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.
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...
Is Your Leadership Blind Spot Keeping You Stuck?
Those who are waiting for the things to go back to “normal” may not realize that staying stuck in the bottom sixth of the pyramid puts their future in question. By-the-book “management” is old school. It doesn’t work.
5 Biggest Myths that Could Hold You Back from Seizing Today’s Opportunities
It’s party time… that time you’ve been waiting for to pick off the top loan customers key deposits from the weak banks around you that are floundering. You don’t need to buy them IF you know how to pull in all the business with ease.
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.