Essential Speaking Topics from Trent Fleming

As you work to complete your conference planning for this year, I hope that you will consider the attached presentations as options for your groups.  I've included topics directed to CEO/Director audiences, as well as operations/technology, and marketing.  It would be my pleasure to work with you on any of these topics.

I'm grateful to the many of you who have already booked me for this year, and hope to add many more engagements to my 2016 calendar.

CEO and Director Focus

Four Ways CEOs Can Better Manage Technology

Technology has found its way into every aspect of your institution.

It’s no longer a “back office” only solution.  The successful CEO will embrace technology, and seek to actively manage it.  This session is designed to show you how: drawing on four key pillars: People, Strategy, Business Focus, and Security.  Participants will leave with a better understanding of how technology can be integrated into the organization, and managed as well as any other business unit.

Director Liability in a Connected World

Increasingly, bank customers, both business and consumer, are choosing electronic delivery channels over traditional branch banking. To support these demands, banks are investing in sophisticated delivery systems to provide real–time access for customers. In addition, banks are finding it increasingly important to manage their Internet and social media presence, as well as their Internet reputation across other platforms. Payment methods ranging from wire transfer to ACH to debit cards create the potential for significant fraud loss and also must be managed to mitigate risk. For business, corporate account takeover is a major threat. On the consumer side, card data breaches and identity theft loom large as sources of loss for banks. Finally, the increasing reliance on outsourced data–processing solutions means that banks are signing contracts that represent significant liability and exposure for early termination clauses, annual price increases, and de-conversion costs. This session will guide Directors and Executive Management in understanding the risk and exposure presented by today’s online environment and will also provide guidance to them as they seek to offer advice and oversight to bank management in addressing and managing such risks. 

The New Face of Strategic Planning:

Integrating Technology Into Your Enterprise Strategy

Historically, banks have had two strategic plans: an enterprise, or business plan, and a separate technology plan.  This is no longer tenable, as technology now becomes the driving force behind most strategic initiatives.  This session discusses methods of integrating technology planning into your enterprise planning efforts, providing insight to senior managers and executives as to the increasingly visible and important role technology plays in the banking environment.  Topics include selected new technologies, negotiating and managing vendor relationships, merger and acquisition planning, managing operations and technology staff, and engaging with customers to maintain strong relationships via electronic channels. (this session can be tailored for CEO/Director audiences, or Senior Operations staff.  I can also provide this as a Director Education or Planning Session, privately for individual banks)

Rural Economic Revitalization

Drawing on my volunteer work with various university-level economic development efforts, I have developed presentations to address how small towns can initiate efforts to revitalize their local economies.  One component of my work is a targeted presentation called “Small Towns and Small Banks” that is focused on CEOs of community banks and talks specifically as to how these banks can be catalysts for change that results in stronger communities

General Topics

Preparing Your Bank for the Next Decade
While the day to day pressures of managing balance sheets and regulatory requirements seem overwhelming, smart banks sense that the weight of competitive pressures make it even more important to develop and execute on strategies that will ensure their banks’ success going forward. this session will look at emerging trends in banking products and services, and provide keen insight into developing the infrastructure, tools, and staff needed to deliver them successfully. 

Managing Your Core Vendor Relationships

Your contract for services with your primary banking software provider defines a very important third party relationship with your bank.  Issues of exposure, liability, service levels, and yes, cost, are all in play.  Many banks have signed contracts with dozens of pages, without a careful review.  In some instances, the bank's attorney has been asked to review and comment on the contract, but absent specific software expertise, such a review may be cursory at best.  This session is not a legal review, but an operational one, of the implications of committing to selected aspects of the contract.  Participants will leave with insight into how to evaluate contract terms, and what areas to ask the bank's attorney to look into in further detail. These skills can then be extended to other third party contracts, further enhancing the benefits.   Today's focus on reducing expenses, and controlling costs, makes this session especially timely. Ideal for Operations audiences and CFO Conferences.

Alternate Branching Strategies: Leveraging Technology to Efficiently Serve Existing and New Markets

While community banks offer a wide range of electronic delivery channels, branch footprint remains a key component of service delivery.  This session will look at smarter ways to branch, including limiting physical plant investment, and utilizing a wide range of technologies to provide outstanding service across all of your markets. 

Developing Your Bank’s Call Center

Today, even small banks need a plan for centralizing customer contact and support.  As delivery channel options increase, customer demands for timely, knowledgeable support will increase.  A call center is the key, allowing you to offer a seamless, consistent experience when customers choose to call, email, tweet, or FB for help.  To augment this policy, banks must move to a “universal associate” model, whereby each employee with customer service responsibility is cross trained on all products and services.  This allows quick, accurate responses, and raises customer satisfaction, which in turn increases customer loyalty, along with the adoption of new technologies.  This session will guide participants in mapping out a plan to move to a call center model from wherever they are now.

Developing Your Bank's Mobile Strategy

Mobile Banking has quickly become an expected service offering for bank customers.  Consumer's desire to do more on the mobile device, combined with extensive advertising at a national level, have driven awareness and rapid adoption. In addition, our society is rapidly moving into a “Post PC” stage, where the mobile device (tablets and larger smart phones) will become the primary end user device.  In spite of this, there are banks who are yet to invest in this technology.  Many who have deployed Mobile Banking have done little beyond offering the basic product.  What is needed?  A strategy.  One that encompasses five pillars: technology, operations, compliance, promotion, and innovation.  This session will provide banks with the information and techniques necessary to select, implement, promote, and manage a broad Mobile Banking delivery channel, both now and in the future. 

Social Media's Place in Your Marketing Strategy

Often, social media channels like Facebook, blogging, and Twitter are talked about as if they exist in a vacuum.  This session is designed to provide overall guidance for marketing, public relations, and advertising for financial institutions, including traditional and  social media channels.  The session is offered with two options: a focus on tactical issues, including implementation, security, compliance, and management, or a CEO focused presentation to provide background, risk management advice, and guidance to management as they seek to oversee the bank's marketing, public relations, and advertising efforts.

Attracting and Retaining Profitable Small Business Customers: 

Packaging and Promoting Your Bank's Services

For many years, I've spoken to banks about the real battle in financial services – the fight for the profitable small business account.  This session looks at recent trends, including “free” business checking, and commercial cash management technology, and provides insight into ensuring that your bank has a plan to attract and retain business accounts.  Often, community bankers find that they have all the tools needed to compete on feature/function with the regional and national players.  What is lacking is packaging, promotion, and sales training.  Participants will leave with ideas that will allow them to address an overall strategy for the commercial marketplace.

Please contact me today to schedule one or more of these presentations for your group!

trent@trentfleming.com

901-896-4007