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Whenever a bank fails, it’s bad news for the entire sector. Customers get nervous and start asking questions: Can I trust my bank? What if this happens to my money? How do I know if my bank is secure? If they’re not 100% confident, they may move their money out of their bank, or to an institution that feels more secure.

Early 2023 saw some headline-grabbing bank failures around the world, from local and niche institutions like First Republic and Silicon Valley Bank to major international players like Credit Suisse. Most banks and credit unions were unaffected by these events, but many customers still feel anxiety about the financial sector.

That’s why it’s a priority for banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to put trust at the heart of their customer relationships. In this piece, we’ll offer some advice on building confidence among commercial and retail clients. But first, let’s look at why trust matters so much.

Upgrade your goals and incentive program with consolidation and automation.

Are you wondering if employee goals and incentive programs make a substantive difference? It’s a fair question. They do, and they do it in a couple of important ways. Forbes explains, “Incentives and recognition programs help employees remain connected and engaged with their workplaces, offering motivation, which in turn, results in enhanced productivity and performance.” It’s not hard to see from there the connection between engaged, productive employees and the bottom line. In a survey of US bankers, 84% of respondents who currently have an employee incentive plan in place said their incentive plan has increased sales within their organization and increased employee engagement by encouraging better profiling, cross-selling, and referrals to other lines of business.

Banks and credit unions set goals and create incentives to reach those goals every year for their institutions; not all of them afford the same focus for employee goals and incentives. If that’s you, it’s time for a change.

Here are four ways to fine tune your employee goals and incentives program.

You know the term CRM, Customer Relationship Management, but it might be hard to explain why it matters to your bank or credit union. With customer relationships at the heart of banking, and technology ever evolving to help, CRM is now the norm across many industries and for good reason.

Deepening an existing customer relationship, especially during uncertain economic times, is often a banker’s best investment.

Cross-selling, or selling products to existing customers, is a smart move for banks and credit unions. And with inflation and possible recession in play, cross-selling makes more sense now than ever.

CRM is not a new technology, and there are plenty of misconceptions of it. With those come a handful of myths that linger in the meeting rooms of financial institutions. Here are five common myths about CRM and the truth you need know.