Pro Bowl

Greetings!

Getting ready to watch the NFL's Pro Bowl...and yawning at the same time.

They have moved the Pro Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl to try and add some spice and interest in the game.  Need to move on to idea #2!

The All-Star Game in Major League Baseball is exciting...they engage the fan's, interact with them, and its a playful (but serious) game. The Pro Bowl?  Whiny millionaires on vacation.

So, I am up for creating a "Pro Bowl, All-Start, of MVP" of bank and credit unioning marketing.  Any one want to step up and offer a nominee??

Here is my initial list...

• David Kreiman
• Michelle Willis
• Samantha Strickland

Of course....I cannot vote for MarketMatch (but I think we rank really high!)

I am accepting votes and nominees through Friday...and then I will repost the winning list!

Cheers!

Bruce

How Marketing Directors Kill New Work

As I only post when something catches my attention, my posting habits are a little sporadic. Sometimes I will write a couple of posts in a week, and other times I will only post once a month. I have been feeling pretty guilty lately about not posting more, but nothing really jumped out at me until very recently.

In the past couple of weeks, two things have impacted my work as a marketer--I was extraordinarily fortunate to attend a convening of Black playwrights as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage, and I finally got around to reading Outrageous Fortune, the new report put out by TDF about new play development. Via both contexts, I heard numerous complaints about how institutional theaters market new work.

It became clear to me that marketing directors, in some cases, have the ability to kill new work. In Outrageous Fortune, one playwright contends that institutional theaters are "about a certain kind of system...when plays come in, they want to systematically find a way to market them." Another playwright states that new play production "comes down to marketing. Some say we love this play; we can't find the audience for it. It pisses me off, because a lot of people in marketing don't know how to find new audiences." It is easy for marketers to take offense, however we should admit that at too many institutions, this is the case. Marketing directors are like anyone else; we are creatures of habit. If we have been in the job for awhile, we start to develop systems for marketing products. We know how to market musicals, new plays, African-American work, political satire, etc. But what happens when the Artistic Director brings us something that we can't pigeon hole? Well, I guess that depends on the person sitting in the marketing director's chair. Some of us get excited as it presents an opportunity to learn and grow, and a chance to build our audience base. Others might be daunted, and instead of facing the challenge, they retreat to the comfort of the known. But let's be clear--whether we accept the responsibility or not, it is our job to find an audience. The audience for more challenging, esoteric work might be smaller than a crowd-pleaser, but either way it is our duty to go into the community and find those people to support the work. In thinking about this issue, I am reminded of a piece of advice my mentor gave me in graduate school. She said a producer's job is to find ways to say yes.

While reading Outrageous Fortune, I had an interesting interaction with a playwright. When questioned why a play hadn't made a commercial transfer despite being critically acclaimed, the playwright said the producer had a difficult time projecting revenue due to the late buying habits of the audience. To all those on the outside, it was almost impossible for us to understand why a commercial production would not be forthcoming. If it was indeed a case of projecting revenue, then the marketing director has failed this extraordinary new play. Just because our jobs become difficult doesn't mean we have the luxury of being able to choose to carry out our responsibilities. Revenue forecasting is incredibly difficult, especially in light of the current economic crisis. However, who better to forecast revenue than those with the tools to do so?

Are these cases of marketing directors behaving badly? It sure looks that way. We got into our jobs knowing the territory. We are tasked with developing new audiences, supporting the mission of the institution, forecasting revenue, promoting all types of work, etc. If you don't like any of those tasks, then you should move on. Maybe the job isn't for you. Don't jeopardize the livelihoods of playwrights, or the advancement of our craft, because you don't want to take on a tough task.

That being said, before I finish this post, I wanted to mention that there are two major sources of revenue at non-profit institutions--earned revenue and contributed revenue. If marketing objectives have the ability to sacrifice your institution's mission, then I would argue that you have become too reliant upon box office revenue. For-profit companies focus on one thing: building a product that has audience appeal sufficient enough to make the most possible profit. Non-profits as well have a singular focus: fulfilling their mission. At no point can marketing objectives jeopardize an organization's ability to fulfill its mission. If you get to that point, you might as well become a for-profit entity.

Are You Ready for the Super Bowl?

On Monday nights during football season, the network screams "are you ready for some football." Well tens of millions of people around the world are getting ready for the Super Bowl and I am no exception. I spent the majority of my life in Indianapolis and my Colts are in the Super Bowl! They probably are not the sentimental favorite to win (because of Katrina) but Las Vegas doesn't base the odds on sentiment and they have the Colts as 5 1/2 point favorites.

Millions of people will watch the Super Bowl even though they may not have watched another game all year long.

Can you guess why that happens?

You got it! It's for the commercials. The cost of a 30 second or 60 second spot for the Super Bowl commands more money that any other single event in the world. Major brands spend months working with their agencies to create one or two very special advertisements for the Super Bowl. Many probably dedicate 30% or more of their annual advertising budget on this one special day. Some ads are clearly winners and some are clearly losers. Agency relationships are generally lost when the ad is deemed a loser.

As community bankers and credit unions, we don't have the financial resources to buy a spot on the Super Bowl. So let's just sit back and enjoy the game and vote for our favorite commercials!

When Super Bowl Monday comes, we know how to compete with the regional and national banks in our markets. We can't out spend them but we can spend our budgets wisely and pull deposit and loan share by just "staying true to who we are." Neighbors who care about our communities and about our friends and relatives. We have the right products, the right people and the intangibles that make us a force in our communities.

So if you see Chase, Citi, BofA (or even the E-Trade babies) during the Super Bowl, don't let it spoil your day! Enjoy the game, enjoy the commercials, spend time with friends, have some popcorn and on Monday come out and continue to play to your institutions strengths.

Don't bet any money on this, but for what it's worth, my prediction is Colts 27 Saints 17.

Have a great week/weekend!

Mike

PS - I know I'm a week early but the Super Bowl is already on my mind!

Seize the day ... Customers are looking for you!

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but as an alternative to "Big Banks," we need to Seize the Day!

A year ago, consumers were looking for a safe a secure place to put their money in the midsts of bank failures. Today, the interest in changing banks is snowballing. According to a Credit Union Times article published online yesterday:

"Consumers are being driven in higher numbers to credit union Web sites as a result of the media and government focus on big bank practices, according to NAFCU and CUNA.

NAFCU, for one, said this week its “CULookup” locator has recorded “a tripling of volume” since the first favored mention of CUs appeared on New York pundit Arianna Huffington’s “Move Your Money” Web site."

What are you doing to seize the day?

• Is your institution differentiated from other local banks and credit unions?
• Does your product mix align with market needs?
• Does your marketing speak in benefits and not features?
• Is your staff trained to provide the type of service to drive word-of-mouth and make this movement snow-ball further?

If you want to gain market share off of the big bank runoff you simply need to speak the loudest in the clearest voice. The stars are aligning for us ... I can't think of a more opportune time to focus on marketing.

Take care,

Eric

Are you taking advantage of your opportunities?

We all have a network friends, family members, acquaintances from church, families our children go to school with, etc. etc. I'm guessing we have never really thought about the number of parties, meetings, ball games, etc. that we attend during a calender year. If you stop and think about it, I bet the number is staggering!

Do you view these interactions as social events or as opportunities to help meet the financial needs of all the people you come in contact with on a daily basis?

It's a fact that everyone is so busy that they welcome the opportunity to shop in non-tradional ways and during non-traditional times. The key is the manner in which you conduct the conversations. It's possible that many of the people you interact with socially are not aware that you work for a financial institution. If they are aware, they may be uncomfortable starting the conversation for fear of making you "work after hours."

However, once you start the conversation, you will be surprised at how many really want to take advantage of the opportunity to discuss their financial needs. Obviously, not everyone will be interested so the key is to quickly "back off" at the first sign of resistance.

If at first you feel uncomfortable discussing business in a social setting, remember you aren't selling anything you are merely helping others meet their financial needs! It may be as simple as making an appointment to meet with them at another time or you might actually close some business.

If you handle each individual situation properly, you will strengthen existing relationships, create new relationships, enhance the lives of those you interact with socially and enhance your career at the same time!

If you agree (and I hope you do agree,) encourage your co-workers to participate!

Have a great week!

Mike

Time to Reflect...

Greetings!

Today is Martin Luther King day and the moment cause me to stop and reflect.  One of the most stirring speeches that I have ever heard from Dr. King's speech in Washington that is commonly referred to as "O have a Dream"  Knowing how powerful that speech is in recorded versions, I can only imagine the power of hearing it live and being part of the scene that day.

However, if people had only "heard" it and not internalized the message, it would have all been simply words delivered with passion.

I a very passionate about what I do...and believe it comes out in everything that I do.  However, I want to share with you a few "dreams" that I have...some for banking and some personal:

• I have a dream that my daughter will be free of seizures
• I have a dream that my son will continue to fulfill his unending potential
• I have a dream that my family continues to be blessed
• I have a dream that my clients will continue to be successful and internalize our messages
• I have a dream that banking continues to grow in seeing the world from the customer view

These are all words right now...but the focus of my 2010.

My mantra for the year?

From Great Challenge, comes the Challenge to be Great!

I will be great this year....join me on the journey?

Cheers!

Bruce Clapp

Lead Generation Checklist – Part 3: Develop and Intensify Your Ideal Customer Profile

One of the biggest mistakes companies can make is to try and be all things to all people, going after all possible customers out of fear to miss out on revenue opportunities. Among all possible prospects, some companies are a better fit for a vendor's solution and have more to gain by purchasing it than other customers. They are more likely to pay a premium and prefer the vendor over less ideal competitors. This translates into higher closing rates and higher lifetime customer value. The increase in revenue from focusing on ideal target segments often far outweighs the loss in revenue from abandoning less ideal segments.

But how do you identify your ideal customers? The concept of the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is designed to help marketers identify the attributes ideal customers have in common that separate them from other less profitable segments. Attributes used for segmentation include demographics such as industry and company size, psychological characteristics such as technology adoption patterns (innovators, early adopters, early majority, etc.) as well as trigger events such as the hire of a new chief executive or approaching compliance deadlines for regulatory legislation. In part 3 of his lead generation checklist, Brian Carroll explains how to develop and itensify your ideal customer profile. Check it out.

Why Focus on Closed Accounts?

Why focus on closed accounts?

Are you customers going out the back door as fast (or faster) than you are bringing them in the front door?

Research tells us that it costs 10 times more to bring in a new customer than it costs to keep an existing customer. We also know that the longer the tenure the customer has with an institution, the profitability of that customer generally goes up. Long term customers are much more likely to become advocates (or unpaid sales people) for your institution. Another way of saying it is that it is much more costly to regain lost market share than it is to protect your market share in the first place.

Over my career, I have conducted numerous closed account surveys. These surveys were primarily closed checking account surveys. Most people identify their primary bank or credit union relationship by where they have their checking account. Percentages vary a little from survey to survey but the results are generally very consistent.

80% of all closed checking accounts are for uncontrollable factors. Customers get divorced, they get married, they move, they die, they simply no longer need the account, etc. etc. Another 10 - 12% cite rates and fees as the reason they close their accounts. The remaining 8 - 10% close their accounts because of customer service issues.

Banks and credit unions need to concentrate on the 18 - 20% of customers who close there accounts for reasons the institution can impact.

First, let's talk about rates and fees. An institution doesn't need to pay the highest rates and charge the lowest fees. But the institution does need to stay competitive!

Remember my earlier statement. IT IS MORE COSTLY TO REGAIN MARKET SHARE THAN IT IS TO PROTECT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Now let's talk about customer service. This is an area all institutions can impact immediately. While there are many components to customer service, a immediate positive impact can be made by making sure your frost line staff do the following three things:
1. Use your customers name during the transaction.
2. If staff must leave the teller station, ask for permission and explain why they
need to leave.
3. Thank the customer at the end of the transaction.

You may have to invest in training, you may need to rewrite job descriptions, etc. but the return will be well worth the effort and the cost.

Bottom line - Focus on the 20% of customers that your institution has some control over!

You can reduce attrition!

Have a great week/weekend!

Mike

There's A Movement Afoot

My friends, there's a movement afoot ... figuratively and literally.

On December 29, a new Group was created on Facebook called "Move Your Money." The goal of this "project" is to get consumers to move their money from big "Wall Street" banks to local "Main Street" banks and credit unions. As of today, just 2 weeks later, there are 21,852 fans of this page, I've seen it mentioned on several national broadcast news shows and I've read about it in 2 large article.

With 4 CEOs of some of the nation's largest banks scheduled for a Congress whipping session - the circus is coming to town. Expect this to even trump NBC's late night soap opera.

What is your community bank or credit union doing to take advantage of this?

Seriously, folks this is the biggest gift under the Christmas tree just a few weeks late! If you are not emphasizing marketing now and preparing for the big bank run-off, you WILL miss out - there's just no other way to put it. There will be a short window of opportunity to spend smart money and capture market share from competition whom you've traditionally had a hard time battling due to brand awareness, the sheer number of branches and an enormous marketing budget.

As marketers, I'm sure that your head is buzzing with big ideas on how to capitalize on this - I know mine is ... I'm just waiting for the first community bank or credit union to call and ask for help.

Take care,

Eric

How to Call to Action

While marketing strategy and planning are critical to success, marketing often fails on the execution side. Take online campaigns, for example. Here you can often see campaigns break down not because of lack of a compelling offer or properly segmented audience but because the call to action is not powerful enough to trigger a response. The best offers never get consumed if your call to action doesn't convert the visitor to even get to the offer.

Anne Smarty posted a great article with best practices for improving your call to action on her blog "SEO Smarty". From choice of colors and words to the optimum position of your call to action on the screen, this gets you started on improving your call to actions to boost conversion - go check it out.

What are your secrets for making your call to actions work?

A New Year Deserves a Clean Office!

The holidays are over and if you are like most of us, you probably ate and possibly drank a little too much. You probably "burnt the candle at both ends" trying to get everything "just right" for the holidays and by the time the holidays were over, you were probably exhausted.

Well it's the new year now! A time to get refreshed, get refocused and get things accomplished!

Start by cleaning up your office. No doubt over the previous twelve months you received tons of correspondence from well meaning individuals "just trying to keep you informed." Unless you are more disciplined than most, by year end, your office probably is a mess.

Research confirms that a messy office has a negative impact on attitude thus a negative impact on productivity. Have you ever walked in to your office and thought "where do I start." Are you always spending time looking for something that you need among the clutter. As you know, it gets really frustrating.

I spent almost the entire day yesterday cleaning up my office. Don't just clean up the surface areas that someone can see. Take the time to go through your old files and purge everything that that no longer has value.

I had two large trash bags of old mail, emails, reports, etc. that were no longer needed. Now, not only is my office more conducive to getting things accomplished, but it is a place where I feel relaxed and comfortable.

Treat yourself to a clean office to start the new year!

You deserve it!

Have a great 2010 and let us know how we can help!

Mike

Start the year off right! Increase website traffic and sales

Attn: Early Birds.

There's going to be an event like no other. And because of the critical subject matter being covered ... the incredibly low cost ... and the fact that during this turbulent economy many business owners are looking for low cost marketing solutions with big results ... we expect this event to be filled to capacity. So you should take action now!

I wanted my blog readers to practically be the first to hear about it.

This powerful, 2-day, teleseminar will teach you how you can leverage content (from sources you probably didn't even think about) and turn it into increased traffic, leads, sales and buzz.

This event will be hosted by bestselling author, master copywriter, and Internet marketing strategist, Bob Bly, and will be co-hosted by, yours truly.

If you haven't been able to tap into my expertise as your personal marketing consultant -- I urge you to take advantage of this rare opportunity to find out my secrets to helping many of the companies I've worked for make hundreds of thousands of dollars as well as increase market awareness, revenues and subscribers. And all for just $19!

That's not crazy talk. We know how many businesses, marketers, and entrepreneurs are struggling now and wanted to make sure this event was priced to sell ... and no one was left out.

Here's the info...

"Content 2.0": The Missing Piece in the Internet Puzzle to Traffic, Leads, Sales and Buzz. A "Must Attend" Teleseminar Featuring Bob Bly and Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA, February 17 & February 24, 2pm EST.

Click here to learn more and to register http://blyteleseminars.com/content2/

"5 Ways to Stick to Your Goals"

I hate being cliche. Please don't lose respect for me ... I really didn't want to blog about New Year's resolutions - but here goes ...

I'm sitting here staring at my 2010 Runner's World Calendar and saw a "5 Ways to Stick to Your Goals" call out. I thought it was appropriate for banking.

1. Be Specific

Runner's World says that "run faster" or "lose weight" is too vague. So is "increase loans" or "grow market share." Set measurable targets like "increase loans by 10%" or "reduce attrition by 3%."

2. ... But Realistic

Overzealous goals can bite you in the ... well, the results could be bad. And "sandbagging" goals won't add value to your efforts. Consider past performance, market conditions and your overall institutional business needs.

3. Give Yourself a Deadline

If you're running you can select a few races throughout the year. For business, don't wait until December 31 to claim the thrill of victory or agony of defeat. Set monthly, quarterly - or at least 6 month goals. This will keep you motivated and allow you to change tactics, if necessary, to be successful.

4. Keep Track

Runners use training logs - we have super-fun reports! With or without an MCIF, you can track your progress on a regular basis. If the Marketing Department is going to be seen as a profit-generator, then "ROI" are your favorite 3 letters for 2010.

5. Make it Public

If you tell your peeps that you're going to complete your first marathon this year, you might think twice before sleeping in and skipping a run. If you share your goals with senior management and the Board, you'll spend less time on Facebook and more time reading these wonderful Marketing Blogs for ideas on how to grow your business. Better yet, you'll call MarketMatch (866-501-2233) to help you achieve the goals you promised!!!!! (Cheap plug - sorry)

Have a wonderful 2010.

Take care,

Eric

2010....it's here! Ready to Rock??

OK....the thinking, planning, rescheduling, organizing, etc....all comes to a head today!  2010 is officially here for the business world...

Ready to rock?

We are!!!

Here's to a GREAT coming year, complete with success (both expected and the best kind...unexpected!)

Cheers!

Bruce Clapp

Lead Generation Checklist - Part 2: Sales and Marketing as One Team

Here comes part two of the lead generation checklist series by Brian Carroll. The first part was about engaging prospects and customers in conversations and taking a consultative rather than transactional approach to marketing. Part two focuses on the chasm between sales and marketing that is common in many organizations. How long has it been since your marketing and sales teams got together for a really productive meeting? In many if not most organizations, sales blames marketing for not producing a sufficient number of truly qualified leads, and marketing points the finger at sales for not following up on the great leads that were produced.

In my opinion, sales and marketing alignment is one of the most critical aspects of lead generation and breakdown in the relationship between the two hurts revenue growth. Unless both sales and marketing teams work hand in hand and agree on the lead generation goals, process, and qualification criteria, your lead gen money and efforts will go to waste. Click here to read the complete post.