For Small Business Success: Singles, Not Home Runs
Everyone knows who hit the most home runs in a single season … kind of. Depending on your age and the purity of your baseball life, the established home run…
Finding Trust
It comes as no surprise that banks are battling with a trust issue. However, the problem turns out to be bigger and more complex that many think. Banks need to…
What About Community Banks?
Many analysts are predicting that the pace at which community banks disappear will increase. We are already down to less than 7,000 banks from 12,000 not that long ago. While…
Why Banks Still Don’t Like Small Businesses
In this hyper-regulated and politically correct world, banks will not admit that, for many, in their core they dislike banking small businesses. We would not include all banks in this…
No Implementation Plan? Don’t Bother
Facing limited areas for growth and increased competitive concerns, more banks are reviewing and revising their strategic plans. For many, their focus centers on providing increased direction concerning priority market…
Growth is Easy
In recent weeks, many articles as well as multiple conversations with bankers have centered on the difficulty of achieving revenue and profit growth. Yes, the economy is still slow and,…
2014: The Year Big Data Becomes the Secret Sauce in Commercial Banking
Her, one of the current holiday movies, recounts the story of a man, one among many in a period about 10-20 years in the future, who falls in love with…
More on Growth
Last time, I wrote about the critical importance of revenue growth in a newsletter titled, “It’s All About Growth.” Given some reader comments, I want to follow-up on three areas…
It’s All about Growth
When I think about the key theme that cuts across our various advisory engagements, the desire for growth and the difficulty of achieving it prevails over all others. The impediments…
Lessons about Banking and America from Three Conferences
The fall conference schedule has just ended for me. This year I spoke to three financial services groups with distinctly different audiences and to some degree interests. Both some of…