Pub. 6 2011-2012 Issue 5

www.nebankers.org 20 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. 1. Thou shalt never see marketing as a department. Marketing is a mindset and everybody, everybody, every- body in your organization must own this mindset. Every employee must understand why people should come to you and not your competitors and which customers and prospects you are targeting. Every function, from how the receptionist answers the phone to how the back of- fice handles a customer that just had an overdraft, must know that every customer contact is an opportunity to expand and solidify the relationship—and each function must know how. 2. Thou shalt differentiate. There is no reason for a customer to pay you any pricing but the lowest UNLESS there is a good reason to pay you more. And there must be a reason. If there’s no story to tell, there’s no reason to come to your party—and there certainly isn’t any reason to pay up. Every product must have a unique selling proposition that spells out its dra- matic difference defined as an overt benefit and said in such a way that it compels prospective customers to turn away from your competition’s alternatives. 3. Thou shalt not cut marketing investments during a tough year. McGraw-Hill researched 600 companies’ marketing spending patterns from 1980 to 1985. McGraw observed that companies that maintained their marketing investing during the 1981 to 1982 recession boasted an average sales increase of 275 percent over the next five years. Those companies that cut their advertising saw paltry sales growth over the next five years of just 19 percent. As my economics professor repeated incessantly, “Always invest your most important dollars in marketing first.” 4. Thou shalt understand that marketing is NOT advertising. The best return on your marketing dollars comes from investing in your employees’ learning and then incentives followed by investing inmarketing to your best customers. Prospecting high-potential customers follows. Advertis- ing to the masses offers the worst return on investment. 5. Thou shalt be a giver—not a taker. Your relationship with customers, prospects, and centers of influence should be based on giving. They should hear fromyou every 90 days—lest they forget you and acquaint themselves with your competition. No, sending a state- ment DOES NOT count. Informational mailings like a “Top 10 Tips for Preparing for the Tax Season” sheet and free tickets or coupons from one of your retail custom- ers are great ways to add value to the correspondence. As opposed to a “taker” approach—sending “buy me,” four-color, glossy brochures—that will create almost no response. Givers always get better results than takers. 6. Thou shalt love your top 100 list—and let them know it. While 80 percent of profits come from the top 20 percent of customers, whywouldn’t you create a rock-solid “contact everymonth” plan for your top 100 prospects and custom- ers? Not onlywill those customers appreciate your constant information sharing, small gifts, and special invitations, they will buy more from you, “sneeze” about you to others, and become evangelistswith their friends. What betterway to bring in more high-potential accounts than to recruit your high-potential accounts to be on your “sales team”? 7. Thou shalt hire the best and free up the future of those who aren’t. It is far more important to hire those who have the right emotional intelligence than thosewho have the pedigree or credentials. This is theNo. 1 hiringmistake in the financial industry. With the ZERORISK Hiring System, a 15-min- ute online test reveals if a candidate is at high risk for the The 10 Commandments of Profitable Growth for 2012 Follow these tenets and your bank will find the “Path to the Promised Land.” Roxanne Emmerich , President & CEO, The Emmerich Group Inc.

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