How Top Community Banks Increase Net Interest Margin Without Competing on Rate [VIDEO]
The best community banks don’t win pricing wars—they avoid them. Discover how stronger positioning leads to higher net interest margin and greater profitability.
Welcome to the Top 5 Percenter™ Blog
Get Inspired in the New Year
A new year has come and gone, and what do you have to show for it? A renewed passion for your job? A workplace free of every dysfunction you can think of? How about a less-stressed, more relaxed, you?
Well, whatever you gained—or didn’t—put it all behind you and start fresh. Check out my recommended reading list to find inspiration for your personal and professional life. Whether you’re a CEO of a top-performing bank or part of the team, there’s something on my list to inspire, motivate, and help you improve your results.
Personal Development
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey
- Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness by Daniel G. Amen
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Stephen R. Covey
- The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, Brilliance, and Dreams by Debbie Ford
- The Magic of Thinking Big: Acquire the Secrets of Success… Achieve Everything You’ve Always Wanted by David J. Schwartz
- Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg
- The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
- The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better by Dan Baker Ph. D. and Cameron Stauth
Marketing
- Buying Trances: A New Psychology of Sales and Marketing by Joe Vitale
- The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly
- The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
- How to Get Everything You Can Out of Everything You’ve Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition by Jay Abraham
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
- Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
- The 22 Immutable Rules of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
- The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth by Fred Reichheld
- Words That Sell: A Thesaurus to Help Promote Your Products, Services and Ideas by Richard Bayan
Leadership
- The ABC’s of Building a Business Team That Wins: The Invisible Code of Honor That Takes Ordinary People And Turns Them into a Championship Team by Blair Singer
- Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
- Enlightened Leadership: Getting to the Heart of Change by Ed Oakley and Doug Krug
- Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
- The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
- The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen M.R. Covey, Stephen R. Covey, and Rebecca R. Merrill
- What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter
Business
- Blueprint to a Billion: 7 Essentials to Achieve Exponential Growth by David Thomson
- Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
- Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm by Verne Harnish
- No B.S. Ruthless Management of People & Profits: The Ultimate No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Really Getting Rich by Dan Kennedy
- Profit-Growth Banking: How to Master 7 Breakthrough Strategies of Top-Performing Banks by Roxanne Emmerich
- Thank God It’s Monday: How to Create a Workplace You and Your Customers Love by Roxanne Emmerich
- Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
- Think Big, Act Small: How America’s Best Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive by Jason Jennings
- Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People by Ph.D., Bradford D. Smart
- Winning by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch
- The Worst-Case Scenario Business Survival Guide by David Borgenicht and Mark Joyner
Sales
- Profit-Rich Sales: The Proven Secrets to Guarantee More Sales at Premium Pricing by Roxanne Emmerich and Terry Slattery
- Rethinking the Sales Force: Redefining Selling to Create and Capture Customer Value by Neil Rackham and John DeVincentis
- SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
- The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
More From The Blog
The Fastest Way to Find Your Bank’s Next Best Customer [VIDEO]
The highest-performing community banks don’t waste months searching for their ideal customers. Discover the proven process they use to identify profitable relationships quickly and execute with confidence.
Why Premium Pricing Is a Leadership Decision—Not a Market Condition [VIDEO]
Most banks believe their market determines pricing. Discover why that belief destroys profitability—and how elite community banks command premium pricing instead.
The Real Reason Bank Mergers Fail (It Isn’t Your Strategic Plan)
Most merger failures aren’t caused by poor due diligence—they’re caused by poor execution. Discover what separates successful bank mergers from costly disappointments.
AI Won’t Replace Your Bank. Transactional Thinking Will.
AI isn’t coming—it’s already here. Discover why most bank roles are now obsolete, and what your team must become to survive.
The Power of Cross-Sales: How to Grow Relationships Without Being “Salesy”
Cross-sales aren’t about selling products. They’re about becoming a trusted advisor customers rely on for guidance, value, and long-term financial success.
Why Top-Performing Banks Never Delegate Culture
Many banks assign culture to committees and wonder why nothing changes. Discover why executive ownership is the key to sustainable culture transformation and top-tier performance.
Nice Doesn’t Pay the Bills: Why Culture Determines Profitability
Most banks focus on strategy. Elite banks focus on culture systems that produce profitable behavior. Discover why culture may be your biggest growth lever.
Halfway Is No Excuse: The Midyear Execution Test Every Bank Must Pass
Midyear is not the time for excuses. It is the diagnostic checkpoint where elite community banks assess what’s working, fix what’s not, and accelerate execution before year-end.
Stop Letting Pedestrian Thinking Run Your Bank’s Future [VIDEO]
Most banks are not suffering from a technology problem. They are suffering from a thinking problem. Roxanne Emmerich explains why second-order thinking is now essential for community bank executives preparing their teams for AI, change, and the next wave of performance pressure.