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.
3 Reasons to Be Obsessed with a Performance Breakthrough Now
This is YOUR time. Never has there been a better time to pick off your competitor’s top clients. Here’s why: 1) Your competitors are napping. They are consumed with asset quality. They think they have a pause button that says, “All else on hold while we clean up this mess.” It’s like saying that because you are busy, you’re going to choose each morning between brushing your teeth and putting on...
Recession over? YOU Decide.
Sure, there are bad loans to clean up… AND there is never a better time to pick up deposits and great quality loans. Well, the opportunities aren’t over yet, but it’s time to MOVE.
Need More High Quality Loans? 5 Easy Steps
While many banks are filled with lenders complaining that there isn’t loan demand, there’s a new breed of banker that’s making hay. They know what to do, and they’re doing it right now.
No More Slackin’… Eradicating Low Performance
How do you get people to do what they’re supposed to do—not sometimes, not sorta, but consistently and for real? This month I met an executive who said something that shocked me. He said that only 40 percent of their people are meeting their goals. FORTY percent!!! Yikes. Imagine what it does to the bottom line to let 60 percent of people off the hook from doing what they are expected to do....
A New Seat in the C-Suite: Move over CFOs, this one will REALLY create ROI
Culture is the leading predictor of future growth and profitability. Let me repeat that. Culture is the LEADING predictor of future growth and profitability. Not new customers. Not premium pricing. Not customer service. Not expense cutting. It’s culture.
Employee Motivation Research Turned on its Ear
When the researchers tracked the day-to-day activities, emotions, and motivation levels of hundreds of workers in many settings, they found that the top motivator was actually listed dead last on the managers’ survey.
When Purple is the New White: The Art of the Zag
"WHOOOOOO'S HOT?" I shout this into the microphone at ballrooms full of bankers in city after city. After I yell, "Whoooooooo's HOT?" each table of ten goes nuts trying to get my attention. They shout, they whistle, they cheer, they stomp their feet. And when they realize that every other table of ten is also yelling, whistling, cheering, and stomping, what do they do? They yell, whistle, cheer,...
Get Rid of That “Gerbil on a Wheel” Feel
Busy work. It's nuts. It's out of proportion. In fact, the people who are always whining about being too busy and overwhelmed tend to be your least effective people. Ever notice that? The fact that they do their work so gracelessly and with such difficulty ("Can't people see how stressed I am??") is the biggest clue that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing--or at least doing it...
Turn Your Market into a Buzzing Hive of Opportunity
If I owned a tattoo shop for bankers, I'd ink the same thing over and over onto client after client: Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers. It's not just pithy, you know—it's true. If you want to put your bank on the receiving end of the giving, it's time to dig in and give like crazy to your customers. The key is to abandon the terrible goal of "customer satisfaction." You don't...
The Proven Formula for Sales Meetings that Create Results
Is 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. You'd think the jury was still out on what makes a meeting work or not work. In fact, there are a few very...
The 5 Best Ways to Tank Your Bank… Read Them and Weep (IF You’re Guilty)
Unfortunately, most banks have only one strategy right now—cost containment. I will go on record now and guarantee that 95 percent of the banks in that camp will not be around in five years.
Removing the Risk Roadblock
We’ve all been there. The car salesman slides the paperwork across the desk at you, pointing at the signature line. Just this one last step, he says, and there’ll be no way out. At least that’s how it can sound to the customer as she wipes her sweaty palms on the Naugahyde, wondering if she’s doing the right thing, wondering if she’s considered everything, wondering if she’s taking too big of...