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.
Avoid the 4 Issues Sabotaging Your Lending Team
I believe quality loan growth is one of the top three drivers of sustainable profitability for banks. In this session, I’m going to show you how, by restructuring your lending department, you can increase the productivity per lender by 30–40% or more within 12 months. If you’re the kind of leader: Who thinks your team is kicking butt and taking names in securing quality loans at premium...
What if You Could Transform to Next-Level Culture in 1 Day?
I believe everyone wants to work in a place where they get energized and surround themselves with competency. In this episode, I’ll show you how you move the culture score needle—the leading predictor of future growth and profitability. If you’re the kind of leader: Who feels like you have great people and you have this wired, you’re going to enjoy hearing how banks just like yours are...
4 No-Fail Strategies to Up Your Customer Service Game from Good to “WOW”
I believe everyone loves to be well-taken care of. In this episode, I’ll show you how to take a good service culture over the moon—to have a service culture that is so remarkable that everyone is talking about you and sending their friends. If you’re the kind of leader: Who feels you already nail this customer service aspect, you’ll love this because I’ll show you how banks who have...
How to Build the Iron-Clad System for Improving Your Culture Score
I believe a great culture makes running an organization delightful. In this episode, I’ll share with you a system we use with our clients who, almost without exception, have improved their culture scores every year compared to the year before—often for over a decade. If you’re the kind of leader who: Thinks your culture is spot on—couldn’t be better and the accolades keep...
Stop Crazy-Making, Culture Destroying Behaviors for Good
I believe that sometimes, sadly, a workplace can feel a bit like an adult daycare. In this episode, I’ll show you how you can stop culture destroying behaviors that negate your ability to safely lead at your bank, and keep you awake at night. If you’re the kind of leader: Who feels you have a good culture, but there are just a few people who “stir the pot” and bring in their...
How to Get Newly Acquired Team Members Aligned & Profitable—FAST
I believe everyone wants to be good at what they do. In this episode, I’ll show you how to avoid the two years of “we-they” game playing that happens after an acquisition that robs the deal of any potential of a positive ROI. If you’re the kind of leader: Who has already made a few acquisitions that went fairly well, stay tuned. I’ll show you how to drastically decrease the risk of a...
How to Avert the After-Acquisition Customer Drain
I believe you deserve to hang on to the customers you just paid for in an acquisition. In this episode, I’ll show you how you can avoid the customer runoff that is “accepted” as the “way it is” and instead hang on to those customers AND make them profitable. If you’re the kind of leader: Who has already had an acquisition and lost over 20% of the customers you paid for, you’ll be thrilled...
4 No-Fail Steps to Prepare Your Team and Organization for an Acquisition
I believe a good acquisition should be “normalized” in within a quarter—and quickly profitable. In this episode, I’ll share with you a few elements of a system we use with our clients that have allowed for them to normalize the culture and get everyone playing nice in the sandbox together within a week and assure the acquisition hits its financial expectations that first year. If you’re...
3 MUST-Do Steps to NEVER Miss Prior to an Acquisition.
I believe everyone goes into an acquisition hopeful. Unfortunately, for too many banks, the acquisition becomes a profit-sucking, culture destroying, two-year battle of “we versus they.” In this episode, I’ll show you how to protect yourself from what could be an acquisition nightmare or one that isn’t profitable for years. If you’re the kind of leader who: Has had...
How to Get Everyone in Your Bank Thinking Like a Marketer
I believe accountable people make the world go around. In this session, I’ll show you how to get everyone in your bank thinking about how to get the next best customers at premium pricing. If you’re the kind of leader who has the traditional marketing department and they do “their thing” and nobody quite understands the why or the how except those in the department, that’s very typical....
The 3 Most Regularly Violated Marketing Principles that Cost Banks MILLIONS
Subject 1: 3 marketing mistakes that cost banks millions Subject 2: How these 3 marketing myths are stealing your profits (and you’d never know it) Subject 3: How to turn your marketing team into a profit center in 3 steps I believe there are hundreds and thousands of ways to do any one thing—but there’s only ONE best way. In this episode, I’ll show you how banks destroy their potential...
How to Create “Tell Everybody in Town” Customer Service Experiences
I believe people love to have positive attention lavished on them. In this episode, I’m going to show you how to take your already good customer experience and turn it into an experience your customers can’t help but talk about. If you’re the kind of leader who is frustrated by the lack of consistently “over-the-top” customer service in your bank—where most of your customer...