The Regency team: personal banker Ashley Singstock, universal banker Erma Schroeder, teller supervisor Mandy Crain, Mary, and teller Zee Ordonez.

This month, we’re celebrating the accomplishments of our top-performing branch managers for 2018 and their teams. This week: Mary Benz at Regency.

“Mary took over in January, and what she was able to accomplish was simply remarkable,” reports district manager Brian Bozek. Regency finished the fiscal year at 124.29 percent of its goal for checking; 96.9 percent for lending; 379.79 percent for investments; and 125.04 percent in credit cards, despite having no credit cards in the first quarter. Regency’s CSR score for 2018 was 96.09 — the highest the branch has scored in years.

Unlike this year’s other two top managers, Mary has never been named a top manager before. Brian credits her success to “having a structured daily approach, staying on top of dedicated follow-ups with customers, and coaching each team member on a consistent basis.”

“Mary is rarely in her office, because she is either helping at the teller line, coaching behind the teller line, at the banker’s desk, or performing lobby management,” Brian says. “She leads by example, and it shows.”

“I was very shocked and surprised to receive this honor,” Mary says, noting how grateful she is to her team. “We all try to start each day with a plan, and we work together to help each other complete those plans. We are all really good about looking at each other’s calendars and communicating efficiently.”

Regency’s effective follow-ups are the result of a simple policy, she says. “We have a rule in the branch: If you have a mention, you need to have a follow-up. We act as a team to be sure we are consistently following up with all of our customers.”

Finally, she says, her approach to coaching is straightforward. “I do regular check-ins and keep an open dialogue with my team so we can all achieve our goals.” It’s obviously working!

Last week’s top manager: Joline Lazarski at Southwest — read it here.