Nebraska banks healthy; bankers gearing for challenges

Northwestern Financial Review, Jun 1-Jun 14, 2004 by Hilgert, Jackie

Saber also encouraged CEOs to develop a vision statement, which she said is different from a mission statement. "A mission statement defines the reason you exist; a vision statement paints a picture of where you're going."

Bankers also need to serve their customers, and Dennis Snow, author of Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service, offered insights culled from his 20 years spent in the realm of Walt Disney's fantasy world. "Customers are out of their comfort zone when they deal with bankers," Snow said. "If you look at what you're already doing through different eyes, you'll raise awareness with your people." Snow encouraged bankers to create a team of employees to map every process in the bank through the eyes of the eustomer, then create a checklist of every detail of the service environment.

"Everything the customer sees, hears, smells, touches or tastes impacts their experience at your bank," Snow said. Creating "wows," even small ones, should be the goal of everyone at the bank. "It comes down to your people," he said. "It only takes one to screw it up."

What's expected

Ken Fergeson, chairman of the American Bankers Association, updated Nebraskans on what they should - or should not - expect to happen inside the beltway. "It's an election year. The odds are slim that anything will get done," Fergeson said. Bankruptcy reform is stuck, he said, and FDIC reform will have to be reintroduced to a new Congress.

The Oklahoman commended Nebraskans for their gains in the real estate field and encouraged their participation in helping other states gain the same powers. "The realtors will fight us and if we let them roll over us, the securities people will come back at us and the insurance people will come back at us." Fergeson encouraged everyone to talk to their congressmen to help other states gain real estate powers.

Fergeson also talked up OCC preemption and cautioned bankers to closely monitor the consumer protection resolutions Sen. John Edwards (D-S.C.) recently introduced. "These can be passed without going to committee," Fergeson warned. "Remember, John Edwards made his living suing people like you and me."

The issue of corporate governance is heating up again as well, a point seemingly lost on Fergeson. "There aren't any laws that can make crooked people honest."

Williams, an attorney before he became a banker, offered his colleagues a touch of advice on that note as he closed his year as NBA chairman: "Conduct yourself with a sense of responsibility. Business ethics are a bright line on the pavement. Don't step on the line."

By Jackie Hilgert