We landed a $10 million loan, the biggest we’ve ever had! We’re focusing on our Top 100 and Top 1000 and we now know what they look like, smell like and feel like. It’s easier than ever to go after the people and companies that look just like our most profitable customers.
In the last three years, the ‘Blueprint’ has helped us have a breakthrough we never dreamed possible. Assets have grown 44%, loan growth is up 64%, net income has doubled, AND we were ranked #2 by SNL for banks under $1 billion. Best of all, we were named the 2019 Extraordinary Bank of the Year™, and our clients are all thrilled to see what our bank in our small community has accomplished!
Since working with TEG our culture scores have improved and we’ve had tremendous success with commercial loans without having to change our rates.
Our loan growth was up $100 million in less than five months during the heart of a recession while we improved loan quality. Return on equity increased from 7.18% to 10.44% in a year. Net interest margin increased from 3.63 to 3.95% in a year.
The High Performance Executive Development Program was something I knew I wanted to complete as all the events/trainings I have attended through The Emmerich Group have been rock star. I have completed two of the sessions to date, and I have already implemented multiple learnings.
All three of our executive team members, including myself, are currently participating in the Executive Development program. The ability to attend sessions via web conference has been a huge time saver for us, while still allowing for interaction among the participants. What a great way to continue to develop the leadership capabilities of our young talent who are the future of our bank.
In just 18 months, we improved our ROA from 1.35 to 2.6 and our efficiency ratio from 73% to 56% – far exceeding the utopian goals we set. We never would have thought we could have come so far in so little time. And our people are on fire – we have the best culture we’ve ever had.
The High-Performance Bank Executive Program is like no other executive development program. It makes us examine ourselves inside-out and become a better version of ourselves.
We have been partners with TEG for 6 months and employee engagement has increased thanks to implementing morning huddles and bank wide celebrations. We really exceeded expectations on the impact to our culture.
Today, profits have increased 44% over last year! All this in a market with many tough competitors. All because we decided to change our culture.
One of the key phrases of our strategic plan is: “Do more with less.” We’ve done just that. That shows up in our culture scores, and it shows up in our productivity, based on the amount of assets under management per employee. And because we’re doing more with less, we have higher-paid people.
Thriving through challenges like those we face today is exactly why we have this long-term relationship. The Emmerich Group is all about culture, and they have helped us establish systems, processes, and people development so that we can differentiate BY our culture.
Since working with TEG, our culture scores have improved and we’ve had tremendous success.
We’ve always had a good culture but especially the last few years it’s been wonderful and people have wanted to come to work for us because they hear the good things we’re doing, and we have Roxanne and her approach to culture transformation to thank for that.
Hands down the best education for successful community bank strategy and learning how to differentiate your business.
For the first time in 25 years, we really have a strategic plan with a purpose and a roadmap.
[Strategic Planning] Think Tank allows you to get laser focus and walk away with clarity on what is going to be important for the bank moving forward the next several years. It allows you to walk away with a plan.
The process [taught during Strategic Planning Think Tank] removes barriers in the executive management team and empowers all of us to create strategy. The structure encourages us to stay on a path to design strategy.
The focus time dedicated to the strategic planning process is second to none. Having Roxanne and her team at your side for two days keeps the focus and keeps you out of the weeds.
Historically, the leadership team would spend months—plus two days together in-person—struggling over a 50+ page annual strategic plan. Once we finalized it, the board would approve it and everyone would put the doggone thing in a folder until the next strategic planning time the following summer. Today, it’s a one-pager. And we’re now a working, functioning leadership team that is very engaged in the strategic direction we are following. We know what to focus on. Now we hit every outcome on the plan.
Our focus on the sales process has led to growth in our core deposits, adding significant value to our organization in the long run. Twenty-six of our twenty-nine banks are in excess of their target levels.
Before we worked with The Emmerich Group, we had tried many consultants and training programs with little or no improvement. Within 30 days of our Kick-Butt Kick-Off®, we grew more than we had in the previous 10 years combined—35% annualized in 30 days! The growth of deposits and loans can only be described as a miracle and the profits were up 44%. Ongoing growth has soared from there. The systems keep taking us further.
Before Roxanne, we had lost direction. We knew we needed growth and a culture shift. Since joining The Emmerich Group, our deposits are up 22%, our customer satisfaction rating is 9.90 out of 10, and we are experiencing our most profitable year on record. This is the best investment we’ve ever made.
We set our goal to grow our core deposits by $1 million dollars a month, $12 million for the year, and through the first quarter of 2015 we are up $7 million. We believe what we are doing with The Emmerich Group is making a difference!
Since 2015, we have gone from $6.2 million to over $8.18 million in assets per employee. Our profitability has gone up from about $357,000 in the first half of 2015 to $1.1 million in the first half of 2018. Core deposits are up from $182 million to $263 million and assets have increased from $256 million to $422 million. Our non-interest-bearing deposits grew 34% in 2015, 36.8% in 2016, and 26% in 2017. This has exceeded even our lofty expectations!
We’ve worked with The Emmerich Group for a little over a year now. In the past, we had tried implementing a sales program and didn’t get the results we wanted. Now, we’re taking the approach of identifying what the customer needs and then providing that to them. And, we see that as something of service to our customers, and the customers appreciate that approach. A year ago, we averaged 2.7 cross-sales per new account. Now we expect to finish out the current month averaging just under 7 – more than double… in a year!
For a team that didn’t ever think about sales before a year and a half ago, that’s wonderful. We’ve hit a 6.7 average for cross-sales for our whole team and have had individuals as high as 12!
When we started with The Emmerich Group, cross-sales were in the 2s, and now we’re in excess of 5 on average across the company, with some banks well in excess of 7.
