Dare to be DiFfErEnT

In this image ... what catches your attention?

Go to any of your branches. My bet is that if you walk 5-10 minutes in any direction, you're likely to find at least one other bank or credit union.

There are nearly 20,000 individual banks and credit unions in the US - most with multiple branches. When most all financial institutions offer free checking, debit card, retail loans and savings, how do you stand out to get consumers attention?

• Do something fun and unique at every transaction
• Package or bundle your "usual"products in a way that shows you understand the consumer's needs
• Train your staff to do something that truly helps the customer save money
• LISTEN to what the customer says, HEAR the needs, and consultive sell a product to help them
• Make your branch look more like a retail store than a bank
• Jazz up your website - focus on what a consumer would be looking for and less on your products
• Become known for something fun ... anything fun
• Write personal notes to customers
• Replace suckers with popsicles

Most of all, look at what your competitors do and do everything better.

This year more than any other, consumers have been switching banks. There is "Money in Motion" in your community. The zebra among horses will gain the market share.

Take are,

Eric

"Alignment" Woes

Greetings on a Friday afternoon! I was thinking about being a bank marketer today; remembering all the ups and downs, the joys and the fun and the frustrations as well. My biggest frustration when I sat in the marketing director's chair for a major bank was when our senior management team wasn't all focused on the same goal.

Usually, this was not a problem at that bank because each year's goals were clearly articulated to us all and the expectations were clearly set. This was reiterated weekly and reviewed monthly and if you were not progressing properly, you were probably getting "help" to rethink whatever it was you were doing.

But there were times when people had personal issues, or there were some real obstacles to our functioning as a team. Differences in beliefs about whether we could actually achieve the goals, differences in how we should get there, differences in how we could or should work together and who should take specific roles or responsibilities and always, opinions about whether they were getting enough support from marketing.
Sound familiar?
When the team's alignment is not there, it feels different. You can feel disoriented, you start looking at what your personal goals are versus the bank's goals. You lose focus. You start blaming others for shortcomings. You start down that slippery slope of negativity that kills a team.

If you are a leader of a team or bank or any other group that is trying to achieve something big, something more than you are, don't let this happen!
The cure is available through a great process that I have seen work in other's peoples lives and in some of the world's biggest organizations, and has certainly worked in mine. It is a process called your "Best Year Yet".

The magic happens when alignment is in place; whether for yourself personally, in a marriage, or in a team trying to reach the top of Mount Everest. Find out more at www.bestyearyet.com.

Have a wonderful, aligned, and enlightened weekend!
Sharon

Don’t Plan to Fail in 2010

Avoid the Top 3 Strategic Planning Pitfalls

Not all strategic planning is created equally. The majority of companies find a mere 63 percent of the goals outlined in their strategic plan are achieved each year. Why leave all of that opportunity on the table?

How can you pull the extra level of growth out of your strategic plan? Make strategic planning an ongoing process rather than an annual event combined with a golf outing or Board retreat.

Most companies see goals fail because their strategic planning process lacks three basic components necessary for success.

• A chain of leadership involvement that extends beyond Executive leadership to include those business leaders actually responsible for producing results.

• A defined accountability program to achieve the goal and detailed process for ongoing progress reviews.

• A platform that includes ongoing monitoring and review to take strategic planning from a onetime annual event to an evolving growth process.

Incorporate these three elements into your planning and you’ll achieve more next year. Or, consider successful planning programs like Best Year Yet®, a strategic planning process that achieves significant, measurable and relevant results by generating alignment to move everyone in the same direction. Best Year Yet is a program that changes behavior, culture and performance to deliver success year after year.

Want to find out more about Best Year Yet – email Sharon Lovejoy at slovejoy@marketmatch.com and plan for success in 2010.

Deanna

Top 4 Things You'll Need to Consider Before Starting 2010 Planning

It’s that time of year again. As you sharpen your pencil to start 2010 planning and budgeting, consider the following:

4. Local Economy: By making a few simple clicks or calls to your city or county, you can quickly assess the local economic environment. Also try calling a local college economics department for local data. Consider:

• Are jobs growing or shrinking today in each of your markets? What will they be doing in the next 6-9 months? What businesses are doing what? Use this information to target your business development strategies.
• What are the overall local economic trends? Look at real estate, household income, employment, retail sales, etc.
• How does all of the above information drive Product Need? Are there specific products that you can focus on in 2010? Do you need to create new products or services?

3. Existing Customers: It costs far less to increase penetration with your existing customers than to acquire new ones:

• How are your current customers using your products and services? Look at services per household, checking penetration, loan penetration, available lines of credit, debit card usage, online banking usage, etc.
• Identify your most profitable customers and target those who look just like them.

2. Competition: You can hire an outside shopper or simply take a day or two and shop the competition yourself. It’s important to understand:

• What new competition has entered the area? Who’s left?
• Review your key competition’s Product Mix.
• How are they Packaging their products? Do they have Relationship Pricing? Are they bundling products?
• Make a list of all of your competition’s Advantages and Disadvantages.
• Use this to Differentiate yourself!

1. ROI: By truly understanding and reporting your marketing ROI, you can brand yourself and your department as the greatest profit center in the bank or credit union.

• Set measureable ROI goals for each promotion as well as overall annual goals. Track regularly - not just at the end - this will help you know if you need to deviate from the plan.
• Look at everything: fee income, product profitability, brand equity, etc.
• Become your greatest spokesperson! Report everything … even the tactics that didn’t meet expectations and share what was learned.
• If your institution has one dollar to spend, show then that the highest return on investment is through marketing.

Take care,

Eric

Finding a Way...

As you may know, I am a HUGE Ohio State Buckeye fan and also a Bengals fan.  To many, the success of the Buckeyes is great...and the pain of the Bengals is tough to take.  Both, however, have had equal shares of triumph and heartbreak...but recently they have also Found A Way!

My message is about finding a way...finding a way to victory even when the times are tough, the competition seemingly insurmountable and the odds stacked against you.

The Buckeyes and the Bengals both came back from heartbreaking last second defeats from a week ago...both have been pinpointed by many awaiting an even bigger failure. However, they both circled the wagons, talked about the team spirit and rode the wave to victory...DESPITE the odds, the competition and the neysayers...they found a way!

The economy is tough for bankers right now...the budgets are slim for marketers and the demands of customers never bigger...but YOU CAN FIND A WAY to victory.  It just takes three words to be repeated as often as necessary.  This will sound VERY trite, but it is true and it works...ready?

The three words are...

YES I CAN!

Yes you can....

• Make an impact with the budget you have
• Overcome the competition
• Make it through the fall planning sessions
• Grow you loan base
• Positively impact your attrition rates...
• and MORE!

You can do it!!  We have faith in you....but you need to take the 1st step....Repeat after me...

YES I CAN...

If you need a daily re-affirmation...call me...I would be glad to help!  After all, a Bengal's fan is used to saying "tomorrow will be better!!"

Cheers!

Bruce

Sun in San Antonio...

Arrived in San Antonio for the ABA Marketing conference on Friday...had a couple of meetings on Friday that went really well!

When I landed, it was rainy and gray... I thought I was back in Ohio!  However, everyone was ecstatic that it was raining.  See, in San Antonio, they have been in a pretty serious drought and have very stringent water restrictions.  In Ohio, we have had plenty of rain and a pretty temperate summer....very few days in the 90s. 

My point is that the perspective is 180 degrees opposite even around the same issue....rain.  I was disappointed in the rain, and San Antonians were excited!

Keep this in mind when you talk with your customers.  Come from THEIR perspective in your communications, know THEIR thoughts and feelings, and ensure that you are communicating in the manner that will be best be heard by your audience!

PS...the good news is that San Antonio got their rain, and today is a sunny day for me!

Cheers!

Bruce

It's all in 24 hours...how will you fill your card?

Greetings...

Happy Wednesday, the middle of the week.

Today, I will share about 24-hours... recently their value has increased tremendously to me!  24 hours...seems like a lot, or very little, depending on your outlook.

The key is "how" you look at them...and "how" you use them!  I am definitely a Glass-Half-Full person.  Perhaps you are a Glass-Half-Empty person, or a close friend of mine that is a "what friggin glass!"

Any way you are, its important to fill your 24-hour time card the best way possible.  For a typical person:

• we work for 8-10 hours
• sleep for 6-8, 
• and have 6-8 hours of family or personal time.

For me...I minimize sleep, rearrange my work hours and recently have tried to max my family time.

At work, I maximize my efficiency and find that late at night or early morning are "knock it out" times for me when I can focus and have minimal distractions.  To me, sleep is overrated...but important to catch up when we can.

We all have 24 hours and HOW we fill them is critical to our health, wealth, and well-being.

Find your balance and fill your card out...and remember, the 24 hours are either VERY quick or VERY slow....pending your outlook!

Cheers!

Bruce