Friday...is it YOUR day?

Greetings!

Today is Friday... I have several sayings that I ALWAYS use on Friday--

• Happy Friday! and, 
• Hey its Friday, it cannot be all bad!

I share these because today is a special Friday...the last one of the month, and it signals also the start to the last month of the 1st quarter.

So...are you where you thought you would be with:

• New deposits? 
• New loans?  
• New customers/members?  
• Retention?
• Overall profitability?

If not...TODAY should be the start to a revisit to your strategic marketing plan and tactics.  Ask yourself:  What is working and why?  What is not working and why?  Who can we better engage to ensure increased success?  What can we do better/faster/stronger tomorrow?

These answers will help you chart a different course starting BEFORE the end of the 1st quarter.  I am sure you have heard of the term "running rate."  When I was at Bank One, that was one of the most important concepts that we tracked.  It has everything to do with where you are today in relation to where you want to be, where you expected to be and what the environment is allowing you to be.  Said succinctly, it means...are you ahead of the 8-ball?

Your running rate should be ramping up....yes, the economy is still shallow.  Yes, the industry has had some regulatory changes recently enacted.  Yes, competition is as hot as ever.  HOWEVER, there are story after story of banks and CUs bucking the trend and making the decision to NOT participate in the recession or downturn. They are simply willing their way through... National Bank and Trust, a community bank in Ohio (and in full disclosure a client) saw their lending increase 40% last year...yes, I said INCREASE.

You CAN make it happen...with the will, energy and perhaps assistance of others.  The 1st step...deciding that you CAN do it!!

Here's to a GREAT Friday...and a Friday that you will look back to and say, that is the day I changed!!

Cheers!

Bruce Clapp

Are you a trusted marketing director?

Banks are going through a trainload of change right now. The biggest fallout from the banking crisis is, of course, more regulation for all financial institutions. At the marketing level, new, stiffer ad disclosure requirements, opt-in overdraft rules, and many more changes are keeping us up at night just to keep up with it all.
The question is: Is your bank looking to you for help, for answers, for ideas? Have you studied the impact of these new regulations on your bank's bottom line? Have you looked for strategies that will help your bank close the gap on income in 2010-2011?
Many banks are projecting that NSF fee income will be down; I have seen projections anywhere from 25% to 60% from last year. For many community banks, this represents a significant source of fee income and impact to the bottom line. What is that number for your bank? Have you chatted with your CFO about it? Have you built in strategies in your marketing plan to replace lost fees or other revenue? Or are you waiting for senior management to tell you what to do?
The answer to that question determines how you will be percieved as a leader at your bank.... or not. Leaders step up, inquire, research, discuss, and then offer insights, strategies, and plans to help close the gaps. Followers wait to be told what to do next.
If you are looking to have more influence with the leaders at your bank, become a part of the team and a part of the solution to today's issues. It will pay off for you many times in the days to come.
If you are looking for assistance in creating your White Knight plan, we are always ready to help.
Are you stepping up?
Have a great weekend and stay warm.
Sharon

NPR: "More Americans Considering Community Banks"

NPR, today aired a segment on the movement towards community banks.

Click here to listen to the 4 minute segment from WBEZ.

Have you prepared? This radio segment brings up the outstanding point that, although consumers may WANT to move their money ... the reality is that they still live busy lives and changing banks is perceived as a difficult process.

Set Up A Switch Process

At the minimum, have a Switch Kit online.

Better yet, take advantage of this opportunity to provide an EXPERIENCE. Have a process where your staff can manage the switch for the new customer.

• Help the customer identify ACH accounts and know where to send the forms
• Know the contact info for all of your competition to help the customer more quickly send the Close Account form
• Have a form ready for the customer to simply hand to their HR department for direct deposit transfer
• Train your staff on the importance of this new relationship. A happy checking customer is statistically significantly more likely to have loans and other accounts with you
• Help the new customer set up Online Banking at the branch

With the right process in place, you can overcome the primary purchase hurdle to opening a new checking account, provide a greater opportunity for your staff to cross sell, and provide a service to your new customers that they will tell their friends about!

If you don't have time to prepare the information for your staff, there are third party companies who can quickly pull together data on your specific marketplace.

Take care,

Eric

Need Loans? Create a Need.

Remember Cash for Clunkers?

Beginning in March, the government will begin Cash for Appliances.

Many states will be offering rebates for energy efficient appliance upgrades. Like "Cash for Clunkers," this program will only last as long as the funds do.

Click here to learn about the rebate program in your state.

Sure, it's not a $300,000 mortgage, but in an environment where every loan dollar is precious, offering customer education on the program and an unsecured $5,000 loan for new, energy efficient appliances now may yield you some incremental loan dollars and a new loan customer in the future when they have additional needs.

Happy lending,

Eric

Are you following the Toyota saga?

If you watch the news, read the paper or listen to radio, no doubt you are aware of the public relations nightmare that Toyota has faced the last several weeks. Once the hallmark of quality, recent problem after problem leading to 8.5 million cars being recalled has severely damaged a reputation for quality Toyota built up over the last 25 years.

Toyota stock has fallen approximately 22% during this time period. The company has provided fodder for several nights of Leno and Letterman and now owners are even contacting their insurance companies to make sure their Toyota is covered in an accident.

Hyundai, Ford, GM, etc. have all been the beneficiary of this horrible publicity. Sales spiked in January for most of Toyota's competitors.

Can Toyota recover from this mess? No doubt Toyota will solve all their qualtiy problems and return to building a quality product. But will Toyota ever regain the reputation that it once enjoyed? My guess is that Toyota will get it's stellar reputation back but it will take several years. In the interim, Toyota's problems represent a "significant opportunity" for the american automobile industry.

What is the point of my blog?

First, the big banks have all had their reputations damaged. Irresponsible investments, huge bonuses, irresponsible lending, etc. have given the big banks a real "black eye." There has never been a better opportunity for community banks and credit unions to take core deposits from the big banks.

How will your institution respond? Are you investing in the people, products, technology, marketing, etc. that will enable you to capitalize on this opportunity?

Second, just like Toyota, the reputation of the big banks will be restored over time. They will spend millions of dollars on advertising to restore their image, they will poor money into supporting community projects in the markets they serve and they will continue to invest in people, products, technology, marketing, etc..

Point being, the window of opportunity for community banks and credit unions will not be open forever. The time to respond in now!

Have a great week/weekend!

Mike Witsken

PS - I am slowly getting over my Colts Super Bowl loss and already looking forward to next season.

This Valentine's Day, Break Up With Your Big Bank

This is funny, click here.

Betty White Still Golden

"OK, we need to appeal to Gen X and Gen Y men ... Quick, someone get Betty White's agent on the line!!!"

Seriously? Who'da thunk it?!?!

Once again, USA Today ranked the top Super Bowl ads with their magic "Ad Meter" (don't we all wish we had one of these bad boys?). And the Snickers ad featuring Betty White in a pick-up game of football took top honors. Personally, I think that the Google "Search On" ad was one of the most effective (see # 43).

Click here for USA Today Rankings

The fatal flaw of the Ad Meter is that is ranks entertainment value and not real results. What I want to see is a report in 1-2 weeks that ranks the increased sales of these companies! When someone says, "I loved the ad with the house made of beer bottles," but can't name the beer, then that was 30 seconds and millions of dollars wasted.

The bottom line for those of us with "real" budgets ... you don't have to be funny or have super special effects or even hire Betty White (though she is comic gold!) ... you just need one simple message and find a way to communicate it in a manner that will speak to the way people live life.

Be real, be sincere, be different, solve a problem, be relevant -- that's the way to win in the "Ad Meter" of real life.

Take care,

Eric

Do you have one of these banks in your market?

Forrester Research just issued a new report where they asked 4,500 customers at 50 banks if they agreed with the statement "My financial provider does what's best for me, not just its own bottom line."

Here are the 7 Least Trusted Banks:

7. Bank of America - 1 in 3 people agreed that B of A looked out for their best interest

6. Chase - 31% felt that Chase did what's best for the customer

5. Capital One - 29%

4. TD/Commerce - 28% trusted this Toronto-based bank

3. 5/3 (or 1 and 2/3 if you understand basic math) - 27%

2. Citi Bank - 26%

1. HSBC - 16% (10% lower than last year's score)

Click here for full story

It should be no surprise that credit unions and community banks ranked significantly higher in this study.

If you have one of these mega banks in your market, you may be able to use this information to your advantage. If you don't know how, call me!

Take care,

Eric

Social media and banking

Are you wondering what the role of social media should be in your bank marketing plan? It can be confusing.... and time consuming. You may even be resisting starting down this path... just one more thing marketing has to manage.
Yesterday, I saw a headline that Pepsi has dropped the SuperBowl to focus their money on a major Facebook campaign. Here's the link: : http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/02/01/Pepsi-Drops-Super-Bowl-To-Focus-On-Facebook.aspx.
Wow. This is a huge commentary that "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore". The old marketing plan just isn't going to cover all the bases anymore. As you read about their in-depth, green marketing plans for Facebook, you will see that today's more interactive, advertising-by-invitation opportunities are just that... major opportunities. As bankers, we need to study what's being done by others, analyze how this new medium might help us reach new people in new ways and provide us a true channel of loyalty that we have not been able to create in the past. We think we have loyal customers and, while we do have some, the opportunity is there for us to really create points of differentiation in how we relate to some newly identified target groups. We may have wanted to reach single mothers in the past... how can a social media strategy help you do that and create a new kind of loyalty at the same time?
Just some food for thought. If you were thinking you would wait another year before delving into this new channel, you might want to look at it more as the opportunity it really is and start a small group to explore the top 3-5 ways you could do something exciting and meaningful through one of these channels. Then decide which one has the most potential and give it a try.
You will be a pioneer but you will be learning and growing at the same time.
Enjoy the process and lead your bank into the future.
Cheers!
Sharon

Whack-A-Fee

OK Financial Marketers, this one's fun, creative AND on message.

Whack-A-Fee

The gauntlet has been thrown.

1 Down 11 To Go

I remember one January working out at the gym and hearing a guy complain to his buddy about how busy it was. His buddy's reply? "Just wait until February, it'll slow back down."

And you know, he's right! We start off the new year with the best of intentions and great "resolutions," but by February many of those intentions are forgotten when day-to-day life takes over.

Well, my friends, it's February. And how are YOUR best intentions doing?

• Have you measured your January promotions in terms of ROI?
• Have you married all of your 2010 Marketing Strategies with your institution's Business Objectives?
• Have you identified a handful of key segments? Have you reached out to them yet?
• Are you starting to see the loan growth/checking growth/new customers?

I know, because I've been there. When you're dealing with branch issues, changing regulations, internal communications, what color ink to order the pens in this year and meetings about when to have the next meeting - it's darn hard to focus on the key strategic initiatives. Sometimes that's where looking to an outside firm is justified - to get help from someone without all of the internal, day-to-day distractions. Someone to help you stay focused on your key strategies.

Take care,

Eric