Working with community banks across the country, we understand that now is an important time to have the right people in the right place, asking the right questions, to address the flow of deposits. In this high interest rate environment, consumers are moving excess amounts from checking accounts to higher yielding CDs and alternative products. This presents problems and opportunities for every bank. Client retention as well as new customer acquisition are the focus. In fact, according to BAI Banking Outlook: 2024 Trends, “the No. 1 business challenge for bankers will be growing their deposits. BAI’s forecast for financial services organizations’ deposit growth in the year ahead is negative, with a forecasted 2.4% decline in deposits. “
With today’s current interest rate environment, inflation and intense competition, many banks are struggling with a flat or declining deposit forecast. There has never been a more critical time for setting the strategy, implementing a plan and leading the charge for deposit growth. Here are 3 steps your bank can implement that are working for community banks across the country to drive growth.
- Set the Strategy: Leadership must be clear as to the best strategies to drive growth and communicate those clearly, train around the strategy and monitor results. Several current growth strategies include focusing your people on deposit rich industries and creating teams of expertise for serving those clients. Small and mid-size businesses are looking for experts and advice in their industry so this is a long-term focus. Another strategy involves the much needed “financial wellness” advantage that banks inherently have but do not often leverage.
Recent studies indicate that less than 40% of consumers think they are on track to meet financial goals. Your people must be trained on how to navigate from a transactional event to a broader exploratory conversation.
A third strategy to consider is better utilizing the power of rewards checking programs. Having well trained frontline personnel ready to effectively communicate the benefits to adding additional accounts to receive benefits can be a game changer. In fact, one recent study validated that there is a direct correlation between the success of a rewards-checking program and the level of employee engagement. Setting the strategy is crucial to leading the charge for customer acquisition and driving deposit growth. - Implement the Plan: Keeping the plan simple and visible are two keys to its’ success. Implementing a Success Formula by region, branch, and individual like the sample below is one way to clearly establish the goals and gain the engagement from the branch CSR, as they help establish the activity goals.
The Success Formula helps the individual and the bank understand where the problem areas are, such as not enough outreach or not enough appointments. By monitoring and updating the Success Formula, the branch manager can help coach their people for skill development, which of course is the long-term goal. Implementing a plan to establish goals and monitor success is key to achieving success with client acquisition and deposit growth.
- Leading the Charge: Often referred to as Shadow of the Leader, one impactful way to lead the charge is to engage and share how you, the leader will contribute to the growth goals. In most markets, bank execs are very connected to the community and have enormous opportunity to connect and drive new business and growth. Leading the charge should also be through holding Huddles with your teams focusing on specific, established burning platform metrics. Everyone attends the weekly huddle, reports on activity, no excuses. It is a great way to keep the focus on this important initiative and can create a team friendly and competitive environment.
The most important component in leading is the ability to not accept excuses. When faced with reasons why they cannot perform, consider asking your people this question; “If I did not allow you to use that as an excuse, what would you do differently?” You may well be surprised with what your people can do when they are forced to take responsibility for their activities and goal attainment.
