WHAT IS YOUR BANK DOING TO MAKE A BETTER 2011?

The Headache: Well, for many of us, 2010 was a banking year to forget; at best, to learn from. Ouch!

Our Question: What is your bank going to do in 2011 to improve results? 

Come see what other bankers think, and add your own views

 

Rx for 2011: What are you doing to make 2011 a better year?

For some banks, 2010 was a year of learning, for others, a year to forget. And some had good years after all.

But 2011 is about to arrive. What is your bank going to do to improve things? Tell us about your plans—cost cutting, new services, staffing ideas, new business structure, anything at all other bankers can try too. 		 

Let's hear your views and ideas below! (Editorial Note: Contributions to Pass the Aspirin may also appear in our print edition. While we will ask for your e-mail address, this is only as an aid to verifying identity and will not be used for any marketing or promotional purpose. The e-mail address will not be published.) 

To suggest new topics for Pass the Aspirin both in print and in this blog, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Blair Hillyer, chairman, president, and CEO, First National Bank, Dennison, Ohio said:

For 2011 we are seriously looking at cutting costs by eliminating the bank's portion of our 401k match; reducing donations, sponsorships, and advertising expenses; negotiating better deals with vendors on renewing contracts; and reducing overtime expense?primarily on the teller line and with our part-time help. On the income side, we expect to raise loan fees and rates, eliminate free checking, reduce waivers on loan and deposit products, and increase commercial loan late charges.
 
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December 17, 2010
Votes: +1

George R. Marx: Chairman, President, and CEO, Copiah Bank, Hazlehurst, Miss. said:

We expect 2011 to improve over 2010, but we still see challenges and opportunities. Our 2010 profits exceeded 2009 profits, but I am still taking proactive steps for 2011. For the first time in many years, we will not have salary increases. Also, I am changing some formulas and formats on officer incentives which will take negatives such as ORE losses, bad debt losses, and overdraft losses and deduct a percentage of them from incentive pay earned. In general we will try to hold the line on all expense categories as best we can, and we will cut discretionary items by 5-10%.
 
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December 22, 2010
Votes: +1

John Lehman, president and CEO, First National Bank of Girard, Kansas said:

Now, perhaps more than ever, is a time to concentrate on the basic fundamentals of sound banking. It only takes a few small gains to make a significant improvement to the bottom line. As it does not appear our current economic challenges will end anytime soon, we will continue to devote considerable effort to problem account identification and management. By being objective yet flexible and creative, we have been able to assist many customers return to better financial status. Long term, nothing benefits our bank more than successful customers.
 
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December 23, 2010
Votes: +5

John H. Watt, Executive Vice President, Alliance Bank, N.A., Syracuse, N.Y. said:

In 2011, we?ll launch ?Personal E-Suite.? It's a dynamic, holistic, electronic, interactive relationship with the bank. It?ll encompass personal financial management, online banking, billpay, an electronically based rewards program attuned to the customer's buying habits, mobile banking, and person-to-person payments that are as easy as texting. All this will be accessible through a function-based website that is a 24/7 portal to banking service and customer assistance.
 
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December 23, 2010
Votes: +2

Leonel Castillo, president and CEO, AmBank, Provo, Utah said:

Improving asset quality and earnings is the focus in 2011, objectives typical of our market environment. In 2010, employees knew our strategic focus; however, not all were aware of how their daily actions impacted our objectives. In 2011, each employee will better understand how their personal activities will directly impact an asset quality and earnings improvement. We expect that with greater emphasis on the details, the big picture result will be easier to achieve.
We broadened the number of individuals involved in the planning process. In prior years senior management developed annual plans. Now all managers are involved in the current bank planning process. The vital objective for all employees is performance benchmarks directly related to asset quality and earnings.
Staff is currently involved in establishing individual benchmarks. Each manager is developing performance benchmarks for their specific area of responsibility. Each benchmark will have a direct correlation between measurement and impact on asset quality and earnings. Critical measurement will tie to a direct improvement of asset quality and earnings. Benchmarks in development are ambitious; encourage a higher level of performance; and promote greater accountability from all.
To effectively disseminate information throughout our organization chart, we held communication and team building training. Training involved all staff in varying combinations of individuals. This exercise is improving communication skills and developing greater confidence in each other. Challenging benchmarks are more achievable with better interpersonal skills, particularly the healthy recognition of personal strengths and weaknesses.
Our marketing department (a half-time person), is developing an internal promotional campaign tied to the accomplishment of our objectives. This action will generate momentum and maintain focus through the year. In January, we will have a kickoff event for 2011 promotional calendar events. Events will be coordinated with benchmark objectives. Quarterly celebration and recognition events will celebrate successes, prompt midcourse adjustments, and maintain program enthusiasm.
The arrangement of broader involvement, improved personal skills, challenging objectives, and planned recognition events combine to produce a successful big picture result while recognizing staff for a job well done. Most importantly, all employees feel personal ownership for bank performance.

 
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December 24, 2010
Votes: +2

Jim Marous said:

As I travel across the country visiting banks of all sizes, it is clear that bankers want to address the significant non-interest income defficit they start the new year with. This effort needs to be multi-pronged, including a review of basic product profitability and potential repricing and repositioning, an increased emphasis on customer engagement (onboarding) and customer needs fulfillment (cross-selling), continued channel migration to less expensive channels, introduction off ancillary products such as PFM and fraud/identity protection, an enhanced customer experience, and most of all, employee participation in the achievement of these goals.

Underlying all off these significant initiatives needs to be a focus on displying a knowledge of the customer, protecting the customer's financial interests and rewarding the customer for continued loyalty.

 
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January 17, 2011
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