Now, when I wrote the Profit-Growth Banking book, my first book for the banking industry, I talked about how it’s great to be profitable and it’s great to have growth. But I’m only impressed by banks that master both. I have now upped the game. I am now saying, “Listen, I want to see growth, and I want to see it be profitable. And I want it to be safe at the same time. And I also want it to be predictable, regardless of what’s going on.” That’s the franchise you want in banking. And that’s when you’re playing a different game. Now, there are many who say, “Well, you can’t do that. You only grow during difficult times by taking bad loans.” Who made up that rule? In fact, many of the top-100 best customers at somebody else’s bank should become your customers, if you know how to go pull them away. And these are the times when you have to get very good at making sure that you’re taking very good care of those people in a way that they would come over to your side of the table.

Now, here’s the thing, for many banks, loan growth has been a struggle. It has been dependent upon what’s going on in the economy. That’s not the predictable part of your franchise that you want and that you must have mastery over. And what that’s telling you is that you do not have a franchise system for loan growth. And that’s a problem because only through a franchise system, in which you understand exactly who are your next best customers, you know exactly how to build reputational equity with them, and then you know exactly how to meet them in such a way that they tell you, “Gosh, I can’t believe I could have been your customer a long time ago. We need to switch now.” And they’re willing to pay you premium pricing.

Now, for those of you who were saying, “Well, Roxanne, you clearly have lost all of your brains because that’s impossible,” let me assure you there are banks all over this country who are mastering this system right now and acquiring some of the very best customers of their competitors. And those who resist the learning are the ones that are in trouble. So open your mind to new possibilities, because in fact, Starbucks is the perfect example. Here’s a company that was charging practically 10 times more for their coffee, had outrageous growth, completely de-commoditized themselves, and created a predictable path to growth and profitability, all by managing the correct way.

So my only question for you is this, is your franchise system right? If not, you might be suffering consequences you don’t need to. All you got to do is figure out what’s the right franchise system.