Kelly LaBonte

Kelly LaBonte likes to get to know her customers. That’s what she enjoyed most about working in a small dry-cleaning store before she got into banking — getting well acquainted with repeat customers.

As a rep in our Customer Support Center, Kelly talks to many of the same people on a regular basis, so she still gets the satisfaction of knowing her customers, although not on the same level that face-to-face interaction provides.

“I enjoy helping solve problems,” she says. She fields questions about debit cards, online banking, and fees that appear on statements, to name a few. Her first job at Cousins Subs taught her the value of taking time to listen, which she still considers the key to good customer service.

Kelly has gained a reputation for being a good investigator. “Just a couple of weeks ago, I got a sense something was not quite right with a customer who seemed confused about her account,” Kelly says. “After we hung up, I looked at it in more detail, and it became apparent that she was a victim of a scam that originated in another country.”

Kelly started her sixth year with North Shore Bank in February, having been encouraged to apply by friend Nick Reid, our West Allis branch manager. Math was Kelly’s favorite subject in high school, and she had always wanted to work in a bank. She came close once with another financial institution. “I applied, interviewed and was ready to go to the orientation, but the manager who hired me left, and I never got another call,” she says.

In her leisure time, Kelly devours books. She got a Kindle for Christmas in 2010, and it is her constant companion. “I like every genre,” she says. She downloads books from Amazon, which prompts emails recommending others she might like.

She also gets outdoors every chance she gets, regardless of the season. “I love being outside,” she says.

During the week of Labor Day in 2010, Kelly went on a memorable cruise to Alaska with her husband, Ben, a Cousins Subs restaurant manager, and his family. “The scenery was breathtaking … almost indescribable,” she says. “I was in awe as I saw things I never knew existed — glaciers that are miles thick, for example.”