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.
5 No-Fail Strategies for Moving Your Bank Forward While Others are Collapsing
There's a lot of advice out there about weathering the tough economy. But who wants to just weather it? Howard Stevens, CEO of HR Chally, offered advice for keeping your business not just afloat but steaming ahead throughout the current unpleasantness. Here's the best of the list: Focus on existing customers first. Sure, you want to grow your customer base, but the customers you have already...
Confusion to Conviction: Creating the Mind that Buys
You're watching the Super Bowl when one of those unforgettable commercials comes on. You grab your sides with laughter. How do they come up with these things? The next day everybody at work is talking about that great ad for... for... What the heck WAS the product? We've all seen those ads—so much wall-to-wall cleverness and funny characters that there's no room in your head to notice and...
Hiding the Scars-How to Keep Cuts From Bleeding You Dry
You have to do some cost-cutting. Fine. It's part of the responsible stewardship of your business. But if you think across-the-board cuts are best simply because it distributes the pain and keeps interdepartmental whining to a minimum—you'd better think again. Jan Carlzon took over the reins of Scandinavian Air and turned an $8 million loss into a $71 million profit in one year. He did so NOT by...
The Art of Suberb Execution
After over 20 years of working with many of the top-performing financial institutions in the country to take them to a higher level, it is clear that quality of leadership is the key performance indicator—regardless of what the economy dishes up.
Get Rid of the Old That Keeps You from the Extraordinary
People have “to-do” lists. That’s great. But try this tip that successful people do—especially as they start a new year. They have “get-rid-of lists.” Decide to get rid of the things that aren’t creating the best ROI for every minute of your time and every dollar you invest. Things that could and should be on your list include: vendors that need to go, products that overstayed the party,...
Get Inspired in the New Year
A new year has come and gone, and what do you have to show for it? A renewed passion for your job? A workplace free of every dysfunction you can think of? How about a less-stressed, more relaxed, you? Well, whatever you gained—or didn't—put it all behind you and start fresh. Check out my recommended reading list to find inspiration for your personal and professional life. Whether you're a CEO of...
What Strategic Planning is—and What it Ain’t
Do you mind if I ask what on Earth you think you're doing? I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm not trying to be nosy. But I couldn't help noticing that you're doing the old "Mission Statement, SWOT, and Goals" thing. That's fine. I'm SURE you don't think that's the same thing as strategic planning. Do you? At least tell me you're not taking last year’s budget and making alterations and calling THAT...
Seven Secrets to Employee Engagement
Any company that thinks you have to pour money on employees to get them engaged will write off employee engagement efforts during tough economic times. In fact, you can't afford NOT to pay attention to engagement, especially when the wind is howling outside. Employee engagement scores regularly account for up to 50 percent of the variance in customer service scores. A 2006 study by the Gallup...
Putting Culture First—Where it Belongs
If I had a nickel for every call I've received over the years that went like, "Well, we spent about $250,000 on sales training. It helped for a month or two, but to be honest, we didn’t receive any return on investment," I could bail out the financial sector myself with enough left over for pizza. What bank exec teams fail to understand before making this tragic and often repeated error is that...
Onboard New Employees to “Get It” from the Get Go
We've all played the game of Telephone. The leader shares a comment with one person, and the idea is whispered around the room. By the time the last person shares what they heard, everyone roars at how distorted the info is. And so goes the onboarding of new employees. To protect the sanctity of your vision, values, standards, and other key information, consider an automated process on your...
Are Your Sales People Giving Away the Farm?
Unpaid consulting. What else can you call it? If your people are creating a plan for a prospect, running it past the credit committee and then not getting the deal, the expense has been hideously high and you feel a little... well... cheap. Don't you? Why? Because you're doing unpaid consulting. That's fine if you're working for a planned non-profit. But if it's profit you're hoping for, it's...
Time for a Radical Obligectomy?
Something's gotta give. New research shows that employees are exhausted to the core. The stresses of the workplace are so far beyond the good ol' days. Remember when we used to take lunches together every day off site? Me neither. Well, it's been a long time, anyway. And trends have a way of, well... trending. The load isn't likely to lighten anytime soon. As a leader, how do you help keep your...