This month, a new Fifth Third Bank Mart opens at the Kroger Marketplace in Beavercreek. Some of the new locations replace other locations, according to Cincinnati-based Fifth Third.
Fifth Third has about 23 percent of the Dayton metro market share for deposits of approximately $2.4 billion, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
In an interview with Dayton Daily News, Petitjean talked about Fifth Third’s Dayton market strategies.
Q: What are the major goals Fifth Third has in Dayton right now?
A: "What we're looking to do is expand our customer base, to deepen our relationships with our customers and to grow our market share.
We’ve long done it through starting with a strong employee foundation, so we engage our employees. By having an engaged employee, it transcends into engaging clients. We believe that client-centric engagement and focus is a differentiator and ... it certainly helps us to achieve our primary mission of growing market share and growing presence in the market that we serve, which then serves the shareholder well.”
Q: Are these different goals than Fifth Third has had in the past?
A: "We've started five, six years ago on the whole employee engagement piece and we started just with the very basics surrounding how do we change what we do?
“For example, I’ve been with the company 19 years. And once upon a time when it came up, it said on the screensaver ‘What have you sold today?’ That’s not real client-centric. We’ve really taken the approach ‘Forget about what product or service you sold today. What have you done to deepen the relationship with the client or prospect?’ ”
Q: What would you say are the biggest challenges Fifth Third faces today?
A:
“I think it’s really just one of still kind of riding out the market conditions. Certainly we are not in a growing market at this point. But I personally am very optimistic about what’s happening in Dayton.
I think our biggest challenge is ‘OK, how do we continue to grow, because we’re a growth company.’ How do we continue to grow our revenues? How do we grow our market share, in a non-growth marketplace?”
Q: How is the company committed to the community?
A:
“Fifth Third Bank believes the only way to be a strong bank is to build a strong community. It’s the very essence of what we do. It’s in monies that we direct. It’s in the foundations that we’re blessed to be trustees over that we direct. It’s in employee giving, and it’s in employee volunteerism.”
Q: Within the region that you cover, what are the biggest growth areas?
A:
“One, I look at it as where’s the market growing? And then two, I’ll look at what kind of market share do we have and does that market share correctly or adequately relate to the resources we have on ground? So really, where we see opportunity (is) certainly in the southern territories, the Springboros, the Bellbrooks, the Centervilles, the Ketterings, those areas are all very strong for us and we continue to invest there.
In addition, we continue to build our presence in Springfield. That was a brand new market for us six years ago, and we continue to gain market share in Springfield.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
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