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.
Creating a Sustainable Culture of Improvement in Your Organization [VIDEO]
A formidable organizational culture score is the foremost predictor of future growth and profitability, as demonstrated by hundreds of organizational development studies. In this episode, let’s delve into a system that, almost invariably, has assisted our clients in elevating their culture scores every…single…year to create a workplace where people can authentically say, “Thank God It’s Monday!”...
Four Key Steps to Stop Crazy-Making Behaviors and Improve Your Workplace Culture [VIDEO]
I believe there are days when a workplace can feel more like an “adult daycare” than an office. In this first episode, I’ll show you the formula that has transformed many crazy workplaces into places that authentically earned their designations as “best places to work.” Not just great cultures but performance cultures where everyone ties to profit daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. If...
Unleash Your Bank’s Full Sales Potential with a Proven Accountability and Visibility System [VIDEO]
I believe that most people working in banks perform at a fraction of their potential. In this session, I will show you how your people (like many bankers before them who couldn’t but now do) can average 6–7+ cross-sales and ALL the deposits in a way that never feels sales-y. If you’re the kind of leader: Who has been preaching to your people that you want all the deposits and all the cross...
Boost Your Bank’s Bottom Line with One Change [VIDEO]
I believe in the unlimited upside potential in your team, and I believe that with the proper tools, they are capable of so much more. In this video, I’m going to show you how to eliminate the limiting beliefs that keep your team matching rates instead of going after substantial premium pricing on better quality clients. They’ll start getting bigger and better-quality customers within...
What Is Your Conversion Rate From Inquiry to Customer? [VIDEO]
What is your opportunity cost per inbound call? In other words, how much profit is lost per mishandled call that doesn’t turn into a lead, then a customer, then a full relationship? I'm going to show you some math that's going to make you a little bit crazy as an executive of a bank. Video: What Is Your Conversion Rate From Inquiry to Customer? Let's imagine for a second that you spend a million...
More Than a Feeling—How Bank Culture Drives Profit [VIDEO]
Does bank culture really matter? Gallup tells us that if you have an average amount of disengagement, it will rob $3,400 from your bottom line for every $10,000 of payroll. So YES, culture is a big deal. And if your bank’s culture is broken, it can be fixed. In fact, that's some of the easiest and fastest money to bring right to the bottom line—but only if you know what you're doing. That begs...
How Do You Stop “Matching Price” and Set Yourself Apart as a Category of One
I've heard it a thousand times—a CEO will say to me, "I am so tired of lenders walking into my office and saying, 'Boss, I'm going to lose this deal unless we match the pricing.'" Yes, this is true, but only because they didn't handle it correctly from the beginning. That lender put themselves in the position of having to match the rate. So, yes, they are in this mess, and maybe they can...
Why Is It So Important to Hold On to Low-Cost Deposits
When everyone is competing for a scarce item, it becomes difficult unless you improve at it. This is exactly what we need to do with low-cost deposits. Let’s face it, there is no end in sight to the competition for low-cost deposits. Even when your bank is flush with deposits, you should be actively increasing your non-interest-bearing deposits as a percentage of total deposits. It’s like...
The Power of Cross-Sales—How to Do Them Without Being Salesy
I attended my first bank CEO conference several decades ago. You know what the theme was when people talked about cross-sales? They said, "My people are still order takers." Fast forward a few decades, and CEOs still tell me, "My people are still order takers." How could we not have made progress on such an important issue over decades? Cross-sales are a measure of trust. When you’re the...
Why Culture Cannot Be Delegated
Sometimes, two different ideas seem to challenge each other. You've probably heard me say that everyone has a role in managing the culture of the organization. You've also heard me say that you can't delegate culture. Let’s explore these distinctions so you can understand this concept clearly. Yes, everybody needs to understand that they’re responsible for the culture. When they see someone...
Everyone Is in Sales
I don't care what your position is; you have a sales position. Why? Let's say you're out with other soccer moms, and somebody mentions they're planning on building a new home. Hmm, there's potential for a mortgage there, isn't there? And since your mortgage lender isn’t present, you need to handle that inquiry and know how to move it forward. Now, imagine someone calls in and asks about your...
Learned Helplessness
When I was working on my graduate studies in organizational development, I learned about the concept of learned helplessness. What I've discovered is that it’s a significant issue. It’s often the reason why organizations don’t become Top Five Percenters™—people become helpless and resigned. Nobody informed me of this, and I didn't receive training on it. However, I always tell team members...