Trick or Treat....Your call!

Greetings....and Happy Halloween!

Well, we are 28 hours from the start of trick or treat and my kids are excited...well, they may be feeding off my excitement! I love trick or treat. The neighborhood is alive with activity, electricity is in the air with the excitement and you see parents and kids having a great time together. Oh, and the big benefit...CANDY!

For off of us bank and credit union marketers, it is coming closer to Trick or treat time, too. It might better be known as the Budget! It is entirely up to you to build a budget preparation process that turns a potential "nightmare" into a Treat for 2009.

It is undeniably a tough time in the banking industry...however, it is also a time to capture market share, show your strength and build a point of difference for your institution. Here are 5 Key Budget tips to get you going...

1. Prepare competitive research on your marketplace (budgets and SWOT)
2. Match your budget to the organization's strategy objectives
3. Align your strategies with each business lines objectives and tactics
4. Prepare your budget as a "better" and "best" -- one a visionary stretch
5. Build an ROI for every major component of your budget

A bonus Key Tip is to talk with your CFO and understand the key areas of pressure that he/she predicts for 2009...margin pressure, lending pressure, stock pressure, etc...and build a set of strategies that directly attack those pressure areas!

Your 2009 budget does not have to be a nightmare of cuts, restrictions, and extreme uphill challenges. It's up to you to make it a "Treat" by being prepared, anticipate questions, build strategies to address organizational issues, and be prepared to demonstrate the positive monetary impact and exceptional use of capital that we all know marketing delivers!

Happy Halloween and here's to a TREAT for you in budgeting!

Cheers!

Bruce