The Big Gamechanger for Differentiation

Last week at big.bright.minds, hosted by Filene at Princeton University, we learned about the facets of behavioral economics and how to be good choice architects for our members and customers.  One of the topics that the presenters covered was hassle factors and how even a small hassle, like having to click to another page on a website, can be enough of a hassle to lose someone in the sales process or keep them from doing something they actually want to do because it is too much of a hassle to proceed with the process.

Why?  Because we are all so busy that we don’t have time to do even the things that are really important to us!

The printer in my home office is a great example.  For some reason the other morning, it decided to stop working immediately after I’d printed a single page document.  I had sent two more to it immediately afterward and yet it sat idle for the rest of the day with the documents in the queue.   I was busy with other projects and deadlines so getting out my manual or consulting the help website for HP was too much of a hassle, so I dealt with not having a printer for an entire day because of this hassle factor. 

This hassle factor changed the way I would normally do things that one day because having to do without was more important to me than spending the time to figure out how to fix it.

Get Honest

What hassle factors are your members or customers facing in doing business with you?  Is your loan application process too cumbersome, or does it take too long to get through the call center to talk to a real person?  Unless you put yourself in the shoes of the consumer and remember that most people can’t afford any extra time caused by hassles, you may be losing actual loans, new accounts, and chances to help people who truly want to be helped but can’t be bothered with anything unexpected. 

I challenge you to take an honest look at your organization from inside out.  Ask your staff members what hassles (big or small) are keeping them from doing their jobs or being more efficient.  Honestly assess what things you can do for your customers or members to make their lives easier. 

At the end of the day, we all want more time.  That would make life easier.  More time to spend with those we love and do our favorite activities, or enjoy an extra few minutes of quiet.  If you can do the work to eliminate hassle factors by streamlining your processes, products, and interactions, you can give people the thing that means most to them…time.  

Amanda

We bring these philosophies to credit unions and community banks all over the country to help them with their strategic planning, marketing, and branding initiatives.  Contact me to learn more about how MarketMatch can help your financial institution define its "why" and achieve sustainable growth in the future.  Don't forget to ask about our ROI Guarantee - the only guarantee of its kind in the entire financial industry!

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Patience is a Virtue

We have all experienced the thrill of impulse buying; being in the mall or your favorite store ready to buy the items in hand that you went in for.  And then you see it.  A pair of shoes on a display; that new suit you’ve been eyeing for 25% off; a new appliance.  For most, that thrill lasts until the bill comes, and then reality sets in about how this unexpected purchase will affect the budget for weeks or even months to come.

For the purposes of this post, agility and being able to make adjustments quickly is a given for credit unions and banks.  We have to make decisions about liquidity, rates, and many other things on a regular basis.  I’m talking about the super huge decisions that set the course for future decisions and results.

In business, the result of “impulse” decisions can be detrimental to the future direction of your financial institutions.  There is always a new piece of technology, a cool marketing trend, and more people to serve.  Decisions about these and other things set (or change) the trajectory of your organization, and you want to make sure that these choices are all pointed toward the same end goal…your why.

Your “why” is why your business operates, and how it operates differently than everywhere else.  Your why is the reason you and your staff members choose to work in YOUR institution. 

It takes a lot of patience to find your why, and even more to stick with it.  Once you define your why, it is important to weigh against it every choice about product suite, target market, branch location, and even staffing to make sure that you are keeping your compass pointed toward that ultimate goal you set as an organization.

I am working with a client that has spent the last three years patiently doing the work to define the credit union they want to be, performing market research to determine who they are best-suited to serve, and getting their data processing and other systems in place FIRST to be able to start serving those members now. 

What has impressed me over and over about this credit union is their fortitude and vision to pass on pulling that lever in order to achieve short-term successes on their balance sheet.  They wanted to get everything right first in order to set themselves up to have a truly unique culture and sustainable growth in the future. 

The patience that this credit union has had during this process is a virtue that has guided and will continue to guide them on the road to success.  Like we say in our office, there are a million things you could do, but a successful business chooses the few things they should do in order to have the biggest impact.

Amanda

We bring these philosophies to credit unions and community banks all over the country to help them with their strategic planning, marketing, and branding initiatives.  Contact me to learn more about how MarketMatch can help your financial institution define its "why" and achieve sustainable growth in the future.  Don't forget to ask about our ROI Guarantee - the only guarantee of its kind in the entire financial industry!

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The Key Ingredient to Successful Business Development

During my first week here at MarketMatch, I’ve been commuting from Columbus to Englewood (a little over an hour drive) in order to get acclimated to the team and my new role as VP of Client Management.  I wanted to maximize this extra time in the car by listening to an audio book.  My business coach, Dan Stover, recommended a book to me about leadership, and so I spent those hours in the car this week learning about how to be a better leader.

One of the things that stood out to me was a point the author made about passion.  Our body language as we speak about something is the indicator of the amount of passion we have about the subject on which we are speaking.  Passion cannot be faked. 

You can know the ins and outs of a given service – for example, like all of the kinds of checking accounts your financial institution offers and their features.  But, if you don’t bank there and realize the benefits for yourself and really look to see how your credit union or bank is truly helping someone financially, your body language is going to convey something less than passion.  Therefore, the likelihood of making a sale is substantially less. 

How many conferences around the country have sessions for successful business development?  Like, a lot.  But here’s a piece of advice: your biggest asset as a business development person is yourself and the stories you have to tell. 

Even though banking is an errand, we are in the business of emotions.  People aren’t emotional about their loans!  They are emotional about what loans get them: a new car, a bigger house with a backyard for their kids to play in, a dream wedding, or a few extra dollars when ends won’t meet.  These are the stories on which we should be building our product suites, our marketing strategies, and our business development plans. 

Everyone has a story when it comes to their financial picture.  Find the stories.  Therein lies the passion with which you can weave a pitch to a new business client, a meeting with a potential new homeowner, or a potential employer group. 

Amanda

MarketMatch solves business problems for credit unions and banks through marketing by providing FOCUS, generating MOMENTUM, and creating measurable RESULTS.  

Contact me to learn how MarketMatch can help you with your marketing efforts, whether it is through marketing strategy, branding or rebranding, budget planning, and much more.  Learn more about all of our client services by clicking herewww.marketmatch.com/services.

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Don’t Plan to Fail in 2010

Avoid the Top 3 Strategic Planning Pitfalls

Not all strategic planning is created equally. The majority of companies find a mere 63 percent of the goals outlined in their strategic plan are achieved each year. Why leave all of that opportunity on the table?

How can you pull the extra level of growth out of your strategic plan? Make strategic planning an ongoing process rather than an annual event combined with a golf outing or Board retreat.

Most companies see goals fail because their strategic planning process lacks three basic components necessary for success.

• A chain of leadership involvement that extends beyond Executive leadership to include those business leaders actually responsible for producing results.

• A defined accountability program to achieve the goal and detailed process for ongoing progress reviews.

• A platform that includes ongoing monitoring and review to take strategic planning from a onetime annual event to an evolving growth process.

Incorporate these three elements into your planning and you’ll achieve more next year. Or, consider successful planning programs like Best Year Yet®, a strategic planning process that achieves significant, measurable and relevant results by generating alignment to move everyone in the same direction. Best Year Yet is a program that changes behavior, culture and performance to deliver success year after year.

Want to find out more about Best Year Yet – email Sharon Lovejoy at slovejoy@marketmatch.com and plan for success in 2010.

Deanna

New Online Competition

If your institution provides small business loans, have you heard of Kiva yet?  If not, it's worth a look at kiva.org.  

This non-profit organization, founded in 2005 to help entrepreneurs over seas, launched today to help lend money to needy US small businesses.  To date, Kiva has half a million lenders from more than 185 countries who have lent more than $75 billion with a 98.35% rate of repayment - according to the company.

Any average Joe can lend the small business of their choosing as little as $25.

It's truly "people helping people" - sound familiar credit unions?

Sure, these are loans that the Wachovias, Wells Fargos and Bank of Americas won't touch.  But to community banks and credit unions who rely on local mom-and-pops, we should keep an eye on this.

Take care,

Eric

Know Your Customer Now -- They've Changed

So, you've done your due diligence and done a big customer research project within the last year or so, right? You know, it was probably when you did a new branding push or were going through a name change. You really honed in on who your customers were and how they felt about your bank.

So, good for you -- you have a clear understanding of what your customers wanted then. What about now?

A great deal has changed in the last 12 to 18 months in the banking industry, so assume a lot has likely changed with your customers too.

The turmoil in the industry has jumped from Wall Street to the front page of the newspapers and landed smack in the middle of Main Street. Customers can't help but be affected by all they are hearing about the banking industry.

Obviously, many now have questions about the safety and security of their funds. Here's a startling fact from a recent customer research project conducted for one of our banking clients. For the first time ever, safety and soundness and reputation of the bank was selected as more important than location and convenience in determining where to bank.

Not only are more customers focused on the safety of their funds, but many have also seen a dramatic shift in their needs. Suddenly the financial landscape has become very scary and customers who once thought they didn't want a lot of guidance or hand holding from their bank may now be looking for a much more involved financial partner. Are your employees positioned to step from product pushing to the role of an advisor and partner?

Your challenge is to find out what has changed with your customers and prospects today so that you know where and how to spend your limited marketing dollars wisely. Leveraging a small portion of your marketing budget to research so that you are really targeting your messages can offer significant payback in ROI.

I also value the touch point that research gives to the customer. Being contacted to provide feedback lets customers know you value their opinions and are working to meet their needs. It also demonstrates you recognize the significant changes that have taken place in the marketplace and want to remain relevant.

So ask yourself, how well do you really know your customers now? Well, maybe its time to become reacquainted.

Has This Recession Seen It's Shadow?

With all due respect to Punxsutawney Phil, that lovable, furry creature charged with predicting the longevity of our winters, it's hard to predict beyond a shadow (pun intended) of a doubt whether seeing this recession's shadow means six weeks, six months or six more years of this mess.  Of course, when Phil is wrong, no one will demand that he live above ground or perform community service.  Not one iota of the vitriol that would be directed at, say, Treasury Secretary Geithner if his forecasts went awry.  Plus, Phil never forgot to pay his income taxes.

There are signs of an early spring in this recession.  While the stock market has been on a bit of a roll, the credit markets, where this whole mess began, is showing signs of a spring awakening:

• Companies with good credit are borrowing more in the bond market.
• Confidence in the banking industry (especially community banks and credit unions) seems to be returning slowly.
• Junk bonds are coming back into vogue (yields are about 16.5 percentage points more than Treasuries, a large premium for risk).
• The market for securities made from bundles of car loans and student loans, a vital source of credit, has started to stabilize.
• Home buyers are seeing some benefits of the credit thaw as interest rates on fixed, 30-year mortgages fell to the lowest levels on record.

I can't see my shadow, can this be over?

 Wait a minute, like they say about the weather in Vermont, if you don't like this economy, wait five minutes.

• Credit markets are still fragile.  Ratings agencies are slashing the credit scores of such bellwether companies as General Electric.
• General Motors bondholders are bracing for a possible bankruptcy filing.
• If unemployment continues to race higher, or the stimulus package fails to take root and the economy enters a deeper period of decline, many of the tentative gains in credit could come undone, analysts say.
• With the idled capacity in the U.S.--workers, factories, retail outlets, freight lines, bank lending--many economists feel that even if the recession miraculously ended tomorrow, it would take at least three years before full employment returned and output rose enough for the economy to operate at peak levels.

Uh-oh, I think I see my shadow.

It is abundantly clear that it is virtually impossible to predict with any degree of certainty what will happen in the stock or credit markets next week.  Forget about predicting next quarter or the quarter after that.  What is clear is that community banks and credit unions need to forget about looking for their shadow and take advantage of the unique opportunity to grow market share as the negative effects of safety and soundness continue to plague the larger financial institutions.

A recent survey of 755 community banks across the U.S. showed that 55% of those banks had dramatically increased deposits, and 40% had increased loan volume since the beginning of the year.  Is your bank or credit union one of them?  Are you still waiting for that definitive answer of when this mess will end so you can then go back to some form of banking normalcy?

No one correctly predicted the breadth and depth of this economic cataclysm.  And if you're waiting for someone to tell you when it's over, you might as well borrow Phil for a few days.  The banks and credit unions that are acting now to make a positive impact with customers, prospects and their communities will be the true winners before, during and after the economic turnaround happens.

What's It Like To Be Our Customer?

What our customers are thinking, and what we think is on their minds are often times two different things. For your small business customers, before you have a meeting or pick up the phone, you should always review the following questions that may either uncover an opportunity or bring to light a festering issue before it becomes a major problem for the customer.

Think of your customers and ask yourself the following questions:

• Is it easy to do business with us? - Perhaps the process of opening new accounts, etc. was created in a vacuum and is onerous for customers providing an unnecessary pain point.

• How do they perceive our customer service? - Your sales and marketing departments may be doing a great job but other areas of the bank may be creating customer service issues. Most customers won't say anything until they're ready to hit the road.

• Are we taking care of their business and personal needs? - Do you have too many single-service customers? If you never ask a business customer about their personal needs they will only think two things--you aren't interested or you just don't care.

• Are we suggesting better or more innovative ways to meet their present and future needs? - Is your bank truly a trusted advisor to your business customers? That's only possible if you demonstrate a willingness to help the customer to achieve their long-term goals through advisory services. It's sometimes about sacrificing short-term sales goals. The more the customer grows their business the more opportunity the bank will have to develop deeper, more profitable relationships.

• Are we asking the right questions to uncover their concerns? - Effectively profiling business customers to gauge their long-term strategies enables the bank, and the banker, to provide valuable strategic financial advice to become a true partner in the success of the business owner.

• If concern areas are outside your scope responsibility, am I alerting the appropriate people so the problem can be addressed and corrected? - Too many times bankers fail to act on customer cues because "it is someone else's responsibility." This is one of the leading causes of customer attrition. It's the banker's responsibility to uncover concern areas, notify responsible parties, act as the conduit for problem resolution and then close the loop back to the customer.

• Are we employing all of the bank's resources for the benefit of the customer? - Has the business customer been introduced to the cash management expert or wealth management professional at the bank to advise on various business and personal issues?

It's human nature that we tend to think that customers will automatically offer their thoughts to us just because we are sitting across the desk from each other. The lesson here is that if you don't ask the right questions you'll never get the answers necessary to advance a relationship or to stop a valuable customer from leaving.

From now on, before you visit or call a customer, ask yourself these questions and see if you can effectively answer them without the input of your customers. You may find that your conversations with your customers will take on a whole different perspective.

Don't Throw $$$ Down the 18th Hole!

Golf hole sponsorship -- $250

Spring Soccer League Sponsorship -- $400

Getting quantifiable ROI from any of these sponsorships – Doubtful


Stop right there! I urge you not to process that pile of sponsorship requests until you stop and answer some direct questions about why you are doing them and what you expect to get in return.

Yes, every company must support its local communities through charitable donations. However, sponsorships, as opposed to donations, mean you should get something back in return -- and a 5 inch one-color logo on a t-shirt just isn’t enough.

Take the time to look at all of your sponsorships with an objective eye and see if there aren’t better ways for you to build in a return on investment (ROI).

I used to do PR for McDonald’s and I can’t tell you how many sponsorship proposals came across my desk promising to give me logo exposure on banners and t-shirts. Well, there is a McDonald’s restaurant with huge golden arches every 4 miles or so in this country. We really weren’t looking for more logo exposure.

So, I rewrote the proposals and built in exposure that brought strategic value to McDonald’s. I used sponsorship of a community walk to promote a new line of salads and healthy kids meal options. I used sponsorship of a museum exhibit to showcase McDonald’s grants and activities in local elementary schools. Basically, I got strategic and creative and it paid off.

I urge you to look beyond logo exposure and build business drivers into your sponsorships.

• Can you showcase cash management products like desktop deposit scanners to all of the small business owners at the golf outing?
• When you sponsor the Spring Soccer League can you provide a bounce-back coupon for a free soccer photo frame to everyone who opens a child’s savings account?
  

Here are some questions that might help you be more strategic about your next sponsorship request:

1. What audience do I have access to with this sponsorship? Why is this audience important?

2. What do we MOST want this audience to know about us and what makes us different?

3. What business driver can I build into this sponsorship that will allow us to have another opportunity to touch this audience?

• “We have innovative business products that save time for small business owners” – have a business banker on hand to showcase your business products
  
• “We have online technology that saves Mom’s time paying the bills” – giveaway item that drives traffic to your online bill pay demo
  

4. How can I measure response to this sponsorship?

5. What plan can I put into place for my salespeople to follow up on these leads?

The bottom line – if you are creative you can do something good for the community and something good for your business at the same time. Make sure you take the time to make your sponsorships a win-win situation.

Post a comment and share great sponsorship ideas you’ve seen or implemented.

Deanna

In or Out -- Communication is the Key

So I was talking to a girlfriend about how we each work through little everyday issues with our spouses – you know, do you gripe when he leaves the toilet seat up, or when you disagree about whose turn it is to unload the dishwasher, etc. My friend was telling me that she and her husband communicate with each other proactively and don’t let things fester.

I had to admit that my spouse and I tend to be more head in the sand folks when it comes to problem resolution. We tend to pretend everything is roses and sunshine until the inevitable blow out where we clear the air and end up not speaking for a few days. But, that’s a topic to save for marital counseling somewhere down the road.

But speaking of communication . . . I think banks need to look at their communication styles with their customers right now. Are you burying your head in the sand, proceeding with business as usual and waiting for the storm to blow over? Not the best way to build a long term relationship with your customers, even I have to admit.

I troll community bank sites regularly and have seen some examples of banks that are doing a great job of communicating with their customers about the current economic climate and their position. I particularly applaud those banks being proactive in communicating their position on the TARP Capital Purchase Program.

Whether taking the money or not, the important part is that you share where you stand and explain your position. Here are two examples of banks that have done a good job letting customers know where they are and why:

• Arvest Bank – promotes its decision not to seek TARP funds because they are unnecessary
• Citizens Community Bank – explains how it has used TARP funds to provide loans in the community
  

These are just two examples I have found. I know there are tons more out there. Comment and let us know what your bank has done on this issue.

My main point -- Don’t take a reactive stance on this issue. You need to do more than arm a few managers and key frontline staff with talking points for customer inquiries. Only a handful of concerned customers will actually come to you and ask questions.

The majority will assume the worst and move their accounts without ever giving you a chance to explain. And, unlike spouses, you can’t give them a shoulder massage and expect to get back into their good graces tomorrow.

Deanna

The Future Isn't What It Used To Be

Children are the world's greatest dreamers, exploring the outermost reaches of imagination.  Remember back when we were all young, dreaming perhaps of being an astronaut, a fireman, a doctor or, dare I say, President of the United States.

And as we got older we turned to more tangible dreams of getting married, having children and getting that dream house in the tranquil suburbs with the vegetable garden and the white picket fence.

And later we dared to dream of the day when we could safely retire--maybe even early--and do all the things we never had time for until we ran out of road.

We now know that some of those dreams need a reality check.

Being President of the United States isn't all that it's cranked up to be.  Who would want the job of dealing with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression or festering tensions in the Middle East.

And all those foreclosure signs on all those pretty houses with the white picket fences in tranquil neighborhoods all over this country has turned that dream into a nightmare.

And forget about that early retirement!  People have seen their retirement nest eggs get decimated and are now planning to work well beyond their expected retirement date--if they can keep their jobs.

Five million people unemployed and millions of homes in foreclosure.  The numbers are staggering, yet impersonal, until you start putting faces and names to the numbers.  It's family and friends, business acquaintances and former college roommates, and people you see in the supermarket.  Its all those former children who dared to dream and the present ones who wonder what a dream really is.

If financial institutions truly want to regain the trust that they lost in this financial crisis, it's time that they begin to treat people as more than account numbers in their databases.  Because, if the community erodes around you then the long-term prospects for any community bank will cease to exist.  Being the last man standing in this reality play is not the place to be.

Many banks have instituted outreach programs to better serve their communities.  Consider the following programs:

• Coordinating food and clothing drives to assist families going through hard times
• Opening the branches after hours to provide financial advice and counseling to customers and non-customers
• Allowing community volunteer groups to use bank meeting rooms for outreach programs
• Helping to create a vehicle that enables people to make donations that can go to purchasing home heating fuel or other necessities for families in need

This list can go on and on.  The point is that the government bailout program may work in the long term, but this battle will ultimately be won by assisting people on a one-one-one basis in the communities in which we live and work.

They say that time heals all wounds.  And perhaps there will be a time when we can finally begin to forget these tumultuous times in which we live.  But one thing is for certain--people will never forget those who have helped them in their time of need.  Trust is a definite offshoot of character.  And true character can only be demonstrated through actions, not words.

Let's all do something to make a difference.

Cheers,

Nick Vaglio, CFMP 

How A Marketer's Life Imitates The High Hurdles

If there's one thing I've learned as an elite high hurdler in USA Track & Field's Masters Division, it's that the fastest or most agile opponent doesn't necessarily win the race.  To be truly successful the hurdler must master the five fundamental skills: speed, agility, flexibility, focus and endurance.  And in a race that is sometimes decided in hundreths of a second, failure in one of the five elements will leave you off the medal stand.

As a marketer, I always try to look at both myself and the company through these five filters in everything I do.  Because a subpar performance in any of these five areas can quickly derail even the best laid plans.

Speed:

In today's world, information flows at the speed of light.  Technology has changed our world forever.  Does the corporate culture and management structure at you institution allow for fast innovation as market or competitive situations arise?  Or is it the corporate equivalent of turning an oil tanker?  It used to be that the big ate the small.  Now the fast eat the slow.  As a marketer, it is incumbent upon you to look for ways to streamline processes that will allow for your institution to quickly react to market conditions whether it be to communicate with customers, introduce new products or to promote your standing in the marketplace.  Transform your institution from being innovative to one whose being is innovative!

Agility:

Changes in the financial marketplace are a daily occurrence--whether its interest rates, TARP news, deteriorating trust in banks, etc.  How agile are you and your institution to these changes?  As a marketer, do you wait for direction from your ALCO committee or are you part of the process?  Are you ready to go to market quickly when faced with a declining or rising interest rate environment?  Are you proactive or reactive?  Are you ready to deal with these hurdles before they happen?  If you assume and prepare for the worst-case scenarios you will be ahead of the curve--and the competition.  And as the old saying goes: "unless you're the lead dog on the dogsled team then the scenery never changes."

Flexibility:

For financial institutions, new deposit generation is king in terms of liquidity and funding loans.  And like in today's real estate market, deposits are a buyer's market.  Now, more than ever, you need to retain and grow your best customer relationships to ensure future profitability and institutional viability.  Do you have the flexibility to offer your best customers better value for their business loyalty in the form of discounted or relationship pricing based on their account balances and number of products?  Do you coddle and nurture your best customers to make them feel special?  Do your marketing plans have the flexibility to adapt to rapid market changes?  Are you creating those barriers to exit for customers so they won't abandon you for 25 bp?  Not being flexible in today's business climate is the equivalent to showing the customer the exit door.

Focus:

Keep your eyes on the prize!  With all the chaos in the financial marketplace, focus on the two most important elements to success: giving your customers a compelling reason to stay and your prospects a compelling reason why your institution is their best choice.  And that involves three critical factors: innovative products and services, outstanding customer service and instilling a high level of trust as a financial advisor in customers and prospects.  In short, treat people as you expect to be treated--with respect and trust, and reward them for their loyalty!

Endurance:

Today's financial battlefield will be a protracted event that requires the utmost endurance in order to survive and prosper.  There are no magic wands, silver bullets or quick fixes.  Even if you mastered the other four disciplines, the lack of endurance will cause you to stumble over the final hurdle.  Long-range strategic plans and yearly marketing plans will need to endure through all kinds of financial events--both known and unknown.  Nothing can be set in stone. As you eye the finish line, never lose sight of what lies between the starting blocks and your ultimate goal.  And with that, I'll leave you with this quote from the Chinese Taoist Philosopher, Lao Tzu, "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."

Cheers,

Nick Vaglio, CFMP