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.
The Easy, 5-Step Formula to Get Your Bank’s Culture Back on Track
Culture is the leading predictor of future growth and profitability. Great news if you have a great culture—otherwise, not such good news. After working with hundreds of banks over 24 years, I can say unequivocally that banks that turn around their cultures turn around their profits quickly. It is the leading indicator…and a beautiful and fast needle mover. And with the abundant...
Is It Over Yet?
s there anything worse than a bad meeting? Anything? Fine, yes, world hunger, soul-crushing poverty, and violence in the Middle East. But in the midst of a truly bad meeting, it’s easy to convince yourself that all of those problems will be distant memories before the meeting EVER ENDS.
The #1 Reason Bank Acquisitions Fail
Think you’re ready for an acquisition? Think you’ve got a bullet-proof plan? Imagine if you take a “bring-it-on-and-make-it-happen-no-matter-what” bank culture where people are passionate about what they do, and combine it with a group with a “sit-behind-our-desks-until-we-need-Preparation-H, whine-and-complain-about-the-economy-and-being-too-busy” group. How’s that going to work? Without a...
Study Shows 70% of Your Employees Are “Checked-Out” At Work (and it’s costing you!)
Studies show that 70% of your employees are checked out at work... and it's costing you! Have you seen the 2013 Gallup State of the American Workplace Report? It’s one of the clearest reports yet on the vital importance of having an engaged workplace culture. Among the findings were these shocking numbers: Employees who are disengaged: 70% Employees who are engaged: 30% Of the 70 percent...
So What’s Your Story?
“Homework? Ah, yes, I did my homework, but it didn’t quite make it here. Why? Well, my dog ate the homework. We took him to the vet to get the homework back, but the surgery took so long I was late to school, and I think I’ll have to leave school early because my dog died and I imagine it will take weeks before I can get over the sadness enough to concentrate in school.” Kids come up with the...
If an Opportunity Falls in Your Lap, Are You Ready?
The coming bank consolidation isn’t a surprise. It’s been predicted for years. In fact, the next 18 months are destined to be a major “shake out” period when weak banks will be acquired or closed—and banks that are in a position to capture the best customers in town will become stronger and more profitable. If an opportunity like this landed unexpectedly in your lap, would you be ready?...
Get Paid the Premium Pricing You’re Worth with Critical Drivers that WORK
If you ask commercial lenders how they’re doing, most would say they’re performing strongly. But performance for them too often means sitting in the bank, waiting for B and C credits to walk in, interviewing them, getting their data, sending it to the credit committee—then trying to sell the committee on how to make that loan work, even though it has risks.
Acquisitions That WORK: The Bomb-Proof Management System That’s Ready to Roll
A lot of bad things happen around acquisitions. If you’re being acquired, it’s rarely pretty. And if you’re the one acquiring, the Wharton School of Business says your chance of failure is greater than 83 percent. And even if you don’t go down in flames in the opening round, the real heartaches continue for two years after the acquisition as two dark forces are inevitably unleashed:
Are your job descriptions killing your bank’s performance?
Your job descriptions could be killing your bank's performance. We both know you have two types of employees: superstars — and the well-meaning, but average performing players. The superstars are going to excel no matter what. But your average players can do better. Too bad most are playing to the music you gave them...the job description. For example: Most lenders think their job description...
4 New Strategies Shaping the Future for Top-Performing Banks
Here are four new strategies that I’ve found that are shaping the future of top-performing banks. These strategies are profoundly changing the game of banking, and you should be paying attention to them. #1. Master the right “franchise system.” What if everyone had a clear road map and education to do his or her job as a top 1 percenter does it? What if the strategy tied into the...
4 Secret Strategies of The Most Successful Banks in America
#1. Culture trumps strategy. Hundreds of studies now show that culture is the leading predictor of future growth and profitability. The Gallup Organization found the increase in earnings per share for companies in the top quartile that have high employee engagement (a measure of culture) to be 2.6 times. Amazing! Unfortunately, there is a false belief in banking that culture means sales...
The Sure-Fire Way to Stop Disorienting Your Best Salespeople—and Help Them Massively Succeed.
Most banks are screaming for loan growth. But they’re not going to get it.
They think the only way to achieve that growth is to do traditional sales training.
Never, in the history of time has that ever worked. No really…never.