Responding to Uncertainty by Focusing on Bank Fundamentals

The message from speakers on day one of Bank Director’s 2023 Acquire or Be Acquired conference was that community banks should focus on their fundamentals – and their customers in the face of today’s novel environment and uncertainty.

Good advice I’m sure – as an old-school NFL fan, I’m really big on basic blocking and tackling as essential to success.

One speaker Mac Thompson pointed out that community bankers struggle to quantify the depth of their customer relationships; the need to quantify and analyze customers loans and deposits, focus on bringing customers operational accounts to the bank. I like this advice too.

But, somewhere in the summary of key takeaways from day 1, I’d like to have seen messaging on the importance of customer centricity ─ figuring out what customers really want and delivering it.