As I write this, I am 72 hours from competing in my first triathlon: 1,000 meter open water swim, 15 mile mountain bike and 5 mile trail run.
I consider myself a trail runner. In fact, until a few months ago, I couldn’t swim more than 25 yards without being winded and I could count on my fingers the number of bike miles I had ridden in years.
But I was a good runner! Not great, by any means - I hadn’t won a race since high school – but I regularly placed in my “past his prime” age group for my monthly trail series.
Now, I can swim over a mile without drowning and comfortable bike well enough to compete … but my running miles have significantly dropped off and I haven’t placed better than 4th in my age group all year.
The lesson: FOCUS!
Professionally, we are being asked to do much more with much less. The choice we need to make is: Do we want to be outstanding in one area, or serviceable in many.
The answer my be different for each of us, but ask yourself what is best for you and what is best for your institution.
Yes, there are those gifted few who either have the DNA or unlimited time to train for all three events and who can excel in all of them. But the fact is that there are few world-class swimmers, bikers or runners who are also elite triathletes. You don’t see Lance Armstrong, for instance, competing in the Ironman.
Those of us with limited resources are typically best served to stay focused and excel in one area.
My suggestion? Focus on your existing customers. They cost the least to sell to and there is likely a world of opportunity with those customers who have already walked into your doors to begin a relationship.
You can be good at acquiring new customers and furthering your brand, but if you excel in on-boarding and customer share-of-wallet, you'll make the largest splash for the bank or credit union with the budget you have.
As for me … I’ll try to survive the swim and not loose too much ground on the bike, so I can dominate on the run.
Take care,
Eric
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