Finding a Way...

As you may know, I am a HUGE Ohio State Buckeye fan and also a Bengals fan.  To many, the success of the Buckeyes is great...and the pain of the Bengals is tough to take.  Both, however, have had equal shares of triumph and heartbreak...but recently they have also Found A Way!

My message is about finding a way...finding a way to victory even when the times are tough, the competition seemingly insurmountable and the odds stacked against you.

The Buckeyes and the Bengals both came back from heartbreaking last second defeats from a week ago...both have been pinpointed by many awaiting an even bigger failure. However, they both circled the wagons, talked about the team spirit and rode the wave to victory...DESPITE the odds, the competition and the neysayers...they found a way!

The economy is tough for bankers right now...the budgets are slim for marketers and the demands of customers never bigger...but YOU CAN FIND A WAY to victory.  It just takes three words to be repeated as often as necessary.  This will sound VERY trite, but it is true and it works...ready?

The three words are...

YES I CAN!

Yes you can....

• Make an impact with the budget you have
• Overcome the competition
• Make it through the fall planning sessions
• Grow you loan base
• Positively impact your attrition rates...
• and MORE!

You can do it!!  We have faith in you....but you need to take the 1st step....Repeat after me...

YES I CAN...

If you need a daily re-affirmation...call me...I would be glad to help!  After all, a Bengal's fan is used to saying "tomorrow will be better!!"

Cheers!

Bruce

Making Marketing Matter

Greetings...

I trust that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday with the mandatory activities of overeating, taking a nap and shopping!

I thought I would kick-off December with a series of three blog posts that comprise a visual that we use quite often...we refer to it as the "Making Marketing Matter" graph. As you can see from the image, we believe that there are three separate and distinct components.

Let's start at the beginning...being unique!

Uniqueness is banking...almost sounds like an oxymoron...unless you are a marketer! We know that our bank or credit union is different...truly different. Not just by having "the best staff" but by tangible differences. Maybe it is a shorter loan processing time period, perhaps we hand deliver check orders, maybe our monthly statements come with a 48 hour delivery guarantee. Whatever the tangible differences are we know them, right? Well, if you said yes, proceed forward! If you answered, well?? Then you need to take an honest assessment of your institution, your staff, your products, your competitive marketplace, and refine and define your true differences.

Uniqueness, in our thought, has to have an edge to it. Have a definable characteristic, be measurable. The uniqueness also has to be true to your organization. One that truly is reflective of "who" you are and "what" you deliver, all balanced against the reality of can you do it repeatedly and consistently! We believe these are two fundamental variables that many people undervalue. Consistency and repeatability define a brand and also then define the organization and its people. As you know, it is also the other way around...the organization and its people define it consistency and repeatability!

Your challenge...find your uniqueness, quantify it, ensure it is consistent and repeatable and then get EVERYONE on board to understand what it is and why it matters!

Being unique is one thing...making sure that uniqueness has value in the eye of the customer is something else. That is relevance...we will get to that one is my next post!

Cheers!

Bruce Clapp