Improve Bank Branch Growth Performance

March, 2002

Financial Services Industry Newsletter

Strategies for Success

Do You Understand the Growth Potential of your Retail Branches?

Most banks aren't able to accurately forecast the growth potential from their branches. As a result they don't allocate sales management efforts or marketing investment or branch capital investment in the most efficient manner.

We are often asked to help our clients evaluate new distribution strategies: new channels or new markets or new branch locations. Management is usually looking for additional revenue growth. Our analysis frequently finds that untapped revenue potential from existing branches is greater than the opportunity from new markets they are considering.

Why is this the case? Partly it is human nature to become enamored with new opportunities rather than focusing on improving what we already have. But often the reason is that banks don't have the modeling and forecasting tools to accurately predict trade area potential, and more importantly, how much of that potential can actually be captured from the competition.

We can help you achieve the highest potential from your current branch network and identify expansion opportunities that will yield the highest return on investment. We help our clients --

	Measure every branch's actual performance vs. its growth potential. We often find real surprises -- especially branches that are perceived as high performing but upon close analysis are found to be significantly under-performing their potential.
	Identify those branches with the highest potential and develop sales management and marketing strategies to capture it.
	Identify branches with low growth potential and evaluate strategies for profit improvement. For some branches, customer retention may be more important than new customer growth. Other branches may have excess resources (when compared to their potential) and can provide human and financial resources to fund higher growth opportunities.
	Finally, identify the highest potential new locations that will yield the greatest return on investment.

Peak Performance Consulting Group^® is a leading consulting firm specializing in retail banking. We have over 20 years experience helping financial institutions develop and implement successful strategies for improving consumer banking and small business performance -- and the corporate bottom line. For additional information please email dkerstein@peakconsultinggroup.com, or call us at (616)-454-9443.