Making our Own Demand

I travel a lot...and one of the "fringe benefits" is the ability to read the USA Today every day. Lots of info and timely little charts, graphs and stories.

Community banks and credit unions are facing a tough economy but more opportunity than ever! There is "push down" coming from the big banks and creating growth in both deposits and loans. Customer are re-evaluating everything...their bank relationships, their loans, their accounts-- everything! And they are coming to us!

However, the consumer themselves are being very conservative...here is where the USA Today graph comes into play. As you can see from the survey, completed by Harris Interactive, many respondents said credit needs (for the identified items) may not be high on their lists of "to-dos".

The point? We need to create our own demand!

How do we do it?

Work with your best customers. Now is a buyers market and your best customers realize it and more than likely are exercising their ability and capitalizing!

Another area....refinances. Many people bought cars in the past 3 years and you may be able to refinance these loans away from the GMACs, Honda's, etc. as people may be looking to lower payments.

Be aggressive in advertising and marketing. The "noise" in the market is less than it ever has been...so your message can be help X times more than usual. Its time to invest in your bank/CU!

One last idea...small business. Small business is the engine to our economy and many small businesses are both capable of strong growth during this economy and also many are starting, based on displaced executives.

Seek the opportunities. Be creative. Know that you must create the demand.

The industry has been stretched in the past 5 years and the rubber band has snapped back...never again to be the same shape. We MUST be proactive!

Cheers!

Bruce Clapp