Welcome to The Top 5 Percenter™ Blog
Dive in for concise, powerful insights on elevating community banking. Discover strategies and success stories for superior performance, from boosting financial margins to cultivating a dynamic culture. These posts literally contain the secrets of the Top 5 Percenters™. Sign up to the newsletter so that you don’t miss a single post.
How to avoid the “Middle Management Meltdown” [VIDEO]
I believe that when middle managers master management, the resulting breakthroughs are profound and sustainable. In this episode, I’m going to share with you how to overcome what I call “the middle management breakdown”—the block that keeps executives’ dreams from being the reality executed by the front-line team members. If you’re the kind of leader who worries that perhaps your managers act...
How to Guarantee Your Employees Won’t “Back Slide” After Your Next Big Initiative [VIDEO]
I believe progress begets progress and success begets success. In this episode, I’ll show you how you can create a series of successes that open the way for even more impactful successes later on. On the flipside, stumble once and all your hard work up until then could come tumbling down. I’ll show you how to avoid that eventuality too. If you’re the kind of leader who is up at night thinking...
New Approach to Tracking Employee Performance, Proven to Increase Profit [VIDEO]
I believe visibility of what matters DRIVES the changes that matter. In this episode, I will show you how you can create results that matter—those that impact profitability through visibility systems. If you’re the kind of leader who has every employee already aware of exactly what high performance looks like and you have complete visibility on how every employee is doing on the important...
This Strategic Move Doubles Profit-per-Employee [VIDEO]
I believe almost every person can DOUBLE their productivity at work. In this episode, I’m going to share with you a process I have used over and over again to not only double but often times quadruple the profit per employee within a few years! If you’re the kind of executive who feels like your people are already performing…well, you’ll be delighted to see that often those people are the...
How To Get Your Team Accountable For Results (Without Alienating Everyone) [VIDEO]
I believe hard work should be rewarded with financial gains. In this first video and the rest of this five-part series on accountability, I’m going to share with you how to get more accountability from your team members for the things that move the profit needle. If you’re the kind of leader who has been preaching from the mountain top to your team that they need to “get it together” on...
Boost Your Bank’s Bottom Line with One Change [VIDEO]
I believe in the unlimited upside potential in your team, and I believe that with the proper tools, they are capable of so much more! In this video, I’m going to show you how to eliminate the limiting beliefs that keep your team matching rates instead of going after substantial premium pricing on better quality clients. They’ll start getting bigger and better-quality customers within weeks. If...
Do Your Salespeople Know When to Talk USPs? [VIDEO]
I believe that most of your salespeople have only begun to tap into their true potential. They just don’t have the confidence to go after large deals that are happy with their current bank and ask for premium pricing. In this episode, I’m going to show you how the right sales system can help your people get excited about and effective at pulling in the very best customers…without PRICE even...
The Effective High-ROI Alternative to Branding [VIDEO]
I believe you can and should be paid more for what you do. In this episode, I’m going to show you a few ways to highlight your USPs—“differentiating value”—the right way in your sales process. Customers will sit up and pay attention…and you won’t lock yourself into a rate match. If you’re the kind of leader… Who has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on “branding,” yet found that you’re...
The 4 Levels of USPs (and How to Double Your Profits with #4) [VIDEO]
I believe community banks deserve to get paid for what they are worth—and never have to match rates. In this episode, you’ll discover how to use extreme differentiation to get 150 basis points more on the loan side and improve your deposit pricing as well. If you’re the kind of leader… Who feels strongly that you can’t follow the herd that believes NIM compression is inevitable…you’ll love this....
Rate Matching Isn’t Required: Follow My 3-Step Process to End Rate Matching Forever [VIDEO]
I believe rate matching is the most destructive force in community banking today. Because of it, community banks are underpaid for the value you deliver. I believe you should be paid more. Today, I’m going to show you how to stop your prospects from asking you to match a rate to “win the business” and start getting paid more within the next two weeks. Deal? Great! You’re going to love this IF...
Who Made Up THAT Rule? [VIDEO]
Everyone has patterns of disbelief. Some people believe that in politics, there is one side or the other, and they're unwilling to look at the alternative. Still others believe that the moon is made of cheese. You may have a belief system that's true. You may have a belief system that's not true. And the question that we have to look at as an executive is, "what has to be true for us to...
The “New Math” to Measure the Right Things [VIDEO]
How much do you invest in your marketing budget every year? Now divide that amount by the number of calls or inquiries it generates. For most banks, the marketing budget is driven by shiny new ideas from conferences that marketing people attend or based on what was done the year before. From the newly attended conference “pitches,” they go shopping for new software, new branding, new social...