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Why Your Bank Needs Proof—Not Promises—to Win Premium Clients

by | Creating an Accountability Culture, Culture, Differentiation, Effective Leadership, Employee Engagement, High Performance, Managing Employees, Profitability and Growth, Sales & Marketing, Unique Selling Proposition for banks

Most banks think differentiation comes from what they say. The truth? It comes from what others say about you.

If your positioning relies on claims like “great service” or “relationship banking,” you’re invisible. In this video, Roxanne Emmerich breaks down a simple but powerful shift: credibility-based positioning that instantly elevates trust, pricing power, and conversion.

Here’s what high-performing banks understand:

  • Third-party validation turns opinions into proof—and proof closes deals
  • Strategic use of awards like the Banky™ creates instant authority in the sales process
  • The right differentiator doesn’t just win customers—it builds internal confidence and culture

This is not about marketing polish. It’s about market position.

Because when your bank is recognized as best-in-class, prospects stop comparing—and start choosing.

Ready to move from “just another option” to the obvious choice?

Discover how to use credibility to dominate your market.

Watch now. 

Last week, I mentioned how important it was to have a unique selling proposition to differentiate you so you can get the premium pricing.

Okay, easier said than done, but let’s talk about one pretty easy way to create some differentiation in a way that is believable. So if someone says to you, “Listen, my sister’s really nice,” you’re gonna go, yeah, okay. But if somebody says, “My sister won the Miss Arkansas, Miss America, Miss Congeniality Award,” you’re gonna go, oh, she must be really nice.

Now why did you say that? Because there was a credible organization that substantiated this, and so therefore, it is now believable. Well, that’s one of the secrets of a unique selling proposition. Not the only one, but it is one: what outside source says that you are worthy?

Where do you get your credit from? Where is that credibility coming from anyway? For many of you, you have the Banky Award offered by the Institute for Extraordinary Banking™. If you don’t, please get in the game this year.

Because the Banky Award has helped many banks achieve what they call the “Banky bump,” that dramatic increase in their revenue and the amount of business that they do because everyone starts talking about, “Well, you’re the bank that won that Banky.” Just like a Grammy and an Emmy, a Banky says best of the best. We stand out. Now, how do you use the Banky in your sales process, you ask?

Ah, let me share with you how you do that. You simply ask questions such as: How important is it to you to work with the bank that has won a Banky for the last three or four years in a row so that you know you’re working with a bank that has legitimately surveyed and effective customer service strategies, that has been ranked on culture so you know you’re dealing with good people who are alive and passionate about making a difference for you, and that is making a great community outreach approach to make a difference in the community along with running a really great bank?

By simply asking that question, in their mind they’re now thinking, oh, I hadn’t thought about that with other banks. I don’t know what their customer service approach is and whether it’s credible or if it was just a one-time good experience. I don’t know if their people are happy or if they’re all going to leave, leaving me hanging, wondering who’s going to service my account. I don’t know if they’re a well-run bank, and I don’t know that they’re up to making a big impact in their community.

All I know is they had a nice person who opened my account, but here I’m looking at a different option.

Having a differentiator such as a Banky is a clear distinction that, when used in the sales process, when used properly on your website, on business cards, is a way for you to stand out because everyone recognizes the feel of the words Grammy and Emmy, and they understand a Banky is a big deal. It’s not just a big deal for them—it’s a big deal for you and your people because, as I’ve heard from so many bank CEOs, it built the confidence in our people we never had before because now they get—we’re special.

Ah, the power of a unique selling proposition—not just for your outside customers, also for your team members. That’s the power of a great unique selling proposition.

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