The Antidote to Commodity Hell

If you’re feeling trapped in rate competition, you’re in “Commodity Hell”… and it’s not a fun place.

 

When your customers and prospects view you as no different than the bank down the street, you create a situation where retaining customers and attracting new ones is beyond difficult.

The first reaction is to blame the customers. You’ve heard it at banking conventions before. Someone will complain, “Customers don’t care about relationships anymore. It’s all about rates and fees.”

That’s backward thinking.

Yes, it is all about rates and fees if you don’t give the customer any other good reason to use in making their decision.

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Do You Have a Solid and Proven Strategy to Get More Profitable Customers

I believe most banks are sitting on a gold mine of untapped potential for organic growth and increased profits. 

 

In this blog, you’ll discover how you can get far more and more predictable profit and growth impact from your strategic planning process.

After reviewing over 500 strategic plans, I find that many banks lack effective strategies, lack intentional congruence, and essentially have a list of goals, but lack an effective way to get there.

If you’re the kind of leader who:

  • Hires a brilliant facilitator who comes out with a well-written plan that sounds good but doesn’t ever really shake the ground from under your feet for a transformative profit surge…
  • Is happy with your plan,

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How High-Performing Banks Use Emotional Intelligence Audits to Increase Sales

Most banks have three solutions they implement in the hope of having a breakthrough to increasing revenue that generates high profits:

 

  • They hire more lenders.
  • They ask each lender to make more calls.
  • They hope one of those two plans work. However, they hardly ever do.

    • Research shows that just a few lenders, usually about 6% that have a business development profile, carry the rest. Moreover, even that happens only if that 6 % know how to implement the right sales process. Otherwise, those naturally gifted lenders sell only by matching rates,

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    How to Attack the Root Cause of Net Interest Margin Compression

    The constant “need” to match rates to win a deal is a symptom, not the cause of the net interest margin crisis in banking today.

     

    The cause is much more profound.

    It’s inside each of your lenders, and it may be inside of you. Frankly, it’s not your fault (or theirs). It’s unconscious and has been a limiting belief in the banking industry for at least 100 years (probably longer).

    And don’t worry, if you’re frustrated with your margin, but feel you have to fight any way you can to keep the customers you have and get new ones,

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    The Big Lie about Low Rates

    Let’s get one thing straight. Low price IS a strategy.

    And consciously or unconsciously, every time you match rates to win business, you’re saying, “Our strategy is to be the lowest price bank in our market.”

    If you’re going to go the low-price route, at least make a conscious decision to pursue that strategy rather than have it be the result of dozens or hundreds of little unconscious decisions to match rate. And do it with the understanding of history.

    Consider the history of the low-price strategy in business.

    Let’s start with Sears.

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