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SURVEY SHOWS WHAT FARMERS WANT FROM THEIR LENDERS
Feb. 26, 2018
Farm Progress reports:
In the digital age, farmers are researching and scrutinizing lenders more than ever, says John Barlow, president of Barlow Research Associates. Tech-driven expectations of immediacy have complicated the farmer-lender relationship.
How farmers communicate with lenders has changed considerably over the past two decades. Barlow surveyed farmers to find out what level of service farmers expect. The research suggests that farmers prefer roughly one in-person visit from their lender annually, and about two calls per year from their account officer. They expect a phone call to be returned in 1.7 hours, on average, and expect their emails to be answered in about 2.1 hours.
Farmers "touch" their bank an average of 18.6 times monthly, Barlow's research found, but more than half of these connections are done through a computer or mobile device.
Even so, of farmers surveyed, Barlow found that only 7% who added a bank in the past year did so due to dissatisfaction with their current lender. Instead, farmers tend to add lending sources for more pragmatic reasons.
More than a third (35%) did so for credit and lending purposes, with 26% pursuing lower fees and 23% seeking more convenience.
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