Publications & Resources

June/July 2007
Focus: Leadership

Strategic Leadership for Long-term Change

By Paul Williams

Today’s banking environment seems to change by the minute. Advances in technology, regulatory changes and a more sophisticated customer base all pose challenges. Further, increasing competition from alternative financing sources provides customers with many options and complicates the race to the marketplace. As a result, community banks must be prepared for continual change.

However, the race to the market isn’t won with quick-fix campaigns. Too often the hard sell of cultural change and long-term thinking reduces marketing efforts and strategic initiatives to their lowest common denominator. And with so many initiatives, priorities and third party imposed projects it is little wonder that change and adaptability for the long-term are met with resistance.

However, the solutions exist that will enable community banks to succeed and thrive. The right combination of conventional wisdom, new trends and good old fashioned listening to your customer will set your bank on a course for long-term success. In the face of all this change, the right kind of leadership and vision is essential.

In the mid 1990s, a western regional bank was looking to increase its market share and enhance its retention efforts. After considering research and a quick sales and marketing campaign, they decided they wanted something more. They not only wanted near term results, they wanted a long-term shift in thinking.

In the end, their results were overwhelming. The bank shifted from a quick-fix mindset to a methodical, long-term initiative that was tied to the core mission and loaded with staying power. Its success was driven by four pervading philosophies - it was driven from the top, it started with the basics, it stayed true to existing values and strategic plans and it focused on the long-term. They realized too much was at stake to be shortsighted. More importantly, they understood that without the right leadership and vision the patience and buy in necessary for long-term success could not last.

While examples such as this are numerous, effective results need not be elusive. Long-term change can be achieved by following eight steps that, when done correctly, bring about the desired solution.

  1. Listen, create and prepare to deliver. The best plan begins by finding out what your customers want, what the marketplace needs and what your employees know. Listen, decide what you want, create accordingly and over deliver. Nothing builds loyalty more than exceeding expectations.

  2. Create your plan and utilize your research to implement it. Ensure alignment in all directions by coordinating with your long-term strategic plan, values and mission. This will help test the lasting power of your vision.

  3. Drive it from the top down. As you move through the organization, seek input and get buy in all the way through. Remember, you’re creating a culture. You need everyone to own it.

  4. Check your alignment. Make sure that job descriptions, management processes, systems and incentive plans align with your new objectives. You don’t want to trip at the starting gate.

  5. Build the infrastructure. Ensure that the right technology, collateral tools and training programs are in place to give your team the tools necessary to succeed.

  6. Train and communicate. Be clear in your vision and give them the desire for success. Tie it to performance, empower them and hold them accountable and you’ll be like the leader who said, “There go my people; I better go catch up with them.”

  7. Kick it off with a splash. Nothing creates excitement like a short-term program with incentives and fanfare. Create a promotional plan to make sure your market is anticipating and looking for the new you.

  8. Evaluate and track. Continual evaluation and program tracking allows you to build as you go, celebrate your successes and meet ever changing market demands. This step will ingrain the initiative into your culture.

One year and hours of planning later, the bank surpassed its own expectations. Customer retention, cross sales and business development all experienced significant increases. Equally important, the practices of the initiative became part of the bank’s culture. Long-term strategic planning combined with research, organizational alignment and specific initiatives created a culture of quality service and delivery resulting in revenue growth and enhanced customer loyalty.

These proven core values, when put into practice, will set an organization apart and allow it to soar. More importantly, they can become part of a bank’s culture making it easy for employees to adapt to and embrace the dynamics of change while holding to the bank’s mission.

Paul Williams is the director of marketing for BMA Corporation in Salt Lake City . He can be reached at 801-887-0108 or pdwilliams@bmacorp.com.

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