How are you different from your competition?

Last Monday, I spoke at ACB’s Seminar for Presidents in Naples, Florida. I was impressed by the turn out of about 40 bank CEOs; especially considering that the session began at 7:00am. During the presentation, titled Profitable Growth Strategies, I stressed the importance of differentiation and leadership as viable strategies for growth, as opposed to the more traditional strategy of simply building branches.

Once again, I did not offer the non-existent “magic bullet” that most CEOs want, but, instead I challenged the attendees to assess their own leadership styles and how they communicate the differences between their institutions and the competition.

Most of the questions following the session revolved around the topic of differentiation. I was not surprised, as I pushed the audience to stop talking about themselves as the “local bank, with good service, and friendly people,” which is difficult for many bank executives. Instead, I asked them to think of three words that describe how their institution was truly different from the competition.

I would like to challenge you to do the same. What three words describe how your institution is truly different from your competition?

Would your customers and prospective customers agree?