Most community banks don’t have a talent problem.
They have a profit connection problem.
CEOs tell me the same thing: “We’ve got good people. Great service. Strong work ethic.” But when you ask those same employees how they drive profitability—how they bring in the full relationship at premium pricing—you get blank stares.
And it’s not because they’re lazy. It’s because most employees don’t know what “top performance” actually means.
In our national research, we analyzed 1,000+ workplace professionals and asked a simple question: Do you perform in the top 10%?
Seventy-five percent said yes. Statistically impossible. Culturally normal.
That gap creates a dangerous illusion: people believe effort equals value. Coming in early and being nice to customers becomes the definition of performance—while profitability drivers stay invisible.
Here’s the trap: when organizations introduce accountability before people understand what they’re accountable to, they trigger fear, resentment, and turnover.
In this video you’ll discover:
Why “good service” is not a profitability strategy
How to connect every role to measurable profit drivers
The hidden risk of letting low performers ride on your best people
Because when lower performers aren’t paying for themselves, your top talent subsidizes the entire system—and that’s a risk you can’t live with.
Watch now.
In talking to hundreds of bank CEOs, I’ve heard the same repeated message. We’ve got good people. They have good customer service skills, but they don’t really know how to bring in the entire relationship at premium pricing, and they don’t really know how they tie to profit. Well, if you have this problem, you’re not alone because this is a common issue.
People mean well. It’s not their fault. Did you know that when we did our national research, where we analyzed over a thousand different people in the workplace, and we asked them, “Do you perform in the top ten percent?” what we found out is that seventy-five percent believe that they perform in the top ten percent?
Yeah. I know. I know. That’s statistically impossible.
And yet, they truly believe that they’re a top performer because they come in early and they’re good to the customer. But they don’t know that there’s another whole piece in terms of the critical drivers that tie them to profit. And here’s the problem that most organizations have when they start bringing in accountability cultures: they get ahead of their skis. They ask them to be accountable for things they’re not ready for yet, and then they have a mass exodus for the door.
In today’s day and age, we have to figure this problem out because we do need people who know how they tie to profit, because they do have to pay for themselves. And here’s why it’s important.
When your lower performers are not paying for themselves, that means they are on the shoulders of your very best performers—and that’s a risk you can’t live with.
Most banks are screaming for loan growth. But they’re not going to get it.
They think the only way to achieve that growth is to do traditional sales training.
Never, in the history of time has that ever worked. No really…never.
Can you give them what they need to succeed? Not unless you’ve created a franchisable system to help them duplicate your success.
Here are the seven crucial elements of building a franchisable system in your own bank:
The coming bank consolidation isn’t a surprise. It’s been predicted for years. In fact, the next 18 months are destined to be a major “shake out” period when weak banks will be acquired or closed—and banks that are in a position to capture the best customers in town will become stronger and more profitable.
Culture asks, “Will your people leap over tall buildings in a single bound to make sure your client is successful in their business or personal financial goals?” “Will you go beyond bank “product” to create Unique Selling Propositions that rock their world and cause hundreds of thousands of dollars of impact for them? And will your people have fun doing it so that your system is sustainable?
Ready to stop wasting your marketing dollars and grow your profits and safety with a predictable model of organic growth of top and bottom lines?
Thousands of bank executives are waking up to 2013 saying, “SALES training! Of course! It’s SALES training we need.”
Yeah, well sometimes the first thing that pops into our heads isn’t a keeper. Sales training is fine, but it’s NOT what you need to solve your problem and create a sustainable solution.
So you’ve decided to acquire another bank. For nearly 25 years, I’ve been giving the same advice about acquisitions: DON’T DO IT. I’ve had good reason to give that...
Growing a bank isn’t some mysterious process that involves tea leaves and oracles. It’s more like building a house or tuning up a car’s engine, with a power tool for every step and a hand tool for every part you need to work on. Effective builders have a “franchise system”—the proven best way to do things that minimizes mistakes and maximizes results per hour spent.
The process begins with one crucial step: Find out what matters to your best customers, then build hundreds of Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) around those components and list them explicitly in your marketing materials.
Most banks focus on what they should do. That’s a good thing. But too few seriously evaluate what they are currently doing that has to stop. Awareness of the common characteristics of low-performing banks can keep you from falling victim to any of these practices before you join the group.
Let’s start with the first four: