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
