Most would agree that the platform side of the branch plays a critical role in the success of branch network profitability. Yet management has struggled with fully understanding the overall performance in the lobby due to various systems capturing fragmented sales and service information such as DDA systems, time and deposit systems, loan systems and credit card systems, and in most cases no dedicated systems for tracking lobby service.

Financial institutions may perceive their less-than-ideal handle on lobby performance to be sufficient and do not see a remedy worth the expense or the disruption. However, a recent study indicates that lobby performances are having a much greater impact on the bottom line than previously thought.

Specifically, in the FMSI branch lobby study of 344,000 interactions, FMSI found that on average 65% of the platform activities do not involve selling products. With sales being such a vital part of most branch operations, this number has been alarming for many— especially for the bottom institution of the study who had only 23% of their platform activities involving selling new products.