The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military document attributed to Sun Tzu a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. It is composed of 13 chapters, each devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time.
These writings have helped countless military leaders win land, riches and infamy … and in a wonderful twist of irony, we will focus on how it can help you win your customer’s hearts.
Over the next several blogs, we will break down each chapter. The brief summaries of each chapter are from Wikipedia, but the marketing commentary is all MarketMatch!
1. The Calculations explores the fundamental factors that determine the outcomes of military engagements. By thinking, assessing and comparing these points, a commander can calculate his chances of victory. Habitual deviation from these calculations will ensure failure via improper action.
When creating an annual plan or a campaign, calculations are vital. At MarketMatch, when we begin work with a new client (and periodically throughout the engagement), we look at several fundamental factors before putting pen to paper on a plan or Zenning-out in creative meetings. Every tactical element should be based in strategy and your strategy should be knowledge-based.
- Financials:You can learn a lot from looking at your financials. Review the last 2 years. How are you trending in deposit growth? Loan growth? Checking? Customer/Member growth? Where are your deposits and loans coming from? Does all of this align with your business objectives?
- Market analysis: Market analysis goes way beyond basic market share. Compare market share growth with deposit growth in your branches. Keep in mind that you can see significant deposit growth that barely moves the market share needle because of the size of the total market. Beyond market share, who makes up your market? How’s the income? Job market? Have new employers entered or left? What are the average ages? Are there geographic “pockets” of key demographics? What do traffic patterns look like around your branches? Where does your key demographic hang out?
- Product suite: Take an honest, outsider’s survey or your products (quit for a few days if you have to). Are there any gaps between what you offer and market needs? Do you offer too many accounts? Is there real difference between each checking account? Can your staff clearly define that difference?!? Are you up-to-date on electronic account access? Where are you on price (you should not necessarily be the lowest or the highest)? How does your product suite compare with the competition?
- Communication audit: As objectively as possible, take a look at all of your customer touch points. Is there consistence of look, tone and message? Have you looked at your ATM screens lately? Do your brochures focus on benefits? How are your brochures displayed/distributed? Is your web site easy to navigate? Do you talk “to” customers or “at” them?
- Competitive analysis: One of the first things we typically do in a new engagement is secret shop our new clients and their key competition (see "Lessons from 100 Bank Experiences" for more info). How does your sales/service culture compare? Where do you rank in “share of mind” or awareness? Who’s outpacing in growth and who’s declining? What are their key messages? Do they compete on access, price, products or service? Are they local or out of town? Overall you’re looking for a market need where you have a clear advantage over the competition. The key is differentiation.
2. The Challenge explains how to understand the economy of warfare, and how success requires winning decisive engagements quickly. This section advises that successful military campaigns require limiting the cost of competition and conflict.
This is where you get your budget! How does your marketing plan tie to the overall business plan? Clearly define your objective. Each objective should tie to a key financial measurement. If you grow your customer-base by 5%, how will that impact the bottom line? How will new checking accounts impact non-interest income? How will it effect loans?!? You should be able to estimate the financial impact that your plan will generate. Show anticipated ROI (see "What's The Big R.O.Idea" for more info). If your budget increases, your results should too. And if it decreases … what results do they want to eliminate?
3. The Plan of Attack defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and discusses the factors that are needed to succeed in any war.
The key here is UNITY!
- Unity in branches. Your “main” branch should not feel special. The branche furthest from your “main” branch should not feel left out.
- Unity in departments. Are your business units individual silos (see "Breaking Down the Silos" for more info)? Is there a process in place for business units to refer? Can retail staff talk about commercial products? Do they know what Wealth Management’s best prospects look like?
- Unity of message. Whether you have two branches or 20, the customer experience should be the same in each of them. From the call center, to the teller line, to new accounts, to loan closings, are your processes and expectations the same across the institution?
4. Positioning explains the importance of defending existing positions. It teaches the importance of recognizing strategic opportunities, and teaches not to create opportunities for the enemy.
Each market is different. It is important for the branches to have some flexibility in their local positioning. A marketing mantra of mine is to “give creative the freedom of a tight strategy,” but you can also give the branches the freedom of a tight brand! If your brand position is clearly defined, your branches should be able to operate under the brand umbrella while still focusing on what’s important in their unique market. By allowing branches certain autonomy, you can position your institution as THE local option against larger banks who seem impersonal under cold corporate mandates and create local opportunities.
There you have it ... how the first 4 chapters of The Art of War can help you take over the marketing world. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility. I trust that you won’t go all Napoleon on us with this information!
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We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.
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MarketMatch is a marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community. We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the right story that will generate the greatest MOMENTUM and prove the best RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.
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