Here are four new strategies that I’ve found that are shaping the future of top-performing banks. These strategies are profoundly changing the game of banking, and you should be paying attention to them.

#1. Master the right “franchise system.”

What if everyone had a clear road map and education to do his or her job as a top 1 percenter does it? What if the strategy tied into the marketing, which tied into the sales process, and it all tied together with a “culture system” that kept everyone focused on the few right things and kept visibility and celebration of that progress, daily, weekly, and quarterly?

When a predictable success model is installed, all you need to do is drop in the right people, and the magic keeps happening.

#2. The magic of intentional congruence.

While most banks still struggle with the new “this too shall pass” initiatives of the day, those consistently capturing the top-of-list spots have something in common. They understand that strategy must be all tied into the key, defined psychographic and firmographic target markets, and that must tie into the marketing strategy and processes, which of course, tie together both the retail and the complex commercial and wealth management strategies.

#3. Mastery of “stickiness.”

Community banks that thrive the most know how to implement and make things stick. You will not see them roll out new programs or processes without already planning how they will make them stick for the long term. The profit drain that comes from starting and stopping is staggering. And worse, it trains your people to simply hunker down and wait you out, knowing they never really need to change their sub-par behaviors.

#4. Culture of accountability.

An activity is not a result. We all have those employees who come in early and leave late but never hit their numbers or get the key projects completed. Of course, if you ask them, they think they are clearly a top performer.

So it’s not just about accountability but accountability to the key activities and the results of those key activities that matter. When employees at top-performing banks miss an objective, they take responsibility for creating a massive corrective action plan to get back on track. That’s culture.

Look around at the best community banks that get and stay at the top. The formulas are right there.

Roxanne Emmerich