One year ago, Sara Tucker learned that the HSBC Bank business banking team under her supervision was to be merged into First Niagara Bank as part of a major acquisition by First Niagara Financial Group Inc.
Now, just two months since the acquisition was completed ”“ with First Niagara picking up 26 former HSBC branches in the Hudson Valley ”“ Tucker”™s team is “pounding the pavement” as it looks to spread word of the transition and entice new clients.
Tucker, a 20-year veteran of the financial industry, was able to retain her entire team as the acquisition progressed.
She attributes much of that success to lessons she learned over the years, not only as a banker, but also as a parent.
“Nothing prepared me for that (the transition) better than being a parent,” said Tucker, first vice president and Hudson Valley business banking team leader for First Niagara.
Tucker had been with HSBC for five and a half years prior to the transition to First Niagara, first as a business banking relationship manager and then, for the past three years, as business banking team leader for HSBC”™s Hudson Valley region.
Sandwiched between her time at HSBC and a nine-year career at Citibank, Tucker was away from the banking world for 13 years to raise her children.
“You talk about women in finance and I would have to say that when I came back into the workforce after not having been in a corporate environment for 13 years, I really thought long and hard about whether I wanted to be back in the world of finance,” Tucker said.
Two years after coming on board with HSBC, Tucker was offered the position of business banking team leader when her predecessor departed.
“I thought, do I want to manage, as opposed to just being a producer,” Tucker said. “Do I want to actually manage the team and have all the HR responsibility and mentoring and all that? And I absolutely did because I felt that part of parenthood really prepares you for that.”
The transition to First Niagara was an exercise in managing change, Tucker said.
She commended First Niagara executives for their involvement and transparency throughout the process, but said there were still frequent instances where either clients or employees were in search of answers.
At times, she said, her job entailed “banking therapy.”
“It”™s a lot about building trust with your team, building trust with your customers and that comes from listening to their concerns (and) getting as many answers as you can,” Tucker said.
With the transition to First Niagara, Tucker”™s team inherited the Westchester County market while retaining responsibility for the remainder of the Hudson Valley.
The primary task, she said, is to maintain relationships with the bank”™s current Westchester clientele while also forming new partnerships with businesses in the region.
“New business is always a challenge but we have professionals and this is what they do for a living,” she said. “It”™s all about relationships ”“ about building relationships with businesses.”
Part of building those relationships is having a diverse staff, she said. Of the six relationship managers who comprise Tucker”™s team, three are women, she said.
“We all bring various strengths to the table. But when we”™re in front of women owned businesses, I love to put a woman relationship manager there because I think that they kind of see eye to eye on things.”
