FCS Financial: One Hundred Years July 2016 | Page 121
normal side dishes, but when they serve chili they take care to prepare hot
dogs for the children and, of all things, cinnamon rolls. “I’m not sure where
that came from,” Darrell said, “but someone said that when we had chili in the
school cafeteria they always had cinnamon rolls so that’s what we do.”
The connection FCS Financial employees feel toward their customers
goes the other way as well and is apparent in the number of multi-generational
customers. At a recent Customer Appreciation Days event in Columbia, Bob
Idel encountered a number of customers for whom he was the first loan officer
and was now attending with their sons and grandsons. “Whether you gave
them a loan, or turned them down in such a manner that they could come
back and say, ‘thank you for talking me out of that combine or not buying that
farm,’ it’s how you handle that customer, and how you build that relationship
that makes the difference.” Randy Beckemeier, loan officer in FCS Financial’s
O’Fallon office, is completing his twenty-eighth year in the Farm Credit
System. Working so close to a large metropolitan area where the competition
is great, he understands the value of customer service. “It’s easy to gloss over
the importance of customer service,” he said. “The first deal you make with a
new applicant might be about rate. But the second, third, and subsequent deals
are all about relationship. That’s what we specialize in. If we don’t do that, then
we’re no different from XYZ Bank.”
The FCS Financial Legacy
program recognizes and
honors families who have
been members for at
least three generations.
They receive a certificate,
plaque, and donation in
their name to their choice
of their local 4-H club,
FFA organization, or food
bank. Shown here is the
Isgrig family.
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