How to Turn Your Financial Institution Into a Commitment Engine
by Mark Arnold
One of the best business books I’ve read in the past several years is The Referral Engine by John Jantsch. If you haven’t had a chance to read the book or my post about it, make sure you check it out.
Jantsch has followed his best seller about how to get consumers to refer your business with an equally compelling read: The Commitment Engine. His new book focuses not just on getting more referrals but getting more commitments. For credit unions or banks struggling with member and customer retention this is a critical issue. The Commitment Engine is full of nuggets financial institution executives can glean.
Below are some of the key points Jantsch makes and how we can apply them.
(1) Focus on clarity, culture and community. Jantsch believes all business success is boiled into three words: clarity, culture and community. By clarity, he means the one thing your business does better than anyone else. By culture he means “who you are” (and he notes that every business has a culture). By community, he means more than just your customer: community refers to employees, mentors, vendors and even competitors.
- Application: At your next management team meeting discuss “what is the one thing we do better than any other financial institution in our market.” If you don’t have an answer, begin working on your strategy to develop one.
Discussion