Trusted Advisor Banking Relationships: New Research Benefiting Business and Middle Market Bankers to be Presented April 22, 2010

Concord, MA, March 29, 2010 --(PR.com)-- New research conducted by TNS and Clarity Advantage reveals what business owners and senior managers expect from their banking relationships. The findings are based on a survey of 10,000 small and medium-sized business owners conducted through the TNS Commercial Banking Momentum Monitor. An additional 250 in-depth interviews were conducted in March 2010 to focus in on a deeper understanding of client expectations around trusted advisor relationships. The results and insights into how they can benefit business and middle market bankers will be shared during a live webinar on April 22, 2010.

Glenn Staada, Vice President of TNS and Nick Miller, President of Clarity Advantage will co-host The Banker as a Trusted Advisor—Myths and Realities in the Small and Medium Enterprise Segments. During the one-hour, complimentary webinar beginning at 12:00 PM EDT, Staada and Miller will answer three key questions:

1. If you or your bankers seek to earn trusted advisor relationships, what do your clients expect of you and your bank?
2. How do perceptions of such relationships differ by business size?
3. How important are such relationships to the profitability and quality of bank relationships?

“Now more than ever, small business and middle market executives are seeking sound advice and guidance to help them navigate their firms through these difficult financial times,” says Staada. “Bankers that can serve as trusted advisors to their clients now will benefit from long-term, more loyal, and more profitable relationships in the future.”

Miller adds: “The most successful business bankers we work with know that the deepest, most loyal, most profitable banking relationships are built on trust, service, and advice and in the best case, their clients perceive them as trusted advisors. What we find, however, is that these same bankers don’t know what the term, ‘trusted advisor,’ means to their clients. Without that knowledge, delivering the right services, at the right time, at a profit becomes difficult.”

To learn more and register for the webinar, The Banker as a Trusted Advisor—Myths and Realities in the Small and Medium Enterprise Segments, go to http://bit.ly/cR9LSg.

About TNS: TNS, which recently merged with Research International, is the world's largest custom research agency delivering actionable insights and research-based business advice to its clients, so they can make more effective business decisions. TNS offers comprehensive industry knowledge within the Consumer, Technology, Finance, Automotive and Political & Social sectors, supported by a unique product offering that stretches across the entire range of marketing and business issues, specializing in product development & innovation, brand & communications, stakeholder management, retail & shopper, and qualitative research. Delivering best-in-class service across more than 75 countries, TNS is part of Kantar, the world's largest research, insight and consultancy network. Please visit www.tns-us.com for more information.

About Clarity Advantage: Clarity Advantage helps banks generate more profitable relationships faster with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees. Clarity consulting, communications, sales tools and training help banks recruit and deploy sales team members, choose their best business and consumer prospects and clients, then approach, engage, sell, expand, and retain relationships. Clarity also assists banks with consumer sales and cash management sales. Clarity clients have posted increases in household penetration, cross-sells, deposit volume, and loan volume. Visitors to Clarity’s website, www.clarityadvantage.com, can subscribe to “The Weekly Sales Thought,” a free eNewsletter and podcast focused on business-to-business selling and sales management.

###