Raddon Report

It is strategic planning season again, and after the year we’ve had, there’s a lot to think about as financial institutions navigate ways to drive future growth. For many organizations, strategic planning will be conducted virtually in some form or another. Some may have portions of their team in one room, socially distancing and wearing masks, while other team members connect virtually. Other institutions will have everyone dialing in remotely.

As we move into the fourth quarter of an unforgettable year that many of us would prefer to forget, I’m often asked to provide a prognosis on what economic recovery will look like. Will the recovery of which we are in the beginning phases be shaped like an “L”, like a “V”, like a “W”, like the Nike “swoosh”, or even the newest shape, the letter “K”? First, a review of what these various letters imply for recovery.

By: Marcy Scanlin, Strategic Advisor, and Jan Trifts, Strategic Advisor

When Benjamin Franklin said, “Out of adversity comes opportunity,” he couldn’t have foreseen how a highly contagious virus could substantially halt the economy in the country he helped found.

Fortunately, banks and credit unions worked alongside businesses to turn the opportunity presented by the federal government’s pandemic-era funding into a lifeline for many employers and their employees.

Financial institutions navigated significant change in a short time to continue serving consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. As markets begin opening in varying degrees, financial leaders are thinking about how to sustainably move forward in this new environment. Millennial and Gen Z research suggests the most trusted and authentic brands will survive.

Pandemic-forced branch closings and shifting demographics have highlighted and hastened the growing need for financial institutions to leverage market insights for acquisition, growth and retention. As strategic planning season approaches, it’s important to dedicate road maps and resources to reaching your best existing and potential consumers with timely offers through relevant channels.

Building long-term loyalty and high-value brand experiences depends on:

Raddon typically hits the road in June to host workshops across the western half of the country for participants in our Performance Analytics program. With COVID-19 putting a temporary halt to these in-person meetings, we shifted our workshops to a two-day online event with more than 900 financial services professionals. A sign of the times, 61 percent of attendees logged in to the event from their home offices, as did the Raddon team of presenters.

COVID-19 has had an immeasurable impact on our society – societally, technologically and most certainly economically.

During the first 13 weeks of the pandemic, there were 45.7 million initial claims for unemployment, or 3.5 million per week. To put this in perspective, during the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the average weekly total initial claims were 476,000, and the largest single week was 659,000.

More than any year in generations, 2020 has brought a wave of uncertainty to the marketplace. But it has also spurred an innovative, thoughtful response from businesses across industries – especially financial services. As banks and credit unions take on the strategic planning process in this watershed year, they do so with a new vision toward customer and member service, branch management and even disaster recovery. 

The economic impact of civic shutdowns, business closures and layoffs in response to combating the novel coronavirus places local banks and credit unions at the center of helping to preserve, if not salvage, the financial well-being of their communities.

On March 22, financial industry regulators released an interagency statement encouraging financial institutions to help borrowers and giving leeway on risk classification requirements for certain loan modifications amid COVID-19.