WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.719 Welcome everyone. We'll give it a minute here before we 00:00:04.720 --> 00:00:08.399 get started. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:14.079 So hello everyone and welcome to our session today. 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:20.879 My name is Jennifer Vitale and I'm from RelPro. Relpro partners with credit 00:00:20.880 --> 00:00:26.719 unions and banks of all asset sizes as a sales intelligence and prospecting 00:00:26.720 --> 00:00:30.719 solution. Today we will be discussing how credit 00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:37.839 unions are redefining business services. As credit unions expand into business 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:42.319 banking, the opportunity to capture commercial relationships has never been 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:48.639 greater. In this webinar, two seasoned leaders joined with me today who have 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:53.439 successfully launched and scaled business banking programs at credit 00:00:53.440 --> 00:00:59.919 unions share how they've combined community trust with data-driven insights 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:05.759 to drive growth, discover how to uncover new opportunities, strengthen 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:11.359 relationships, and compete more effectively in today's market. 00:01:11.360 --> 00:01:15.679 We specifically are addressing credit unions who are kicking off business 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:21.279 services or simply looking to drive commercial growth at their organization. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:26.719 This webinar can benefit anyone from a relationship manager to an individual 00:01:26.720 --> 00:01:31.999 building and leading a business banking segment at their organization. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.279 Today I am joined with Phil Sutliff, head of business and commercial banking 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:42.239 at Langley Federal Credit Union and a consultant to credit unions, and 00:01:42.240 --> 00:01:48.078 Michelle Dahl, a sales enablement leader at First United Bank and founder of 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:53.679 Northbridge Performance Group, both of whom I have had the pleasure of working 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:59.118 with as long-term clients of RelPro. To start off the introductions, Phil, 00:01:59.119 --> 00:02:02.158 I'd love if you'd like to share a little bit more about your background to the 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:07.039 audience. Sure. Thank you, Jenni. And yeah, let 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:11.759 me start by saying thank you to everyone for joining today. It's 00:02:11.760 --> 00:02:15.839 your lunch hour on a Wednesday. That's valuable real estate on your Outlook 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:19.039 calendars. And we don't take that lightly. We're honored and we're 00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:23.519 going to do our best to give you a good return on that time investment. So I 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.598 started my career with the traditional banking space primarily with Bank of 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:33.439 America and Santander Bank and I like to think I earned my stripes there but 00:02:33.440 --> 00:02:37.119 really more than sort of climbing the ranks for me it was about the great 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:41.518 leadership and the great mentors that I had the opportunity to work with and 00:02:41.519 --> 00:02:46.399 also the ability to see banking from multiple different perspectives. So 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:52.479 whether that was retail, consumer lending, wealth, small business, 00:02:52.480 --> 00:02:57.359 commercial, seeing how everything sort of works together 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:03.279 gave me an opportunity to lean in and find a niche in really identifying 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:08.238 and accelerating the synergies between retail banking and small business. What 00:03:08.239 --> 00:03:13.598 I found is that’s easier said than done, but if you do it and you get it right, 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:17.919 you have unlimited growth potential and it really identifies a gap in serving 00:03:17.920 --> 00:03:23.999 Main Street. Once I sort of got this plan and started to see success, I 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.158 had the opportunity to jump over to the credit union space where I could be a 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:32.399 little bit more hands-on and test out the theory from scratch. When I say from 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:36.479 scratch, I mean building programs on whiteboards, post-it notes, and the back 00:03:36.480 --> 00:03:41.359 of napkins in competitive markets during competitive times to see did this really 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:46.798 work. And we learned a lot of things the black and blue way. But 00:03:46.799 --> 00:03:52.798 ultimately developed a playbook to address the gap in serving Main Street 00:03:52.799 --> 00:03:56.559 and that's been designed specifically for credit unions. And over the course 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:00.479 of the last few years, whether working with credit unions from the $1 billion 00:04:00.480 --> 00:04:05.199 and under space to above $10 billion, both on staff and as a consultant, I've 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:09.919 had the opportunity working with great people to build some of the top 00:04:09.920 --> 00:04:13.279 recognized and ranked programs across the nation. And I hope to share those 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:18.319 secrets with you today. Great. We're so happy to have you here, 00:04:18.320 --> 00:04:23.039 Phil. Michelle, I'd love for you to share some of your background as well. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:27.999 Hi, Jenni. Thank you very much. It's so wonderful to be with all of you today. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.638 A little bit about me. You know, my work over the last 15 years really sets 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:39.039 at the intersection of strategy and execution. So, I spend most of my time 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:44.799 helping teams turn the strategies actually into consistent performance 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:51.198 that can enhance what you have working across your organization with different 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:56.959 lines of business. Like Phil, I started in the larger bank space. 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:02.239 So I was at JP Morgan for 10 years. I spent three years in strategy at Walmart 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:07.918 financial services and then the last 15 years have been in the credit union and 00:05:07.919 --> 00:05:13.439 community bank space. So I've had an opportunity to build and develop amazing 00:05:13.440 --> 00:05:17.839 teams, multiple lines of business, whether that's in wealth, business 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:23.839 banking, commercial, um and retail. So, a lot of different experiences and I'm 00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:30.399 excited to be here to share some insight to help you start moving forward with 00:05:30.400 --> 00:05:34.478 some things you're trying to consider about your organization and much 00:05:34.479 --> 00:05:37.679 better ways to support your community. So, Jenni, thanks for having me. I'm 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.239 glad to be here. Of course. Thank you both for joining us 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.879 and it's super interesting hearing about both of your backgrounds pivoting from 00:05:46.880 --> 00:05:52.319 the big banking space to the credit union space and then consulting. 00:05:52.320 --> 00:05:57.918 As a brief introduction to myself and my role here at RelPro, I've 00:05:57.919 --> 00:06:02.879 been with RelPro for about 5 years. I'm a manager of customer success here 00:06:02.880 --> 00:06:08.879 at RelPro. So what my role is and what my team's role is on the customer 00:06:08.880 --> 00:06:15.198 success side is to support lenders, market executives, sales enablement 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.839 professionals in elevating their business development and client 00:06:19.840 --> 00:06:24.159 retention by leveraging RelPro. So I'm really here 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:29.279 to serve as well. And I'm going to speak to how RelPro partners with credit 00:06:29.280 --> 00:06:36.318 unions on any stage of their business services journey. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:43.519 So, for a quick agenda into today's call, we're going to be opening up a 00:06:43.520 --> 00:06:49.999 poll here for the audience. And what you'll be seeing in that poll 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:55.279 is we're going to ask and get an idea of where your organization is at in terms 00:06:55.280 --> 00:07:01.038 of their business services journey. So if you're business services experts 00:07:01.039 --> 00:07:06.638 and you just want some information on how maybe to grow commercially or maybe 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:10.719 you're just getting started or maybe you haven't even started yet. So feel free 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:16.318 to plug in your answer here and then we'll be talking about all of these 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:22.478 different parts of business services regardless of where you are at in that 00:07:22.479 --> 00:07:29.679 journey within the Q&A and panelist section of this webinar. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:35.679 So feel free to answer that poll and I'll be pulling up the results here in a 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:43.839 minute before we get started. 00:07:43.840 --> 00:07:50.399 And during this webinar, we will be having the Q& A portion starting in a 00:07:50.400 --> 00:07:54.878 minute here. Then we'll open it up to the audience for questions and answers. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:01.439 So, within our poll, it looks like over 50% have already started 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:07.839 business services. And then I'd say the second majority is they're just 00:08:07.840 --> 00:08:12.478 getting started in their business services journey. And then the minority 00:08:12.479 --> 00:08:17.198 is someone who doesn't have a plan for business services. So what's nice is 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:23.679 we're going to speak to every leg of this journey. And I'd love to kick it 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:31.359 off to you, Phil, and get an idea of from your perspective, what impact has 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:37.199 policy changes had on credit unions, and why do you see now such a pivotal time 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:41.278 for credit unions to start serving businesses? 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.999 Yeah, that's a great place to start, Jenni, and thank you for that 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:52.398 question. So up until 2017, credit unions had the ability to sort of 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:57.039 play in what was called the member business lending space. But it was 00:08:57.040 --> 00:09:02.719 through very narrow rules. There were explicit restrictions around, for 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:10.319 Example, loan structures or covenants, personal guarantees, size of loan. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:17.119 That changed in 2017 with MBL rule 723 which took that 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:21.999 narrow box and expanded it and really gave control back to the 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:26.559 credit unions to develop their own lending policies if you will around 00:09:26.560 --> 00:09:30.958 commercial banking. And I like to think that really what it did is it made it 00:09:30.959 --> 00:09:36.559 possible for credit unions to compete in the business banking space whereas they 00:09:36.560 --> 00:09:42.879 were very limited prior to that. Now, that was an interesting time to go 00:09:42.880 --> 00:09:46.879 and jump into business banking uh without the background that a lot of 00:09:46.880 --> 00:09:52.479 the banks have you'd be competing with. It takes a few years to get going. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.999 Typically, a credit union, right? You're going to have a a three-year to five-year 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.079 strategic plan. So, you've got to now get this on the on the road map and get 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:04.398 some tread on the tires so you can start moving in that direction. And we 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.719 all know what happened in 2020, right? We enter a pandemic era. So right 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:13.199 as you start going, you sort of have this this big change in the world and 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:17.838 and ultimately a new economy if you will. So we saw a lot of credit 00:10:17.839 --> 00:10:24.479 unions kind of start gearing up, pause and then restart the process as 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:31.119 that settled. And why it's a good time now to get into and really lean 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.679 into and accelerate around business banking is if you look at this new 00:10:35.680 --> 00:10:41.679 economy more than ever small and midsize business this is the engine of that 00:10:41.680 --> 00:10:46.639 economy. I mean, they employ our friends, our family members, our 00:10:46.640 --> 00:10:52.958 neighbors, right? Whether it's the local coffee shop that you go to meet with 00:10:52.959 --> 00:10:56.719 old friends or make new ones, whether it's the neighborhood veterinarian that 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:02.559 keeps our furry friends safe. A small business community brings everybody 00:11:02.560 --> 00:11:07.359 together. And that's a story that we want to be part of. And I'll tell you, 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:11.679 as a credit union, if we can position ourselves through our advantage of being 00:11:11.680 --> 00:11:17.679 a nonprofit financial institution and we can really join forces with our Main 00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:23.039 Streets and we can develop partnerships to become their financial champion, we 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:27.278 get to be part of that growth story. Now more than ever, it's important because 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:31.919 study after study, white paper after white paper, indicate that anywhere from 00:11:31.920 --> 00:11:38.879 50 to 70% of small and midsize business owners are actively looking or open to 00:11:38.880 --> 00:11:44.239 changing financial institutions. So what that tells me is they feel underserved 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:49.759 and they feel undervalued. And our DNA as a credit union is what? People 00:11:49.760 --> 00:11:55.999 helping people. We were built for this. And it gives us the ability in our 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:01.039 purpose in our DNA to keep members at the center of every single business 00:12:01.040 --> 00:12:06.159 decision that we make every single day. What makes us different is that we don't 00:12:06.160 --> 00:12:09.999 make business decisions about shareholder gain. No, the most important 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.879 decision that you're going to make when you think about business banking, you 00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:16.559 think about Main Street, is how you treat your neighbors. And we should win 00:12:16.560 --> 00:12:21.039 every single day on that conversation. 00:12:21.040 --> 00:12:27.199 I think that's so important is the idea that your goal should be serving your 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:32.958 members and like you said aligning that to how you can serve Main Street when 00:12:32.959 --> 00:12:37.199 talking about pivoting into the business services space. I'd love to hear from 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:43.359 your perspective. What are some of the main kind of obstacles that you've 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:47.359 seen credit unions face? And what I'll even do is we'll throw up another 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:52.879 poll here and we'll get a perspective from the audience as well. So feel free 00:12:52.880 --> 00:12:58.719 to answer the poll here. We're going to talk about three different obstacles 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:03.838 that Phil will touch on now. We'll just get an idea of what your credit union 00:13:03.839 --> 00:13:15.838 has been facing and if any of these obstacles you've been trying to overcome 00:13:15.839 --> 00:13:21.359 and we'll give it another minute here, but Phil, from your perspective, what 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:25.999 are some of those key obstacles that you've seen credit unions are 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.078 facing? Yeah, absolutely, Jenni. So, I 00:13:30.079 --> 00:13:35.838 promised via LinkedIn that I would be real and raw and give you a behind the 00:13:35.839 --> 00:13:40.159 curtain view of some things. This is the first part of that. 00:13:40.160 --> 00:13:44.159 That's what we want. So, we're gonna get real and 00:13:44.160 --> 00:13:47.759 raw here. We'll call these the big three and the these are the 00:13:47.760 --> 00:13:52.159 three common obstacles that I've seen working again with credit unions across 00:13:52.160 --> 00:13:58.078 asset size and across different geographies. So the first is the 00:13:58.079 --> 00:14:03.599 low barrier of entry, right? So lowest barrier of entry and I see the results 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.999 here. I'll pause. All right. So we're on track here. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.759 This is good. So the lowest barrier of entry is not always going to be your 00:14:11.760 --> 00:14:16.078 best long-term strategy. Okay. What I mean by that is 00:14:16.079 --> 00:14:21.919 credit unions again up until 2017 are kind of dabbling in this space. And 00:14:21.920 --> 00:14:26.239 we're competing against banks that have been doing this for a very long time. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.159 And it's difficult to go from zero to 100 with all the challenges that take 00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:35.999 place right after 2017. And so a lot of times on paper, what seems like the 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.719 lowest barrier of entry is, hey, we do really well with residential lending. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:44.799 Why don't we just do commercial real estate? Kind of looks good. 00:14:44.800 --> 00:14:48.479 Makes sense. Passes the first blush test, if you will. Maybe you got 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.999 some folks in house and really how different could it be, right? So, hey, 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.559 let's start there. And I want to be clear, commercial real estate is an 00:14:56.560 --> 00:15:00.879 important part of a business banking program and strategy, but it should not 00:15:00.880 --> 00:15:05.039 be the center of your strategy, especially for a community focused 00:15:05.040 --> 00:15:09.999 financial institution. And here's why. When you go from residential to 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:15.919 commercial real estate, when you make that leap, you jump over those neighbors 00:15:15.920 --> 00:15:20.879 we just talked about. you jump over our main street, local, small, and mid-size 00:15:20.880 --> 00:15:26.719 businesses. And listen, the temptation's real, okay? Because very quickly, you 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.999 may see a $5 million commercial real estate deal, $10 million commercial real 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.198 estate deal come your way, and that looks really good on the asset side of 00:15:35.199 --> 00:15:38.879 the balance sheet. And so, it can become addicting, and it's 00:15:38.880 --> 00:15:41.759 exciting, right? Like, look what we're doing, you know? We're taking 00:15:41.760 --> 00:15:47.679 deals that we wouldn't take in the past. But what happens is the 00:15:47.680 --> 00:15:50.879 longer that you're kind of on that track and you just kind of leap 00:15:50.880 --> 00:15:55.518 over Main Street, yes, you're building up assets, but what you're not building 00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:00.398 up typically are the core deposits and the treasury management services and 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:06.398 fees to come up under and fund those assets. And so it kind of really creates 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:10.799 this cycle similar to what we've been struggling with on the consumer side 00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:15.039 where you have a lopsided balance sheet, right, where your assets are 00:16:15.040 --> 00:16:19.518 growing at a certain rate, right? And the core deposits aren't coming in. And 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:23.679 if they are, they're not necessarily low cost deposits. And so we've kind of 00:16:23.680 --> 00:16:28.958 exasperated a new problem. And we've put off something that we're going to have 00:16:28.959 --> 00:16:33.758 to do, which is add treasury or cash management services. Here's the deal. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:41.919 If we can't serve the cash management, daily banking needs of a small business, 00:16:41.920 --> 00:16:46.398 an HVAC company across the street from our headquarters, we're certainly not 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.999 going to be able to serve the treasury management needs for a large commercial 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:55.359 or middle market business. So you get transactions, not relationships. So 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:59.679 that's number one thing that I see. Number two, we'll call this a talent 00:16:59.680 --> 00:17:04.399 market shift, right? So to understand where that is today, you kind of have to 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:10.719 go backwards to something I touched on earlier, right? We get the open door, if 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.438 you will, in 2017 to compete uh in the in the commercial banking, the business 00:17:15.439 --> 00:17:21.438 banking space, takes some time, 2020 comes and the whole economy 00:17:21.439 --> 00:17:25.198 changes, right? Well, a couple things happened there and one of them not a lot 00:17:25.199 --> 00:17:29.599 of folks realized and so this is kind of that behind the curtain during 00:17:29.600 --> 00:17:37.519 the CARES act loan era, a lot of folks got pulled into 00:17:37.520 --> 00:17:42.879 working with the SBA through the etran system that were not necessarily in 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:46.319 business banking or commercial banking. So, you may have a call center 00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:50.319 representative. You may have a teller supervisor, you may have an entry-level 00:17:50.320 --> 00:17:54.558 personal banker that, hey, all hands on deck. We got to get these loans through 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:59.119 through etran. That's great. You're able to help get folks to meet the 00:17:59.120 --> 00:18:04.159 needs of the client, the member. But on the outside of that, as the dust 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:08.879 settles again, now everyone's resume says commercial banking. And I'm going 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:12.798 to tell you point blank, just because you understood how to check some boxes 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:19.038 and on each etran paper does not make you a commercial banker. But credit 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:21.839 unions, right, we don't know. We don't know. We're fairly new to the game 00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:25.678 overall. And when you see that on a resume and somebody can use some 00:18:25.679 --> 00:18:30.239 buzzwords and maybe talk a good game in an interview, they wind 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:34.719 up in a position, a vital position that you have, maybe a sales role or god 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:38.959 forbid a sales leadership role and don't really know what they're doing. They're 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:43.199 not qualified for it and that creates an issue. The other piece to the talent 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:48.959 market is again traditional banks have been doing commercial for a long time, 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:54.479 right? And here's another behind the curtain. Probably the top 10 or 15% of 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:57.519 folks do really well. And those folks are going to stay where they're at for 00:18:57.520 --> 00:19:00.959 the most part because they've built a brand and they've built a network and 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:04.479 they get paid well and they get treated well and they're highly respected. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.239 They're not going to just jump over to the unknown in a credit union. But what 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:13.999 you will find is underneath that kind of top 10 or 15%. There are folks in 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:19.439 banking that make a career out of jumping from bank to bank every two or 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.479 three years, right? You do that five times, you make a whole career out of 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:25.839 it. Because that's how long it takes for somebody to get onto the fact that 00:19:25.840 --> 00:19:29.599 they're not doing a really good job in that space. But on paper, 00:19:29.600 --> 00:19:32.959 you might see when you're interviewing folks, you have recruiting firms go out, 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:37.359 oh, they're a VP over here or an SVP. That doesn't mean the same thing in the 00:19:37.360 --> 00:19:41.599 banking space as it means in the credit union space. There's a VP of like, you 00:19:41.600 --> 00:19:45.678 know, putting door signs up at banks. It's not the same as it is in a 00:19:45.679 --> 00:19:49.199 credit union where you're running a line of business. So, a lot of times what you 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:54.798 see is you got a VP or SVP team leader, commercial lender, and now they're the 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:58.639 chief business development officer at a at a credit union or they're the 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:02.159 head of business banking at a credit union, and they hit the lottery. But in 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:06.159 reality, they've never negotiated with vendor contracts. They don't know the 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:10.079 first thing about cash management. And here's the more dangerous thing. They're 00:20:10.080 --> 00:20:14.959 going to pull over all the COIs, all the deals that they couldn't get done at 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:18.079 those previous banks and they're going to bring them to the credit union and 00:20:18.080 --> 00:20:22.798 because there's a knowledge gap quite frankly, it looks good on paper and 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:27.599 they'll sell you on it and you wind up growing assets that you know maybe 00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:30.079 aren't the best quality. You think, well, gosh, we're doing deals that the 00:20:30.080 --> 00:20:34.479 banks wouldn't do. This person said they wouldn't do the deal over at that bank. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:37.918 That sounds honorable without context because what it really means there's a 00:20:37.919 --> 00:20:41.759 reason that deal wasn't done. So I've seen folks get into trouble there. 00:20:41.760 --> 00:20:45.678 And then finally, number three is there's this false narrative that goes 00:20:45.679 --> 00:20:51.519 around saying that small businesses are more risky to bank than commercial real 00:20:51.520 --> 00:20:56.959 estate. That's just not true. Uh it may be a time investment that you have to 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:01.359 make. It may be that you have to invest in partners like RelPro or 00:21:01.360 --> 00:21:05.678 others to get your technology stack up to par and you have to learn some new 00:21:05.679 --> 00:21:09.199 things, but you're in charge of the controls and the procedures and 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.479 identifying who you work with and how you work with them. And I'll tell you 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:16.319 what, you're going to have a really hard time making a case that you're honoring 00:21:16.320 --> 00:21:20.558 the DNA of a credit union, people helping people, when you're jumping over 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:24.639 a thousand, 2,000, how however many thousand small business members right 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:30.239 next door to go grab a $10 million retail office space non-recourse deal to 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:34.479 inflate the balance sheet. So those are three of the common obstacles that I 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:38.798 see. It's as real as well as I'll get on this one. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.279 That's great. Thank you. I would say from my perspective, your first 00:21:43.280 --> 00:21:49.678 obstacle around pivoting from the CRE space to more C&I lending is something 00:21:49.679 --> 00:21:54.319 we constantly hear and is one of the major reasons that credit unions that 00:21:54.320 --> 00:22:00.158 are um trying to grow commercially are looking for tools like RelPro to help 00:22:00.159 --> 00:22:06.798 them make that pivot successfully. So really valuable insights there, Phil. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:12.239 Thank you. Michelle. I'd love to pivot and discuss, you know, we've touched on 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:18.079 that nonprofit status of a credit union and how to capitalize on 00:22:18.080 --> 00:22:24.319 that. So, I'd love to hear from you on how a credit union can align on their 00:22:24.320 --> 00:22:28.158 mission and then capitalize on that mission. 00:22:28.159 --> 00:22:31.599 Yeah, I'd be happy to expand upon that. I want to just add something to what 00:22:31.600 --> 00:22:38.399 what Phil had said. Just because you have possibly other even credit unions 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:44.239 that are ahead of you so to speak and and have this line of business 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:48.479 may be operating or products or services that are in the market, it doesn't mean 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:53.439 they're good at it. So, I just want to put that out there. So, if you're just 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:59.599 getting started, you've got an incredible time to not only bring along 00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:03.359 the folks that are within the organization or if you're looking at 00:23:03.360 --> 00:23:09.359 just trying to reset, then repurposing some things and relaunching this 00:23:09.360 --> 00:23:15.839 opportunity because for me in the work I've done um and leaders that I 00:23:15.840 --> 00:23:20.239 have worked with in the credit union space, this is how credit unions fulfill 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:26.719 their financial well-being. mission and when we can support and use 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.319 business services not really as a strategy because it is a business 00:23:30.320 --> 00:23:37.359 strategy but it's really about your mission and enabling financial 00:23:37.360 --> 00:23:42.558 well-being through businesses because those are folks that have 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:46.479 households, children in school, things that are happening in their life that 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:50.319 they're needing help and support with. So when we talk about really 00:23:50.320 --> 00:23:55.839 building robust sustainable communities, this is how credit unions can really 00:23:55.840 --> 00:24:02.959 evolve into that and serve in a in a much different much different way. So I 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:06.959 I'm going to add just a couple of things here. The biggest struggle, 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.599 and this is going to be a barrier, so I'm going to add to the three that Phil 00:24:09.600 --> 00:24:15.119 had. I've got two for you. The biggest struggle is how do I translate now 00:24:15.120 --> 00:24:20.639 our mission and what we do and who we are how do I get the customer to 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:26.079 experience us in that way so that I don't sound like every bank around the 00:24:26.080 --> 00:24:30.719 corner or credit union or other financial services companies that 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:35.278 they're using. On average, the average consumer will use between six and eight 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:39.678 financial services firms. So their money is going to be spread out in 00:24:39.679 --> 00:24:45.759 different ways. So the first rule of thumb is looking at the mission and how 00:24:45.760 --> 00:24:49.278 does this align with financial well-being but then how do I teach our 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:55.918 teams our leaders our C-suite really be able to translate that so that the board 00:24:55.919 --> 00:25:00.399 understands that the community leaders understand that and it's a very 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:06.719 consistent message the other part of that is creating a collaboration model 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.639 across the lines of business within than the credit union. So, there's a lot of 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:16.639 relationships that are already with you and we'll talk about some of 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:21.678 those, but this is very important to build collaboration and not just believe 00:25:21.679 --> 00:25:26.879 that it exists because you've had folks in roles for a long time or people 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:30.798 new to roles. So really looking at that and figuring out how do we collaborate 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:35.119 in a way that the customer experiences us holistically 00:25:35.120 --> 00:25:41.599 and that will help you get through a lot of obstacles just initially. 00:25:41.600 --> 00:25:46.639 The last thing that I would tell you as an obstacle is that we 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:50.719 oftentimes when you're getting and you're building something new it becomes very 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:55.999 complex to be able to go and execute. So, as simple as you can make it and 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:01.599 having a lot of clarity around who you're going to serve, what do they look 00:26:01.600 --> 00:26:06.319 like, revenue size, employee size, ownership structure, whatever level of 00:26:06.320 --> 00:26:10.158 detail that you want to get, but there's got to be great clarity in what you do 00:26:10.159 --> 00:26:14.558 because that needs to align, back to Phil's point, to your lending policy and 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:19.199 your deposit policy. My niche was always going out and growing deposits because 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:24.158 you do have to have those core deposits coming along with you to be able to 00:26:24.159 --> 00:26:28.959 protect your income statement as you're continuing to grow. The other two 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:34.719 things that they do not get enough uh time with and spending time with is how 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:39.678 are we going to actually engage these potential prospects and our members in a 00:26:39.679 --> 00:26:45.839 way where we can really build a lifelong relationship and we can extend 00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:49.599 the relationship because as they are doing business with you, whatever 00:26:49.600 --> 00:26:52.959 product they're using, it has a life cycle. And if you looked at your 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:56.639 portfolios today, you would be able to see the life cycle of your deposit 00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:01.519 products, your lending products by product type. So, it's going to be very 00:27:01.520 --> 00:27:06.319 important for you to evaluate that. And so, as the lending program is growing, 00:27:06.320 --> 00:27:10.158 the deposit program needs to stay at pace. And I would actually tell you it 00:27:10.159 --> 00:27:15.278 needs to stay ahead of pace of your lending program so that you've got 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:20.239 nice margins. You're even more well capitalized so that you can 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:24.639 support the community and other technology needs which you know we 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:29.038 noticed that was something on the survey but that's what helps you reinvest in 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:33.359 things to keep this growing. And then the last thing I would tell you is really be 00:27:33.360 --> 00:27:37.918 clear about how you're going to measure your success and progress of what 00:27:37.919 --> 00:27:42.798 you're doing so that your teams can get behind you and can get on board and you 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:47.278 can actually share all of the ways that you're serving your community now and 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:51.839 being very consistent about that. So there's multiple layers there 00:27:51.840 --> 00:27:56.798 about the mission and how you can create this umbrella and bring everybody along 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:03.359 with what you're doing. I hope that's helpful, Jenni. Yeah, to give 00:28:03.360 --> 00:28:06.879 some insight with that, but just don't over 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:12.558 complicate what you're doing and be very clear about who you serve and why. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:19.199 That's great. That makes a lot of sense. And for those credit unions 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:24.079 that have gone through this process aligning on their mission and then 00:28:24.080 --> 00:28:31.599 capitalizing on their mission, what would your approach be to start or grow 00:28:31.600 --> 00:28:35.759 business services once they're at that point? 00:28:35.760 --> 00:28:40.158 Yeah. So I you know for me business banking or business services however you 00:28:40.159 --> 00:28:46.079 want to what you're you classified it as I that is a behavior system when I 00:28:46.080 --> 00:28:53.918 think about this opportunity I think of it in terms of behaviors and so this is 00:28:53.919 --> 00:28:59.439 this is not lots of powerpoints and strategic decks and things this is just 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:05.759 how do we communicate and how are we learning about our members our prospects 00:29:05.760 --> 00:29:09.359 effects. How are we communicating and learning about what's happening with 00:29:09.360 --> 00:29:13.999 them? Not only the pain points, but the operational complexities because small 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:19.519 businesses, as we all know, they can hit a tipping point and with you 00:29:19.520 --> 00:29:25.278 getting engaged at the right time can really help them grow very deliberately 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:29.199 and most of them do not know how to do that. So, the expertise that you're 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:33.839 going to be bringing to the table to guide them is going to be very 00:29:33.840 --> 00:29:39.199 important. So being really clear about what's in your market, where are the 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:43.839 growth rates of those industries in your market, does this align with our 00:29:43.840 --> 00:29:49.278 policies today? Can we actually serve them? What are products and services 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:53.359 that would be not only beneficial to them, but what are they actually 00:29:53.360 --> 00:29:57.519 exercising around today? And what are they going to need in the future state 00:29:57.520 --> 00:30:00.879 of their business? That will start helping you build out a product roadmap 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:04.959 and things because you won't have everything today to solution things but 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:09.678 you will have a lot of things to be able to get started and I you know I as 00:30:09.679 --> 00:30:13.839 simple as this sounds the biggest risk that you have is the lack of consistency 00:30:13.840 --> 00:30:19.199 in your execution. It's inconsistent conversations. It's inconsistent follow 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:24.319 Through. It's not activating services after you've made promises to the member 00:30:24.320 --> 00:30:29.038 that this is what we're going to do so execution. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:34.879 You have to have cadences around that. What job function is doing what? Who's 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:40.959 responsible from beginning to end and how aligned are we? Are we outside the 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:46.158 lines of policy? So, do are we bringing on greater risk into the business 00:30:46.159 --> 00:30:51.519 by doing this? And then as I said, going back to what can we measure 00:30:51.520 --> 00:30:55.278 because as you're continuing to grow this opportunity, you're going to 00:30:55.279 --> 00:31:00.239 influence the experience in an incredible way for your members. So, you 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:05.038 have to have your finger on the pulse of this at every step and it has to be 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:11.038 highly frequent and you can't be afraid to make pivots when numbers are trending 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:14.879 in a manner that that is concerning. You've got to be engaged so that you can 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:23.519 act very quickly and proactively. So I think that it's important to 00:31:23.520 --> 00:31:28.319 understand what opportunity you have in the market, who's already naturally 00:31:28.320 --> 00:31:32.798 coming in and working with you and then making some assessments from that point 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:38.558 around how are we going to go out and spread our message about what we do and 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:42.558 how are we going to uncover the right information so that we can serve at a 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:47.119 level that we haven't before. So those would be just very basic steps I would 00:31:47.120 --> 00:31:53.599 say to get you got to be excellent at it and do it with such precision. And 00:31:53.600 --> 00:31:59.038 that's usually a, we don't get enough structure around those 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:07.038 things that it will cause a lot of problems for you. 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:14.398 Phil, did you have anything to add to that question around the approach? 00:32:14.399 --> 00:32:17.678 Sure. That that's such good stuff, Michelle. Thank you. Thank you for 00:32:17.679 --> 00:32:21.199 sharing that. I even took a couple notes myself when you were talking. 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:26.479 Might steal it from you. I'll share a story and then 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:29.999 I'll give you some cliff notes from the playbook that I talked 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.798 about. So, you know how sometimes stars just align and the timing kind of 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:38.879 lines up and you get that aha. Recently, I'm working with a credit 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:45.518 union. They're a little over I think a billion and a half at the time on their 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:50.319 what they call commercial banking program. And as we're digging in and 00:32:50.320 --> 00:32:57.199 we're doing some root cause analysis and diagnostic work, I see the goal for the 00:32:57.200 --> 00:33:00.959 relationship manager. Had one relationship manager. And the goal for 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:07.918 the relationship manager was two and a half times the goal that you 00:33:07.919 --> 00:33:14.558 would see for a senior relationship manager at one of the top five banks in 00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:19.518 the nation in one of the highest saturated, highly competitive markets 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:24.558 such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia. So, let me just repeat that. There's a 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:28.558 credit union with a billion and a half in assets. They're 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:33.678 executing on a commercial banking program and their RM, their 00:33:33.679 --> 00:33:40.719 single RM, has more than double the goals of probably a highly educated, highly 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:44.639 experienced, someone with more experience doing commercial lending than 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:49.918 credit unions have had the privilege to do since 2017 opened things up in a 00:33:49.919 --> 00:33:54.798 metropolitan area like that. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. 00:33:54.799 --> 00:34:00.158 And you know, the first response was, "Well, yeah, but we make the goal. 00:34:00.159 --> 00:34:03.999 They keep making the goal." I said, "Well, of course you do, because not 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:09.279 all deals are equal." Here's the thing with commercial real 00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:12.239 estate, especially investment real estate that you have to be careful with. 00:34:12.240 --> 00:34:16.959 Not all brokers are created equal. you get on a BCC list of some of these 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:21.598 brokers and they're pedaling deals to you with maybe high numbers, you 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:26.158 know, if you set a goal at $40, $50 million a year, you can meet it 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:29.999 because you'll get a couple $10, $5, $20 million deals, you're getting them 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:33.759 because nobody wants to do those deals. And again, there's a reason nobody 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:37.759 wants to do those deals. So, yeah, they might perform well for the first two or 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:43.199 three years on paper, but hey, check the vacancy rates after that time. 00:34:43.200 --> 00:34:46.638 Check out how you did your covenant structures. Have you ever 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:49.519 met the investment group that you're lending to? Do they even live anywhere 00:34:49.520 --> 00:34:52.638 near the area or is this just kind of a flip project for them that may or may 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:56.319 not go well? Those are some things you want to look at. But the stars align 00:34:56.320 --> 00:35:00.799 because Jenni, while I'm having this conversation, a local business, I think 00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:07.118 it was a tile company literally across the street walks in and the 00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:10.319 short version of the story is they say they're very frustrated with their bank. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:13.759 It was a big bank and they want to bring their accounts over to this credit 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:16.959 union. And guess what? The credit union didn't have the 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:20.879 products and solutions to serve that customer. 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:25.358 So, we're so focused on big numbers, but we couldn't even serve our neighbor 00:35:25.359 --> 00:35:29.439 across the street. And so, that leads me to the aha moment. And this is a 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:34.719 question that I get so often. And it's, okay, we get it, Phil. We hear you, 00:35:34.720 --> 00:35:39.838 we believe you. How do I convince everyone else in my organization that 00:35:39.839 --> 00:35:44.078 business banking is a priority? Well, you're gonna have to win some hearts and 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:47.598 minds, but I'm not just going to give you a bumper sticker today to put on 00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:50.399 your car. I'm going to give you something real. Here's the cliff notes 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:53.118 from a page in the playbook. You're going to want to write this down. 00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:58.879 It's TRV. TRV and that stands for Total 00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:03.439 Relationship Value. So, here's some practical steps. What you want to do is 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:07.919 you want to partner with your finance team, your data team, and you want to 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:15.679 really map out what does the ideal business member relationship look like. 00:36:15.680 --> 00:36:20.559 So, think about revenue size and based on revenue size, you can assume 00:36:20.560 --> 00:36:25.039 anywhere from 6 to 7% will be the average deposits that they have, right? 00:36:25.040 --> 00:36:29.679 At least in core deposits. So, start there. What is a checking 00:36:29.680 --> 00:36:31.759 account going to look like for this business? What do we think they're going 00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:35.679 to have in reserves? What do we think the average loan size would be? If we 00:36:35.680 --> 00:36:39.118 have cash management, what do we think that the fee income would look like? 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:44.719 Right? And map out with data and finance just one ideal customer and what that 00:36:44.720 --> 00:36:49.999 net income on that business member would look like for 12 months. And I'll tell 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:56.159 you this, once you get it, it's going to be like, wow. Because every single time 00:36:56.160 --> 00:37:00.479 that number is going to show that a business member a primary business 00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:04.879 member relationship is going to be anywhere from 10 to 30 times what you're 00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:10.239 going to see in the average consumer relationship. Okay. So that's the first 00:37:10.240 --> 00:37:13.999 win. Now you got to you got to present this, right? So how do we take it 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:20.959 deeper? Behind every business member is a compounded consumer relationship. 00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:24.559 You're not just going to bank the business. You do it right. You're going 00:37:24.560 --> 00:37:29.519 to bank the business owner or owners and you're going to bank the employees. And 00:37:29.520 --> 00:37:34.959 guess what? The business owners, they also need personal checking, savings, 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:39.279 money market, investments. They're going to have auto loans. They may have a 00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:42.399 higher dollar on the type of loans that they get because they're business 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:46.319 owners. They're going to be in a more affluent class, right? The credit piece 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:49.598 is already there because you've worked with them on the business side. And so 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:54.959 you're expanding and compounding this ecosystem relationship that requires you 00:37:54.960 --> 00:37:59.519 to pull in every other line of business in your organization to meet those 00:37:59.520 --> 00:38:04.239 needs. Oh, and by the way, they have one employee, 10 employees, 100 employees. 00:38:04.240 --> 00:38:08.479 Do a really great job for them, too. Set up something that makes them feel 00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:13.838 special and rewards them. That is how you're going to grow overall in a way 00:38:13.839 --> 00:38:18.479 that is scalable, sustainable. you're going to meet the needs in your 00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:23.439 community. And I'm just going to say it point blank. We got to stop relying on 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:28.639 the next big promotion on a heloc or CD rate. You're getting partial members 00:38:28.640 --> 00:38:32.078 doing that. It's just it's just creating this vicious cycle where 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:35.919 you're trying to outpace attrition. You want to grow your credit union with net 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:40.399 membership with high quality growth on both sides of the balance sheet. It's 00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:44.799 called balanced performance. You got to dig into small business. You put a 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:49.759 presentation like this in front of your key stakeholders and they say no, I 00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:52.399 don't think they will. I mean, maybe you bought bad coffee or 00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:55.118 something, they're getting back to you, but it's hard to say no to this one. I 00:38:55.119 --> 00:39:00.719 think this is how you win every single time. 00:39:00.720 --> 00:39:05.118 And you know, that said, it makes me think too, Jenni, that's my take, 00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:08.799 but you've been a great partner to myself and many others that that 00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:13.118 I've worked with RelPro. What are some ways RelPro can help lean into this and 00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:17.279 even drill down deeper and help these credit unions out? 00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:22.078 Yeah, definitely. And it's been great working with both you, Phil, and 00:39:22.079 --> 00:39:27.199 Michelle as partners of RelPro at First United Bank and Langley Federal 00:39:27.200 --> 00:39:32.479 Credit Union. Something that Phil, you and I worked with on was proving that 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:38.479 value to the stakeholders. So, RelPro partners with credit unions regardless 00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:43.279 of where they're at in their journey. For clients that I work with who are 00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:50.479 just starting business services at their organization, but also looking to prove 00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:56.879 the value of serving businesses to stakeholders. What I work with them on 00:39:56.880 --> 00:40:03.598 is help them size the opportunities that they have within their markets for 00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:07.838 potential business clients. So just like you were talking about Phil, 00:40:07.839 --> 00:40:14.399 understanding what does that ideal business relationship member look like. 00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:19.358 So I work with leadership in understanding what that looks like. And 00:40:19.359 --> 00:40:25.118 you'll see here this funnel identifies that really well. We call this project a 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:30.639 TAM project which stands for total addressable market and what we do is 00:40:30.640 --> 00:40:37.279 I'll work with leadership in identifying the segments the criteria for your ideal 00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:41.759 business relationship member. And how we do that is we figure out that 00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:45.679 sweet spot in revenue range like Michelle you were discussing. Are you 00:40:45.680 --> 00:40:50.078 looking to serve those small to medium size businesses or maybe you're 00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:54.319 more equipped to serve larger organizations? So, we'll focus on 00:40:54.320 --> 00:41:00.879 revenue. We'll also focus on industries. What industries would your credit unions 00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:06.078 like to target? Are there certain deposit-rich industries that you'd like to 00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:09.519 focus on? We’ll work with your credit union on 00:41:09.520 --> 00:41:15.919 not only identifying industries but also figuring out what industries you may 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:21.279 want to avoid. So maybe industries that are considered more risky, whatever that 00:41:21.280 --> 00:41:26.959 looks like for your organization. We also have a plethora of other ways to 00:41:26.960 --> 00:41:32.719 segment the data that we have for you to find your most ideal business 00:41:32.720 --> 00:41:37.838 relationship member and what that looks like. So we have data around minority 00:41:37.839 --> 00:41:42.078 business enterprise data. So if your organization is looking to target 00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:46.559 Minority-owned, woman-owned, veteran-owned businesses, you can actually leverage 00:41:46.560 --> 00:41:50.879 RelPro's data to do that. And one thing that you mentioned, Phil, which was a 00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:57.838 really great statistic was I think you said around 50% to 70% of businesses are 00:41:57.839 --> 00:42:02.719 dissatisfied with the credit union or bank that they're currently working 00:42:02.720 --> 00:42:09.439 with. So, that is great to know. And one of the ways that 00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:15.199 you can really capitalize on that is by leveraging RelPro's data to identify 00:42:15.200 --> 00:42:21.358 customers of other credit unions in your market. So you can even segment 00:42:21.359 --> 00:42:28.239 this data based on targeting a competitor bank or maybe another 00:42:28.240 --> 00:42:32.799 credit union or financial institution too. So that's kind of the first step is 00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:37.999 we get that scope of what your ICP is and what that looks like and then we get 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:44.159 the counts and you can bring those counts and those numbers to your 00:42:44.160 --> 00:42:47.999 stakeholders and say hi there are x amount of businesses that we don't 00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:52.559 currently serve and this is where these opportunities lie. You know that's our 00:42:52.560 --> 00:42:59.679 return on investment. And then the third part of this funnel is digging down and 00:42:59.680 --> 00:43:03.679 pulling that company data. So you can then leverage RelPro once you have the 00:43:03.680 --> 00:43:09.199 scope to pull lists of companies and get valuable insights on those companies 00:43:09.200 --> 00:43:13.679 like who they bank with currently uh the intent data which I'll jump into here in 00:43:13.680 --> 00:43:18.799 a minute um and get those valuable insights on those companies those names 00:43:18.800 --> 00:43:24.159 and we pair that with the key decision maker data. So, you're not only figuring 00:43:24.160 --> 00:43:28.399 out the company, you're also figuring out who's the business owner, who's the 00:43:28.400 --> 00:43:33.759 CFO, who's the controller, and how do I reach out to them immediately? We 00:43:33.760 --> 00:43:40.318 have mobile numbers, emails, LinkedIn profiles, and so on for RMs to 00:43:40.319 --> 00:43:46.318 take that insight immediately and start reaching out. 00:43:46.319 --> 00:43:49.679 Yes. Yeah. I was gonna just add something 00:43:49.680 --> 00:43:55.358 here. Because you've been an incredible partner for us and just 00:43:55.359 --> 00:44:00.799 uncovering information that exists in the markets that that we're in. But just 00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:07.439 to tie a couple of things that Phil had said as well with this it's, I'm 00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:10.879 going to get there's five steps here because just because you build 00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:15.598 something doesn't mean they will come and that you can execute on it. So 00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:21.039 you've got to have an engagement strategy with then how are we going to 00:44:21.040 --> 00:44:27.999 communicate this and win support and develop trust and build relationships in 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:33.199 a in a different way because it will require that as you are engaging in a 00:44:33.200 --> 00:44:39.598 different way with your with your members. But RelPro is just an amazing 00:44:39.599 --> 00:44:46.159 partner and will give you insight into what exists around me, what's happening 00:44:46.160 --> 00:44:50.479 around me, what is the potential where I'm at. What I'm going to challenge 00:44:50.480 --> 00:44:54.479 everyone that's on this call, as you listen to this going forward, if I 00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:58.639 was doing this again at another institution, there's five things here 00:44:58.640 --> 00:45:02.559 and I'm going to do them in priority order. It's not always the fun 00:45:02.560 --> 00:45:06.318 stuff, but it's things to help you get through the obstacles and the hurdles, 00:45:06.319 --> 00:45:12.078 but you once you know what your addressable market actually looks like, 00:45:12.079 --> 00:45:18.078 it's very critical. Phil gave you the road map of how to go win hearts 00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:21.598 and minds within the organization. But I'm going to challenge you to also 00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:24.879 compare what can this deliver to us, what's 00:45:24.880 --> 00:45:29.358 sitting around us, but who is already working with us? And so what does it 00:45:29.359 --> 00:45:33.118 look like in your existing portfolio today? So you can take a look and see 00:45:33.119 --> 00:45:37.358 are we already serving somewhat in this space and what types of products and 00:45:37.359 --> 00:45:43.279 services are they using? Because oftentimes we get overwhelmed that we 00:45:43.280 --> 00:45:46.959 don't believe that we can adapt enough. But you got to have a lot of agility 00:45:46.960 --> 00:45:53.838 when you're doing this. So five things here. Deposit and loan policy. After you 00:45:53.839 --> 00:45:58.239 understand the addressable market, after you understand what is an earning 00:45:58.240 --> 00:46:04.399 potential of one highly valuable business member, but what do what are we 00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:08.879 doing today in our portfolio and what is our policy? What are the guardrails with 00:46:08.880 --> 00:46:14.559 our policy? The second part then would be a product map and so that you have 00:46:14.560 --> 00:46:19.199 already products and services but what are these business owners needing today 00:46:19.200 --> 00:46:23.439 and then what's a potential future state? What's that timeline and start 00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:27.118 identifying things because you can create a very simplified road map 00:46:27.119 --> 00:46:30.479 immediately. The third thing is going to be your team 00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:35.919 structure. Phil talked about it about talent pools and things, but you really 00:46:35.920 --> 00:46:42.159 have to evaluate what skills do we have today and what do we need to help us be 00:46:42.160 --> 00:46:45.919 successful with this. You can get a lot of information, but you have to be able 00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:52.479 to execute on it to be able to help and support. The fourth thing is going to 00:46:52.480 --> 00:46:58.159 be a culture around what's our conversations, our recommendation 00:46:58.160 --> 00:47:04.559 approach, a sales process that we are going to evaluate so you can create the 00:47:04.560 --> 00:47:09.519 right experiences for members that are choosing to expand in this way. And then 00:47:09.520 --> 00:47:13.598 lastly, it will be how do we fulfill these things and activate these 00:47:13.599 --> 00:47:18.799 services? Because you're not going to get the return on investment if you 00:47:18.800 --> 00:47:24.159 can't source the opportunities and you can't recommend it with value and 00:47:24.160 --> 00:47:27.838 getting it activated so that it's actually sitting in your balance sheet 00:47:27.839 --> 00:47:32.559 and it's earning in your income statement. So, I think that there's 00:47:32.560 --> 00:47:35.679 just some amazing tools that that RelPro can give you, but I want to 00:47:35.680 --> 00:47:39.598 challenge you to really look at these five areas and evaluate it because that 00:47:39.599 --> 00:47:43.519 will help you build momentum and work through a lot of obstacles that would 00:47:43.520 --> 00:47:48.078 normally keep you stuck. 00:47:48.079 --> 00:47:52.879 Definitely, that's those are some great takeaways. And you know, we're 00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:57.919 nearing the end of our of our Q&A. I'll give a few takeaways from my 00:47:57.920 --> 00:48:03.759 perspective as well and then I'll hand it over to you Phil. In terms of 00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:11.838 takeaways from my perspective, you know, data and technology play a huge role in 00:48:11.839 --> 00:48:18.559 here like we've discussed and it's also a great way to start building business 00:48:18.560 --> 00:48:23.039 relationships but also strengthening them. So, in terms of takeaways from my 00:48:23.040 --> 00:48:30.078 perspective, I think the three ways that I've seen clients successfully grow a 00:48:30.079 --> 00:48:35.919 business services team is one, just like Michelle mentioned, is start with your 00:48:35.920 --> 00:48:41.679 existing members, asking them, do you know anyone or do you yourself own a 00:48:41.680 --> 00:48:46.318 business? Also, what's really nice about a credit union that's implemented 00:48:46.319 --> 00:48:53.199 RelPro is it's super easy to look up a business that that consumer clientele is 00:48:53.200 --> 00:48:59.999 a part of or owns in RelPro and figure out if they have outstanding loans at 00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.558 another bank or another credit union that maybe you could fill that need for 00:49:04.559 --> 00:49:10.159 them. We have all of that real data within the platform as well as we 00:49:10.160 --> 00:49:16.318 have data around buyer intent data. So this will give you some insights into 00:49:16.319 --> 00:49:22.959 what topics a credit union has been researching related to lending, 00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:29.358 Deposits, cash management, and so on. So you'll see those topics within 00:49:29.359 --> 00:49:33.199 RelPro. Defining your target I think is also a 00:49:33.200 --> 00:49:37.039 huge takeaway. So, like we said, clarify which businesses you're best positioned 00:49:37.040 --> 00:49:41.759 to serve based on your products, community, and mission like we discussed 00:49:41.760 --> 00:49:46.318 earlier. And then lastly, equipping your team 00:49:46.319 --> 00:49:50.799 with the tools that they need to succeed. So, this is where data comes 00:49:50.800 --> 00:49:56.558 into play. Giving relationship managers and frontline staff tools and talking 00:49:56.559 --> 00:50:02.159 points to confidently engage business owners. RelPro being a great tool, but 00:50:02.160 --> 00:50:07.039 there's a lot of other tools. RelPro is a great tool to research 00:50:07.040 --> 00:50:11.439 business prospects before a meeting or find new companies in their immediate 00:50:11.440 --> 00:50:15.598 community. And once they have these tools, what 00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:22.239 I've seen with my credit unions is that success is imminent. For instance, I 00:50:22.240 --> 00:50:27.199 can think of off the top of my head one success story of a RelPro client. 00:50:27.200 --> 00:50:34.879 They're based out of Florida and one of the RMs was using RelPro and she found a 00:50:34.880 --> 00:50:39.598 company that she didn't even know existed but fit the credit union's 00:50:39.599 --> 00:50:43.999 criteria. So they defined that prior which was great. She then found the 00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:49.519 decision maker, the contact info in RelPro and was able to set up the 00:50:49.520 --> 00:50:54.879 meeting and then by using those buyer intent insights, she was able to 00:50:54.880 --> 00:51:01.279 expand the conversation and that actually amounted to a $12 million loan 00:51:01.280 --> 00:51:07.679 for that credit union, a new business client, and then they're looking to move 00:51:07.680 --> 00:51:13.039 their deposits over as well. So, a full service relationship. So enacting the 00:51:13.040 --> 00:51:18.799 tools, giving the RM's tools for success will lead to success like we've seen 00:51:18.800 --> 00:51:24.959 with that client and a lot of other clients. And Phil, what would you say 00:51:24.960 --> 00:51:31.679 are some of the takeaways on your end? Yeah, that's so thank you Michelle and 00:51:31.680 --> 00:51:36.719 Jenni. That's really valuable stuff there. And what I would add to 00:51:36.720 --> 00:51:41.199 it is I encourage you not to take what you 00:51:41.200 --> 00:51:47.279 heard today and go plug it into Claude or Perplexity or Chat GPT 00:51:47.280 --> 00:51:52.799 right away, because at the end of the day, those are great tools to 00:51:52.800 --> 00:51:58.639 accelerate the plan that you have once it's once it's kind of fleshed out. 00:51:58.640 --> 00:52:02.239 But flesh is the key word there. Here's the thing with 00:52:02.240 --> 00:52:07.919 business owners. The majority of them, they want to see the color of your eyes 00:52:07.920 --> 00:52:11.679 and they want to feel your fingerprints when you shake their hand because we're 00:52:11.680 --> 00:52:15.759 asking them not just to trust us with their livelihood, but with the 00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:21.199 livelihood of every single one of their employees. And I highly encourage you 00:52:21.200 --> 00:52:25.838 not to think that a quick shiny object buy is going to solve that problem. 00:52:25.839 --> 00:52:30.479 You've got to build your foundation through getting out in the community, 00:52:30.480 --> 00:52:36.318 feet on the street, introducing yourself, buying coffee, hearing no a 00:52:36.319 --> 00:52:41.039 million times, and earning the right for that trust that you're asking for in 00:52:41.040 --> 00:52:45.679 your community. And then yes, yes, accelerate it with some of those great 00:52:45.680 --> 00:52:49.519 tools out there like, you know, that AI may be able to give you some insight 00:52:49.520 --> 00:52:53.199 into and help meet people, you know, digitally where they are. But if you're 00:52:53.200 --> 00:52:56.239 going to rely on that for your strategy or just plug this in and say, you know, 00:52:56.240 --> 00:53:00.078 how can we do it fast or whatever the case is, you're going to 00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:03.838 miss the mark. It's still a people business. And I'll tell you this, 00:53:03.839 --> 00:53:07.358 I'm a fan of AI, by the way. Don't say Phil hates AI or put that anywhere. A 00:53:07.359 --> 00:53:11.759 fan of AI. It's just got to be done the right way. But I'll tell you this 00:53:11.760 --> 00:53:16.479 much, human connection is going to become a luxury as we continue down this 00:53:16.480 --> 00:53:21.759 path. And the organizations that anchor their strategies in human 00:53:21.760 --> 00:53:26.479 connection and the stuff that you got to earn the right to have to sit in a 00:53:26.480 --> 00:53:30.318 boardroom with beads of sweat dripping down on your presentation folder and 00:53:30.319 --> 00:53:33.759 three other bankers in the room waiting your turn to go in and win the business 00:53:33.760 --> 00:53:37.679 if you haven't lived that AI ain't going to tell you how to do it but you got to 00:53:37.680 --> 00:53:41.199 get the right person in there to help you build a strategy to win and then you 00:53:41.200 --> 00:53:45.118 partner with folks like RelPro and then you can use some of that technology 00:53:45.119 --> 00:53:49.358 that's the greatest truth I can tell I think at the end of everything 00:53:49.359 --> 00:53:56.479 still a people business. Great. Thank you both for your valuable 00:53:56.480 --> 00:54:01.838 insights and we hope that the audience gained some knowledge that they may not 00:54:01.839 --> 00:54:08.318 have thought about or maybe a new way of thinking. What we're gonna do is 00:54:08.319 --> 00:54:13.118 we're gonna do a little poll that's just going to kind of ask the audience if 00:54:13.119 --> 00:54:20.558 they'd like to um learn a little more about RelPro, Main Street and Co. which 00:54:20.559 --> 00:54:26.399 is Phil's consulting company, and then NorthBridge Performance Group, which is 00:54:26.400 --> 00:54:32.399 Michelle's company as well. So, feel free to answer that poll. We're also 00:54:32.400 --> 00:54:39.519 going to be here in a minute putting their contact information up so that way 00:54:39.520 --> 00:54:48.399 you can get their information. We'll do that after the the Q&A. 00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:53.919 All right. So, for the question and answer, we do have a few questions here. 00:54:53.920 --> 00:55:01.118 So, I'll kick it off by asking the first question we have from Blake Terry. What 00:55:01.119 --> 00:55:07.118 deposit products would you both recommend a bank or credit union offer 00:55:07.119 --> 00:55:15.358 to their SMBs that can compete with companies like Mercury, Blue Vine, etc.? 00:55:15.359 --> 00:55:21.598 Either of you would like to answer that. You want to tag team it, Michelle? 00:55:21.599 --> 00:55:25.919 Yeah. Yes, we can definitely tag team it. And I'm sorry that would compete 00:55:25.920 --> 00:55:32.159 With. Can you tell me the end of that? Mercury, Blue Vine, etc. 00:55:32.160 --> 00:55:39.279 Okay. Okay. So, I think it's important to know what is in the 00:55:39.280 --> 00:55:44.078 marketplace, but it's much more important to know based on who you are 00:55:44.079 --> 00:55:49.439 wanting to bank, who you're wanting to bring into the credit union, what 00:55:49.440 --> 00:55:55.919 industry. So depending upon industry and the cycle, their cash flow cycle, you 00:55:55.920 --> 00:56:01.039 need to be very familiar with that. And I'm not trying to give you a 00:56:01.040 --> 00:56:04.879 generic answer. I'm going to turn this over to Phil in just a moment, but 00:56:04.880 --> 00:56:11.679 any industry that you're going into to compete on a deposit strategy, you 00:56:11.680 --> 00:56:20.318 absolutely have to understand the cash flow cycle and their days payable. 00:56:20.319 --> 00:56:25.439 uh their days on inventory. So you need to know the full cash cycle to be able 00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:29.519 to help and support them. The second thing I would tell you would be in terms 00:56:29.520 --> 00:56:34.159 of deposit products is to think about the products in the way that it is going 00:56:34.160 --> 00:56:41.358 to enhance and accelerate their cash flow cycle. So, and I would tell you 00:56:41.359 --> 00:56:48.399 that from a structure standpoint, they need to have a very secure, viable way 00:56:48.400 --> 00:56:54.639 and access to uh operating money. Something that will hold short-term 00:56:54.640 --> 00:56:59.358 liquid dollars. That might be sweeps. Doesn't have to be sweeps. It could 00:56:59.359 --> 00:57:03.358 actually be sweeping into money market accounts and back forth. There's a lot 00:57:03.359 --> 00:57:07.999 of things that you can do, but you need to have a checking structure, a savings 00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:14.558 structure, and then methods for them to use electronically to move money in and 00:57:14.559 --> 00:57:20.879 out. So, we can keep it very basic here. The way you compete against 00:57:20.880 --> 00:57:26.399 the others is because you are much more knowledgeable about what that type of 00:57:26.400 --> 00:57:33.838 industry needs and you're asking the right questions so that you can support 00:57:33.839 --> 00:57:37.919 immediately and you're hearing the pain points because you're actively involved 00:57:37.920 --> 00:57:43.039 with the member. So, Phil, I'll turn it over to you if you have anything 00:57:43.040 --> 00:57:45.919 to add to that. Blake, thank you for the question. Thank 00:57:45.920 --> 00:57:50.078 you for being courageous enough to put a question out there. I'm going to I'm 00:57:50.079 --> 00:57:53.439 going to say this to you respectfully and with kindness. You're not competing 00:57:53.440 --> 00:57:57.279 against Blue Vine and Mercury. That's not your competition. You're a credit union 00:57:57.280 --> 00:58:00.479 in a local community. Your credit unions across the street are your 00:58:00.480 --> 00:58:05.039 competition. The Wells Fargo branch across the street is the competition. 00:58:05.040 --> 00:58:08.639 It's nice, again, like Michelle said, to know what's out there. What you got to 00:58:08.640 --> 00:58:13.039 do is you got to put together a really simple, easy to do business with 00:58:13.040 --> 00:58:16.719 checking account. I I'd recommend starting with two. One for your kind of 00:58:16.720 --> 00:58:20.558 more micro small business, one for kind of that more midsize business. Put 00:58:20.559 --> 00:58:25.199 together some really great deposit products, high yield savings. I would 00:58:25.200 --> 00:58:28.959 shy away from CDs for a business and upload that more into the investment 00:58:28.960 --> 00:58:31.199 space. And from a cash management 00:58:31.200 --> 00:58:34.399 perspective, you just want to make sure that they can go on there, that they can 00:58:34.400 --> 00:58:37.919 they can do wires, they can do a, they can pay bills, and they can move money 00:58:37.920 --> 00:58:43.598 over to their accounts. Get a great basic deposit product suite there and 00:58:43.599 --> 00:58:47.358 then get some great feet on the ground to go out and show up and build 00:58:47.359 --> 00:58:51.598 relationships and shake hands and look people in the eye and be consistent and 00:58:51.599 --> 00:58:55.279 market that well and you're going to blow the competition away and you're not 00:58:55.280 --> 00:59:00.639 even going to think about Mercury. It is that simple. It's it is the 00:59:00.640 --> 00:59:05.519 consistency of it. Yes. Love that. Thank you both so much for 00:59:05.520 --> 00:59:12.959 your time today on this panel. We are going to present how the audience can 00:59:12.960 --> 00:59:20.159 get in touch with any of us, all of us. So, feel free to jot that down. Like 00:59:20.160 --> 00:59:24.639 I said, Michelle, Phil have such valuable insights on how to start 00:59:24.640 --> 00:59:28.558 business services, grow business services at credit unions, and it's been 00:59:28.559 --> 00:59:32.239 such an honor having you two on the panel. 00:59:32.240 --> 00:59:34.959 Thank you, Jenni. Thank you, RelPro. And thank you, everyone, for joining 00:59:34.960 --> 00:59:38.879 during your lunch hour. Yes, it's been a pleasure. Thank you. 00:59:38.880 --> 00:59:44.920 Thanks everyone. Have a great rest of your day. Bye.