I believe that everyone wants to feel special and be treated uniquely according to the specific needs and wants. And when it comes to sales, some prospects are more special than others.

Research shows that for banks up to 2 billion in asset size, that their top 100 most profitable customers account for between 50 to 120% of their profit. 

In this episode, I’m going to show you how to find another 100 just like them so that you can double profits without adding more people or expense, and build a plan to get all the most profitable customers out there, by making them feel like you exist JUST for them.

If you’re the kind of leader who:

• Who finds that banking just feels too hard lately with all the competitors making desperate moves on top of the regulations and hoops to jump through, you’re going to love our strategies for making banking easier and more fun.
• Who has a team that just keeps doing what they did 10, 20, even 30 years ago to get customers…you’re going to love our system for getting them on a new track to attract the best quality prospects who are ready to pay premium prices.
• Who is already attracting great customers at premium pricing, you’re going to love our strategy to create even more traction in that area, so you could have an over-the-moon profit impact.

Here’s the problem:

Most banks still measure how many new accounts they opened each month as if it matters. 

Consider that 87% of those accounts lose money from day one going forward. Your people don’t know what they should be measuring instead that DOES drive profit. 

Most people who are strategic planning “experts” lack the marketing abilities to define the psychographics and firmographics of the most profitable customers. 

They certainly can’t help you find the list or create a strategic system that works to attract them. Instead they tell you the numbers you should hit without any real strategies to take that beyond a pipe dream, which misses the point of effective strategic planning.

Or perhaps your people have a “busy” problem. Busy is a four letter word, in my book. 

They work hard. But very few understand that opening 100 random new accounts doesn’t matter when alternatively they MUST open the two that will bring a lifetime of substantial profit to the bank. 

EVERY bank CEO is complaining about how they can’t seem to break their team out of these “busy over profit” ruts that keeps everyone exhausted while losing huge opportunities.

Four Steps to Change All of That—Within a Few Short Weeks

Step 1: Find your next Top 100

UNLIKE so many strategic plans that do the SWOT, mission, vision, and values but never create tangible and real strategies to lift the organization to a new level of performance… you need a plan where everything and everybody is aligned to how EXACTLY you will get the next 100 best and most profitable customers fast while never having them bring up price.

Step 2: Clear strategy, not hazy ideas

Throw out the fuzzy goals in most plans that sound something like: “do sales training,” “rebrand the bank,” or “buy a sales CRM.” Those are projects—not strategies—and they don’t belong on a strategic plan. 

Instead, you need your strategies to align with HOW will you be the undeniable best option for the elite few who will pay all of your bills—those few who bring the privilege of affordable banking to the masses by being part of the 100 top customers who create your profit.

Step 3: Change your team’s mindset

Create an understanding among your people that they need to put the oxygen mask on themselves first. By this, I mean the best way to help the poor is not to become one of them. Your income will match the abundance or scarcity of the markets you target. 

Step 4: Change your team’s behaviors

This is the biggie. Get your team to concentrate on doing the few things that matter, and doing them so well that you can see the needle move every week on how many of the top 100 most desirable prospects you have secured…AND at premium price. 

THAT is the new game of banking. Those who don’t understand will fall at the feet of those who master it. 

Let’s make sure we’re all clear on what to do now:

1) Focus your plan on the top 100. 

2) Create specific, actionable strategies to GET all the top 100 from the key target markets.

3) Change the mindset of your people to focus effective strategies on the few that create profit.

4) Change the behaviors of your people to get those top 100 – ALL of them—at premium pricing.

By following these steps, YOU get peace of mind from a predictable success machine instead of feeling like a yo-yo being yanked around by the economy or competition. 

Make sure to catch next week’s session on intentional congruence. It’s about getting all of the pieces of your strategic plan fully aligned so that you can move the right needles fast with the least amount of resources…and that makes your life a whole lot easier.

To your continued success,
Roxanne Emmerich

P.S. Want to discover more about how to play the NEW game of banking? Download my newly updated special report. It’s completely complementary and will show you how to not just play the new game, but win.

P.P.S. This is part 3 of a 5-part series on strategic planning. Missed part 1 or part 2?