Today’s rising interest-rate environment is a popular topic of conversation at corporate conference tables — as well as family kitchen tables – across America. Investors, financial advisors, stock brokers, securities traders, bond portfolio managers, and consumers alike have a stake in understanding the implications of the higher interest rates we’ve seen in the last three years—and in anticipating future rate … Read More
A Proven Deposit Growth Strategy for Your Community Financial Institution
By Grant Ossenkop, Vice President Does your financial institution have a viable deposit growth strategy? Why You Need a Deposit Growth Strategy During the financial crisis, when institutional survival was top of mind at banks and credit unions throughout the nation, this question received far less attention. Interest rates hovered at historic lows, core deposits were dormant and the lending … Read More
Pop the Hood: A Customer Service Checklist
By Bill Etmund Your car seems to be running just fine. No menacing dashboard lights are blinking at you. But since you’re a wise car owner, you occasionally drive your vehicle in for a maintenance checkup. You have the brakes checked, the cooling system examined, etc. You depend on your car, and you know that the consequences of neglect can … Read More
The Mortician’s Guide to Retail Banking
By Dr. Sean Payant Community bankers face many challenges; intense deposit and credit competition, changing demographics, complicated technology and regulatory obligations, to name just a few. One of the most daunting challenges, however, is one that is often overlooked: conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is our adherence to accepted norms and common practices. On the surface, it appears to promise safe, … Read More
Winning People Over
The slightest advantages can make a difference in convincing people you are right for them. Are you doing all you can to win prospects over? By Scott Friesen What is it like to become a new customer or member at a financial institution? One of the key elements of our Haberfeld Customer Acquisition and Growth™ strategy is to measure just … Read More
A place everyone wants to be
By Dann Nelson There is a place where everyone is concerned more about the well-being of those they serve and work with than they are concerned about themselves. In that place, each person knows others have their best interest in mind. When that happens, an emotional connection is made. We’re talking about employee engagement, and the result is an environment … Read More
A former teller tells all
By Stephanie Kubert As a part of the Haberfeld consulting team, who began my financial services career as a teller, I love seeing so many tellers transform professionally once our program has successfully become part of their culture. “Back in the day,” when I was a teller, tellers were not often included in the communication loop in regard to bank goals … Read More
3 Myths Keeping Your Institution from Becoming a Sales Culture
By Jenifer Snook Community banks and credit unions are facing tougher competition every day. Pair that with many financial institutions losing important NSF fee revenue and it is more important than ever to make sure each and every customer is profitable. There are two ways to increase sales: gain new customers and sell new products to existing customers. Community banks … Read More
The importance of self awareness
By Matt Swanson “If reality TV has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t keep people with no shame down.” Liz Lemon, 30 Rock Self-awareness has been broadly defined as, “knowledge and awareness of one’s own personality or character”. Self-awareness of the areas in our personality or character that need to be adjusted or fine-tuned is what I’m concerned about. … Read More
How do you define community based?
By Rachael Houghton We are a community based financial institution. That term is said often in many of our financial institutions – when we answer our phones or someone opens a new account with us. But, are we, at the frontline, really putting confidence and belief behind it? Or, is it just something we are scripted to say? We know … Read More
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