Three things we can all learn from regional businesses

There I was – staring eye to eye at a premium large Waco Santa Getrudis bull stud outside Wallumbilla and Mungallala (Queensland) earlier last week.

The Bassingthwaighte family have been NAB customers since 1960, pioneers of the Yarrawonga and Waco Santa Gertrudis stud in 1954. Their operations are hallmark names in the Australian and global seed stock circles. And I was fortunate enough to spend some time with them, listening to the challenges and opportunities of their business, their community and their relationship with NAB.

I’ve said it before, but meeting with customers really is the best part of my job. And in recent weeks, I’ve met with a number of our regional and rural customers as we travel across Australia listening to feedback– the good and the bad.

It’s been a humbling experience where we hear first-hand when we have lifted you and your business to new heights or when we have failed and not delivered exceptional service.

We are well over the half way mark now of our regional and rural listening forums, and the conversations have been spirited, honest and real. At this point, I want to reflect on three elements that have been clear from our visits: what we have learnt about regional and rural communities; what these communities want us to take back to the major cities and to decision makers in Canberra; and the actions we have already taken as an organisation in response.

1.    What I have learnt:

Spending time on the road recently has reinforced my view that regional businesses are incredibly resilient, they care deeply about their local communities thriving, and they are big on innovation:

Regional businesses are resilient

From the local small business café through to the largest beef cattle enterprise in the region, I’ve admired the tenacity and resilience of the customers I’ve met. They’ve weathered floods and droughts, economic downturns and upturns – and they’ve still got a spark when they tell their story. 

I met Danny and Charlie earlier last week, directors of Roma Transport Services in regional Queensland. They employ over 70 people in an operation that includes 42 prime movers, 3 cranes and over 160 trailer combinations. They are the largest private road freight enterprise servicing the Surat Basin Oil & Gas industry. This business has withstood the boom and bust of the oil and gas economic cycle and continues to run a stable and resilient operation. A fantastic story!

Likewise, family business WJ Matthews (Holdings) Pty Ltd, a farm machinery dealership supplying sales, service and parts to row-crop and broad acre farmers throughout northern NSW. They’ve been around since 1954, making them the oldest farm machinery business in Moree. When I spoke to owner Jeremy, he told me he has doubled the size of his business in the last 5 years but now faces a challenging outlook as a result of the drought. He continues to invest in his people and tightly manage costs – a strong example of resilience and taking a forward-looking perspective.

Regional businesses care deeply about their community and future growth

I’ve also been inspired by the level of ownership and accountability each one of our business customers has to their municipality and region, far beyond the transactional delivery of goods and services.

From the Clare Valley in South Australia to Gippsland in Victoria, you spoke about your business in terms of its role in the broader regional ecosystem and because it’s important to you that the community keeps growing, innovating and prospering.

When I was in Roma, I was awestruck by the 50-hectares deep Roma Saleyards – the largest cattle selling centre in Australia (a staggering 372,648 cattle sold through the yards in the 2014/15 financial year). Equally captivated were the tourist groups learning about the operations of the Saleyards.

During my visit, I spoke to Duncan McLeod from Murray Arthur Agency (one of the independent livestock agents who conduct business at the Roma Saleyards).

Through Duncan, I learnt that the Saleyards and the beef industry are entrenched in Roma’s history and play a key part in the region’s economic growth. They have a master plan in place to ensure the community continues to thrive and grow and an advisory committee is currently gathering feedback to bring before Council. There was a strong community mission and commitment to the Saleyards story, and this left a lasting impact on me.

Regional businesses are big on innovation

Regional businesses are also thinking about innovation – big and small – to make an impact on their bottom line and on the way their business model can expand, push boundaries and deliver a superior customer product or service.

One example of innovation includes family Gippsland business Safetech, where co-founder Lindsay conceived an idea for a simple spring-based mechanism to sit underneath pallets, essentially revolutionising the materials handling industry.

For more than 30 years, Safetech has been recognised for innovation and unparalleled expertise in dock products and lifting solutions. And that’s just one example of so many.

2.    The role of the bank in regional and rural Australia:

I have heard consistent messages about the role of the bank across the communities we have visited, which includes drought stricken towns and regional centres expanding at pace:

• Our people are well respected and they are committed to supporting our customers and communities. I have felt proud of our local teams who have been acknowledged by their customers for exceptional service in these forums. The ask of us has been to keep backing our local teams, empowering them to make faster decisions, and equipping them to be strong contributors in their local communities; 
• Ensure capital is available to fund business growth at the times that they need it most, and consult early on branch closures and branch trading hours;
• NAB should encourage Government to reduce the burden on small business and drive investment in regional Australia to ensure continued economic growth. 

3.    How we have responded:

It’s not so much about the gathering of these insights, but the actions we take as an organisation in response. And we still have much work to do.

Our customers can expect to hear more from us as we carefully review all the feedback we have received from you. Initiatives we have announced since July that I most proud of include:

• Customers in regional and rural Australia able to receive the financial benefit of being able to their offset their Farm Management Deposit (FMD) against their agricultural lending in the form of a discount to their lending interest rate
• A Drought Assistance Package to support customers enduring prolonged drought conditions across NSW and QLD; and
• A commitment to keep regional and rural branches in drought-affected regions open while they remain in drought.

 Over the next few weeks, the NAB senior leaders will continue to visit regional and rural communities.

We are listening and will continue to take actions to support regional and rural communities that we have been a part of for 160 years. So watch this space…

Anthony