Can Strategic Thinking Be Taught or Nurtured [VIDEO]
Banks don’t fail from a talent shortage—they fail from a thinking shortage. Discover how critical-thinking systems like the SIR Formula build your future executives now.
Welcome to the Top 5 Percenter™ Blog
Deposits Still an Issue?
If you’ve been listening, you’ve heard me repeat from the mountain top over and over again that the key to winning the game is low-cost deposits.
But HOW? It seems like the biggest mystery in banking. Yet the banks that get it are solving their problem in just a few months.
A few strategies to get you started:
- Don’t even THINK about not training your front line to handle every inquiry with a conversation that breaks the preoccupation with rate.
- Get the rate board out of focus. The rate board teaches your clients to shop you. Who needs that?
- Define your most profitable deposit accounts and create a powerful repeat “give” plan to be in touch with all those who are similar in thinking patterns. That’s the science of psychographics.
- Stop matching rates by making sure all employees know EXACTLY how to turn the conversation at the beginning so they don’t have to match later on.
- Celebrate your successes. Keep them in the focus, and your employees will quickly learn what gets celebrated.
More From The Blog
A State of Gratitude [VIDEO]
A powerful Thanksgiving message on how gratitude shifts leadership presence, reframes pressure, and strengthens your bank’s performance culture.
How to Tie Everyone to Profit [VIDEO]
Most employees believe they’re top performers but can’t show how they drive profit. This episode shows how to tie every role to the bottom line, boost profit per FTE, and build a high‑performance culture in your community bank.
The Dangers of False-Attempt Sales Training [VIDEO]
Traditional sales training fails because it focuses on tactics, not transformation. Discover how to shift from sales training to sales culture and achieve lasting growth.
Master the Four Levels of USPs [VIDEO]
Escape commodity pricing. This episode shows how Level-4 USPs—proprietary, client-valued processes—let community banks command +150–200 bps and keep deposits loyal.
Stop Matching the Competition [VIDEO]
Rate matching drains margin. Install USPs that matter, differentiate, and promise explicit benefits—so buyers pay more without a price match.
Your Team Selling Checklist [VIDEO]
Tag-alongs aren’t team selling. Use this checklist to assign roles, split first vs. second call objectives, and run the pre-call prep that produces 85–90% close rates on top-100 prospects.
How Community Banks Deliver WOW Customer Service [VIDEO]
Most banks deliver “pretty good.” That’s not loyalty. This episode reveals a 3-step execution system—blended learning, measurement, coaching, and celebration—to engineer daily WOW service that sticks and grows deposits, margin, and community pride.
The Silent Profit Killer: How to Stop Rate Matching and Take Back Your Margin
Roxanne Emmerich exposes the hidden flaw in your strategy that’s quietly destroying net interest margin — and the proven path to take back your pricing power.
The AI Wild West
AI isn’t coming—it’s already here. Discover why most bank roles are now obsolete, and what your team must become to survive.