FCS Financial: One Hundred Years July 2016 | Page 126

Each year, FCS Financial donates to the five food banks in the service area. Shown here are Don Schmidt, Cheryl Crudup, Wendy Howell, and Jo Heider of the Harrisonville office presenting the check to Cindy Isabel (left) of Harvesters Food Bank. FCS Financial lives by the motto Growing Relationships, Creating Opportunities. To do that, they are keenly aware of how their members prefer to be serviced. Many prefer to come to the local office and others enjoy the on-farm visits from their FCS Financial loan officers and crop insurance agents. Yet another category continues to grow and evolve as an option for members. “The big driver going forward,” said Scott Gardner, “is technology. In the past, a farmer could just work harder if they wanted to expand their operation. Today, they have to work smarter.” To help their customers do just that, in the past five years e-commerce has been a growing component of FCS Financial’s marketing strategy. In addition to loan inquiries, customers can now access an array of educational videos on the website on topics like land and equipment leasing and balance sheets. New customers are learning about FCS Financial and their role in their customers’ operations through stories and testimonials that appear both on the website and through HeartBeat magazine. 122 Selected References