach

Brock knew virtually all his customers by their first names. His day was spent on the phone with customers, clipping newspapers and dealing with correspondence. Whenever a customer married, died, moved away, gave birth, etc., Brock sent a personal remembrance.

The current buzz phrase for this: “Continuous Event Marketing.”

Acquiring New Customers

When a customer’s child reached age seven the family was invited for a personal tour of the bank where Brock met them at the door. (The vault was a favorite.)

At the teller’s window Brock presented the kid with a crisp new $1 bill. The child gave it to the teller who created a savings account passbook. The teller gave it to Brock who—with a flourish—presented the child with the  passbook.

Customers for Life

In high school the kid opened a checking account. Later at college... in the Army... after discharge with a job in a distant town or another country... he always kept his accounts at the First Bank of Troy.

Hey, he knew the president.

• If he needed cash, it immediately would be wired to him anywhere in the world, no questions asked.

• A mortgage application was slam-dunk.

• Wherever that kid was in the world, Frank Brock was his personal banker.

• When a customer came upon hard times, Brock did not send threatening dunning notices, nor pile on interest. Brock's people always worked out the problem.

What Happened

Frank Brock died in 1975 at age 74.

In the mid-1980s former teller Bob Hemmings phoned the bank and reached the chief cashier with whom he had once worked. By then the bank had been acquired by a larger bank.

"Is the new president still going over the customer lists the way Frank used to?" Hemmings asked.

"Aw, no. We're so busy with paperwork and dealing with the computer, nobody has time for customers anymore," the cashier said. 

He added, "But, you know, maybe we should."

In 1988 the bank was acquired by Key Bank and designated inactive.

American banks, banking and bankers have never been the same since.

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Word Count: 403

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215-644-9526 (rings on my desk).

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