Independent bankers reflect on past, eye future at convention

Northwestern Financial Review, Aug 19, 2000 by Bengtson, Tom

With 416 people registered, the attendance at the 29th annual convention of the Iowa Independent Bankers was higher than it has been in half a decade. Meeting at the Village East Resort in Okoboji, July 20-22, the bankers were in a good mood as they welcomed their first female president, Marti Tomson Rodamaker, and thanked Mike Bauer for his service during a year of continued association improvement.

Membership and involvement were priorities during the past year, according to Bauer who said those items would continue to be the major challenges facing IIB. In a speech closing out his IIB presidency, the leader of Quad Cities Bank & Trust in Bettendorf, said he was impressed by the involvement and enthusiasm of the association's members.

"We are looking to expand our headquarters because all the board members are attending the board meetings now, and we don't have a room big enough to hold everyone," said Bauer, a four-year member of the IIB board. Bauer noted that in addition to the 25 board members, the association now has 30 bankers active on association committees.

Bauer credited IIB association executive Don Hole for much of the progress the group has made since he joined the group in March 1998. "He is responsible in no small part for the progress we have made," said Bauer, adding that Hole will be key to future IIB changes.

Bauer reported that 12 banks have joined the association in 2000, resulting in the first net increase in membership since 1992. The percentage of banks that are IIB members relative to those eligible is also at its highest point since 1992, Bauer said.

On the legislative front, Bauer said the board is pleased it was able to hold the deposit cap increase to 15 percent. Although most members don't like the idea of an increase from the previous 10 percent level, the 5 percent increase seems a palatable concession in exchange for an enforceable law. Bauer said that since many states have no limit on the level of deposit concentration, the legislature could have decided to get rid of the cap altogether.

"It is becoming apparent that we will have more trouble in the future controlling our banking environment with state law," said Bauer. "Laws set at the national level are taking precedence. I would like to maintain an ATM-fee free environment in Iowa, but I don't know if we will be able to do that."

Bauer set the stage for Hole, who gave bankers a glimpse at the new services his association can offer. Hole presented results from a survey commissioned by the association and 14 member banks to gauge the attitude of typical consumers about community banks. The survey's 2,200 respondents overwhelmingly said they believe community banks offer more helpful, friendly service than chain banks offer. The survey revealed that community banks are perceived more favorably than larger banks in many categories. However, community banks fared poorly in the ability to offer technology and investment products.

"Community banks employ technology as well as anyone," said Hole, "and you offer investment products, but the public doesn't perceive it that way. We have to get the message out that community banks do have this."

Hole said complete survey results are being compiled, and that they will be made available soon.

Sales Techniques Presented

The convention s first general session included a presentation on sales techniques by Kerry Johnson of Tustin, Calif., and an economic update by Jeff Thredgold of Salt Lake City, Utah.

In an entertaining and often humorous fashion, Johnson told bankers the key to improving sales performance is to establish better relationships with potential customers. He described the differences between the way men and women approach the sales process. All sales, he said, consist of four components: the approach, probing, presentation and the close. While woman tend to be strongest at the approach and probing phases, men are better at presenting solutions and closing deals, Johnson said.

Relating to women is important because they make most buying decisions. "Eighty-five percent of the wealth in this country is controlled by women," Johnson said.

People want to do business with people they trust, and trust is impossible without a relationship. Since people generally trust those who are like themselves, Johnson encouraged copying the body language of customers during conversation. Johnson said studies and experience demonstrates the effectiveness of this tactic, which he said works even over the telephone.

Thredgold presented an optimistic view of the economy, which he noted has been expanding for nine and a half years. Regardless of who is elected president, he said he expects a federal tax cut next year.

Other positive economic indicators include the federal budget surplus, the efforts made to reduce the national debt, high levels of employment, and the dominance of United States companies in the world's six key industries: telecommunications, entertainment, technology, transportation, financial services and biomedicine.