What you'll learn
- Challenge leaders to become masters of change - how this will help attract the gig economy workers and keep workers.
- Accepting every company now is a technology company and what that means to build comparative advantages by using technology to lower costs in producing services and goods.
- Levering technology and mindset to industrialize speed, cost savings, and innovation across the company that will build competitive advantages.
Transcription:
Ryan Curley (00:10):
Well, thank you for joining the panel this afternoon. Really excited to be here and want to get into the depth of the discussion that we have with the panelists. And maybe just to start with some brief introductions. Ryan Curley, Managing Director and Partner with BCG based in our Chicago office. I lead BCGs business banking segment globally and spend the majority of my client work in the US and Canada working with our banking clients primarily on large change efforts in business banking. So very excited for the panel today. Kimble, do you want to go next?
Kimble Lewis (00:42):
Sure. So I'm a Senior Lecturer at The American College of Financial Services. Most recently I was a strategy and business growth leader at Wells Fargo.
Lindsey Strange (00:52):
Hi, good afternoon. I'm Lindsey Strange. I am the Senior Vice President and Chief Retail Officer for Valley Strong Credit Union. We're a $4 billion credit union based out of Kern County, California with roughly 360,000 members.
Carol Sexton (01:06):
Hi, good afternoon. Hi, sorry I can't see you over there. Just wanted to get up and say Hi, Carol Sexton. I'm the Head of Retail Banking at Cambridge Savings Bank. We're a $7 billion organization located in Massachusetts. I have almost 19 branches. We'll be opening our 19th in January, February, but really have a passion for our customers and for small business. So it's really great to be here today.
Ryan Curley (01:29):
Great and really want to use the next 40 minutes or so to get the perspectives of the panel. And I think it's great that we have a different range of institutions represented here, but to really talk about not only the current opportunities and challenges and the dynamic times in which we find ourselves. And I think we've all sat in a lot of great discussions over the last day and a half that have focused on a lot of that, but really focused on how do we translate that into building advantage and serving clients better. And so maybe just to start with a few basic sort of context setting as we go into the discussion. Let's start by actually talking about business banking and small business and how clients are served today. And if we look at we some Barlow data that I think is interesting and instructive as we think of the current state of affairs about one in five SMBs consider switching their primary bank.
(02:24):
Very few of them actually do in terms of 3% actually making that switch. But there is a level of consideration for people who currently have a bank of an appetite and openness to switch. There is around 10% that are actually adding additional providers. And I think that that's a really interesting piece that we'll get into a little bit of how do we actually think through the breadth of services that we can offer to SMBs as their bank, as their financial advisor and think about partnering with others to do so. And the stat on this page that I think is actually the most instructive is this one on the end around 50% that are not promoters of their primary bank. And there's a way of looking at that and saying half of them are, but I actually think it points to the greater opportunity of what is it that banks can be doing better so that people actually think about their bank in a much more positive way and promote it and say, I would really wish that others would enjoy the way that I enjoy the services.
(03:26):
And so what is it about small business owners and what they're looking for in terms of the experiences from their banks? And we spent, there's been a lot of talk over the last day and a half on digital capabilities. We'll get into some of that today. But that's actually in my view, a means towards actually enabling them to run their business. What they're fundamentally looking for is a set of solutions and services that can help them do what they do, which is run the business that they own. And there are many dimensions to that in terms of giving them time, helping them be more productive, helping them drive growth with their new customers, and then also feel like they are actually getting a good deal. How are they getting access to services that are being brought to them? And there are a whole bunch of components that we'll talk about today that really go into making that effective for small business owners.
(04:18):
How are we creating great user experiences? How are we making it seamless? How are we making things interactive and intuitive? And one of the themes that I think has been coming through throughout this whole conference is the elevated expectations of customers. And so what are the ways in which we can actually use that to our advantage in terms of creating an advantage relative to competitors and serving clients? And this is the last page and then we'll get into the discussion, but one of the things that I think we believe very strongly in is that SMEs are moving more and more to more integrated platforms and that's across a whole range of services, whether that's digital marketing, payroll accounting, but more and more saying, I want a solution that actually sees my whole business and delivers the services that I need. And the numbers on the left in green are the current appetite for using an openness to using a platform.
(05:10):
And the ones on the right, which are obviously two, three times higher, our future consideration. And what this tells us is this is the direction where things are going. People are looking for integrated solutions, integrated platforms that can serve their business needs. And again, that creates both an opportunity in terms of how do I do that effectively but also a challenge and that if others are doing it and I'm facing new competitors, how do I make sure that I don't get left behind? So maybe with that when I get into the panel discussion, and maybe Kimble we'll start with you, the competitive dynamics in which small businesses are operating in, I've never been more dynamic and more fluid than they are today. And so what do you see as some of the key dimensions of competition in terms of how competition is defined?
Kimble Lewis (05:55):
Well, sure, thank you for that question. Question. I really appreciate it. When I think about that question of competitive advantage and comparative advantage for small to mid-sized businesses, I can't help but think about where we are right now. Currently, I'm going to put my consultant hat on. When we look at things as two truths and two facts. So truth number one, every business, no matter what industry, no matter what sector is a technology company, the pandemic has showed us that technology has helped us and governments survive that. And we need to embrace it and it's okay, and we have to work with our clients to help them embrace that. Number two, the second truth is that technology is growing at an enormous rate exponentially. And with that change is requiring business leaders and owners to really rethink on how to run their business simply, simply using cloud AI, generative AI, even quantum.
(07:10):
So now I think about the two facts. There's a lot of data on small and mid-sized businesses and what they need, but I took a look at a couple, Barlow is one venerable research house that I like a lot and they had a most recent survey that shared that businesses, but up to $10 million, they surveyed around 350 customers business, excuse me. And they said that 59% of those surveys says that, look, I really am concerned, top concern is the cost of doing business. So that speaks to their need for advice and counsel and products and services and platforms to build their comparative advantage because their top concern is the course of doing business and running their business. Then I took a look at JP Morgan Chase most recent survey of small businesses that had under 20 million in revenue. They surveyed a thousand businesses, very important business leader research of that. Surprisingly 50% of those business leaders, they declare that they're focusing on acquiring new customers and by means of expanding their market and focusing on driving new revenue streams. So that speaks to their need for partners to help them build competitive advantage to get those new clients. So those are the two truths and two facts. I put my consultant hat on them next to Boston
Lindsey Strange (08:44):
Truths and a lie. Look at that lie, two truths and a lie.
Kimble Lewis (08:48):
Yeah, I know, right? I'm next to Ryan and Boston Consulting Group. So as I think about that, whatever we do in our audience here, we have fintechs, asset managers, banks, credit unions. At the end of this conversation, my message is that we have to be in a position to put all the advances of technology, all the advances of today's economy together for the small business to help them achieve that competitive and competitive advantage. And we'll talk more about it. I have my views on the economy and I'll share that later.
Ryan Curley (09:23):
So Lindsey, I think Kimmel did a good job of just setting the broader context within that. In terms of the so what for banks and credit unions at Strong, what do you think the keys are to really making your clients successful within net broader context?
Lindsey Strange (09:37):
Yeah, I think it's so interesting to hear your comments Kimble, and then think about the various sessions this week where we've heard likely a lot of the things we maybe know, and it either gives us great confirmation that we're headed in the right direction or that there's tremendous innovation that still lies ahead of us. And even in this last session, if you were here, innovation is really required, but we'll get to that later. I think for Valley Strong, when we think about the needs of our members broadly, at the end of the day for us it's really about making sure that we offer ourselves in a way that really is about being helpful and recognizing that our business members, they're experts at running their business. They require expertise perhaps on the finance side, especially when we're talking about this particular segment. And so they're really good at their craft.
(10:30):
Sometimes their finances are the last thing that they want to deal with and when they have the time to deal with it, it's what 1:00 AM midnight after the kids go down and they finally have a chance to catch their breath and they're exhausted and all the things. So for us, this is about real relationship management and I'm talking authentic relationship management. We all say, I mean I've been on the bank side, I spent most of my career there, but at the end of the day, do we really mean it? Are we really there to spend the time and offer the advice and be the connector and to be the educator and to be seen as a partner who sits on their leadership team and brings people together to help understand, truly understand the problems that their business is facing or the goals they have for the future, and how we can help enable solutions or enable connections that align with these problems.
(11:27):
And thinking broadly, because one of the sessions yesterday was very interesting and this was about my businesses need an economist or they need someone who is educated in today's real world economy. So it's no longer simply how good is your team around being a product expert? How good is our team around being a product expert? But how much knowledge do we bring to the table through true value creation with things like economic conditions in the state of the economy as it is and has been, how do we help businesses pivot? And sometimes this spans far beyond our traditional products and services. I mean table stakes, if you saw the slide just before, it's like those are table stakes, but beyond those offerings. And you can see in time we're all going to be in the same place and the competitors that are coming to the table.
(12:21):
Beyond that, what else can we do? So for us, innovation is really key for our credit union. It's one of our core values. And this really is about the freedom to think and be creative. And I'm not just talking about as it's in helping our business clients, our members. This is about innovation around product. Am I listening to what our members need and are we taking that back and truly trying to innovate our products, find another solution? How can AI help us? What types of third parties, fintechs and others can we bring to the table to create that value that our members need? Because one of the questions that we ask our members is, tell me about the relationship you have with your banker, banker. And guess what they say, I don't know who my bank person is. I don't have one. I haven't heard from them since I onboarded and you guys have been doing this a long time. This is like the whole, oh, we're dating. They're my prospect, and then I have the chance to, we are going to move in together and then we're going to get married. We're going to make a real commitment. And then what happens, right? Is it like, okay, we're good onward. But that real relationship and actually meaning it, I think is at the heart of what we do laddered with innovation and a real understanding and desire to help.
Ryan Curley (13:49):
And so I mean that's a lot, right? There's not only the importance of the relationship and making sure that you have the bankers not only in the right place and with the right capabilities, but surrounded by the right products that are continuing to evolve to meet the challenges that small business owners have, and then enabling it all with digital capabilities that are a challenge. And so in the context of all of that, Carol would be interested in your take in how to actually take a practical lens of actually delivering against that and how do you actually think through bringing the vision into reality in a world that's operating with constraints and a long list of other requirements, some of which are less exciting around cyber risk or what have you. So how do you think about actually delivering against it in a practical way?
Carol Sexton (14:40):
Yeah. Well listen, I mean, whoever said banking was boring, right? It's totally not. And it's something that I'm very passionate about. We are very passionate about. I think we're very intentional about our small business customers, and it's exactly what Lindsey said. It's all about the relationship. And so we do listen to our customers and I would be doing a disservice if I don't recognize my friend who's in this room, Nick Miller, who's been really an instrumental part of helping us shape our small business strategy at Cambridge Savings Bank and putting us on a journey to really do the right things and really understand what small businesses need. So we've done some surveys, we've done focus groups, we've listened to our customers. A couple of changes we've made over the past couple of years are we have a robust financial education program for consumers. So we rolled out a financial education program for our small business customers and nonprofits to help small business customers.
(15:43):
We then enhanced our website to add the resource center, which I think you've heard of in some other sessions. So to Lindsey's point, when customers want to get help at eight o'clock at night, they can go to our resource center and really get some really good content about how to help their business, cashflow marketing, all that rich content of things. Then. So we've done a couple of things here, but we know, again, a lot of others on past panels has said there's more work to be done. And so some of the feedback we get from our customers was our online banking platform is clunky and not as intuitive as I would like. So that's on our roadmap. We're changing our online banking provider this year to really be mindful to make sure we meet the needs of our customers. And then a lot of folks have talked about integration.
(16:35):
So we want to make sure the partner that we pick integrates with the software that our customers want and need. We know digital is a big piece, right? Today at Cambridge Savings Bank, Kent, a small business customer cannot open an account online. That's on our roadmap. That will happen hopefully in 2025, maybe towards the end. But again, these are all things that we have on our roadmap with their intention of helping our customers and helping our small business customers grow and succeed. And I think I've heard others talk about silos too. I think one thing we do at the bank is really we all come together and talk about the importance of the customer is the heart of everything we do. And it's not just retail and small business, it's commercial, it's it, it's marketing to make sure everyone's on the same page and understands what we want to accomplish for our small business customers. It's a journey. We're on the right road, I think, and we'll get there. And that's why you get up each and every day. You get up to be in the game and make a difference, and I think it's really important.
Ryan Curley (17:46):
Great. And so I think there's a bunch of different areas that I want to dive deeper in, but one of them that I think both has stood out to me in the context of even just the start of this discussion and then also here in seeing all of the different exciting vendors and service providers that are here. I see a few in the audience. I've had some great discussions with NuGen and Biz to Credit, and there's a whole series of vendors that are able to help accelerate the path on which you can serve clients, but there's also constraints. Constraints of time, constraints of how many different partners can you work with. So we'd be interested in perspectives from the panel as you think through thinking through where you actually really need to partner versus not and how to in the cacophony of things that are coming at you, how are you prioritizing? What are the real places where you see the opportunity for partners that advantage?
Carol Sexton (18:46):
I can start if that's all right. Yeah. So I think again, I learned in a couple of other sessions, I believe it was Eric that said, you don't just want to partner with a digital solution unless it's the right digital solution. And then in a later on session, I believe it was Elaine who was talking about onboarding and talking about the challenges of budget constraints, we all live in that world and how they perhaps partnered with a digital solution that really wasn't the right fit for what they wanted for their customer experience. And so it's that lens of you really have to understand what that partner or vendor is going to deliver for you and for your customer. You have to make sure it integrates. You have to really check all the boxes to make sure it's the exact solution that you want and it's meeting the need for your customer. So payments is a big piece. We hear our small business customers want simple, fast, efficient, those are the things that are on our roadmap, but it's really making sure you have the right partner.
Kimble Lewis (19:57):
Sure. If I can chime in and thank you, I like to say I look at it. That's a great question, Ryan. By the way, the criteria of partnering with small and mid-size businesses with partners should be broken up into three areas. I think about it this way, immediacy, interrelatedness and interrupted this. So right now we are in an immediate economy. We want things quick. Customers want things quick. The business owners need to process payments and pay their employees and pay their vendors quickly and efficiently. Whatever partnership we have with businesses, we have to solve the question of how can we help them, the smaller mid-size business, industrialize speed within their organization, lower costs within their organization and still drive up revenue. So whatever our FinTech partners are, consultants, banks, credit unions, we have got to create that product or those solutions to do that. I was just at JP Morgan Chase their payments capabilities recently and they were talking about that and that's good. Wells Fargo has that work being done as well. PNC as well, I've worked at some venerable organizations.
(21:26):
The second part is interconnectedness. So right now when we look at our phone, we could do multiple things with our Uber is connected with maps, our companies embedded finance. I think we talked about that. We're going to talk about it. We need to create solutions to help businesses be effective in interrelating, interconnecting technology in their business to allow for customers to buy from them easier as well as to pay their vendors and everything. So the interrelatedness is important and we have to solve the question, how can we help small and mid-size businesses address their client's current needs and even anticipate their future needs as well as their employee needs, as well as their other stakeholders. And then the last part is interrupted this. Now yesterday we was doing a lot of talk about, as you think about it, meeting customers where they are and everything.
(22:33):
And we have to be careful with that. We want to meet our customers where they are. We want to be over the moon, but we sometimes have to challenge customers to become masters of change. We have to sometimes help them look at the world from a different perspective and let them know, okay, we are going to meet you what your needs are, but this based on the data, this is what is coming. So this is what my capability is going to help you solve for. So I find from my experience, when we're able to do that, we're helping small businesses really build some competitive advantage because they're creating, we can create products that will help them either compete on price, compete on capabilities, compete on features, or do something different based on data, buck the trend, create something new and different and make their competition irrelevant. When we're able to help businesses like that, we create a win-win proposition for each other. And I think to answer your question, that's what is really needed and to partner together.
Ryan Curley (23:43):
And one of the areas that I think it's worth us spending time on is that it also still comes down to people, right? We've talked a lot about digital channels and digital experiences and those are important and they're becoming more important. But there's also the importance of the bankers and the relationship in supporting small business owners in delivering against what they're trying to build. And in a lot of ways, how you actually get bankers to adapt the ones at the rock face and deliver that and change and evolve in the dynamic world that we're talking about is a journey. So it would just be interested in perspective from the panel of how do you actually enable your bankers at a personal level to go on that change journey and understand what they need to be doing to elevate and serve their clients better?
Lindsey Strange (24:34):
Yeah, I love this question. I think for our team, certainly this is a journey for us. Business banking has been around the credit union for the last five years and over the last two years we've really been focused on building our team more broadly across just the department, not just the business bankers we have in markets, but really across the broader team. Because this is relationship, it can't be disconnected. We all want to make sure that we're talking the same language and that we all are wrapping our arms and caring for these members, but it's about aligning them with knowledge, right? Aligning them with knowledge that builds their confidence that they feel like they can have a great conversation and are listening in such a way that we can help and understand what problems they're facing and what solutions we can provide. So for us, I know Nick's in the background there and I've worked with Nick for several years with Clarity Advantage is find yourself a partner and Clarity is a great one who can come in and really help you all understand where your team is today and taking an approach to upskilling them to be able to have great conversations, kind of number one from the standpoint of being helpful.
(25:50):
This is not about pushing any product or trying to figure out how I'm going to meet my goals today. That will happen if you do this part. Well, I think the other piece is offering help before we expect anything in return. That idea of reciprocity. And so what resources can we provide that helps to showcase ourselves as experts, but also gives our team a little bit of pocket knowledge on that particular industry. If they're talking to the CFO, if they're talking to the CEO, the business owner, whomever it might be, what questions should we be asking? If you're familiar with Vertical IQ, everyone, this is a public service announcement. It's a great product. They have great sales tools in there, but it's about framing their mindset and giving them exposure to the tools to help to enable their success in great conversations. And I think that starts with leadership and really making sure that there's great coaches who are truly trying to give the team a toolkit to be successful. Because what we like to do is be like, okay, here's your training now. Go for it. You can do it. And then I'm going to check in with you weekly during our coaching and we're going to talk about it. But this is really like, let's walk with them. What we've done is really walk with them, let's show them. Let's partner our branches with business bankers to kind of show coach it along the way, make those introductions of our existing businesses or how to prospect.
(27:18):
And so it really just starts with, I think, building great talent, but having the leadership courage to really inspect what you're all expecting, get yourselves up and out of projects, spend the time with your team, go talk to your clients or your members and really get a sense of how are we doing today serving your needs as we expect them to be served. You might be surprised what you find out.
Carol Sexton (27:44):
Just want to add, I think all great points and spot on, and Nick, you can pay us later for a couple of things we've done again with Nick and clarity is aside from training in the back of the envelope, cashflow exercise for your branch managers or banker or relationship managers is really a great tool, but is role plays. I know nobody likes role plays, but look at, we're in Vegas, the Las Vegas Raiders, it's the Raiders. They practice every day. That's like role-playing from Boston, the world champion, Boston Celtics practice. So we have to practice each really to make sure we're honing our skillset. And so we do that. We do that a lot with our bankers. I couldn't agree more with Lindsey on Vertical IQ. I have my vertical IQ
Lindsey Strange (28:45):
So good.
Carol Sexton (28:45):
On my mobile phone, I was showing somebody yesterday. And it's a really great tool. It helps your bankers really prepare and be knowledgeable because the end of the day, that's our goal is to help our customers. The more we know about particular industries, how they act, pay all the things about that industry, the more we can help them. And then third, for me with the team, it's really the why behind the ask, right? So again, I talked about the passion that our customers at the heart of everything we want to do. So we want to help those small business customers. In order to do that, we have to engage and have conversations and have that passion to want to help them. And yes, that does mean at times it is selling and adding relationships, but guess what we are doing that we never product push. We do what's right for the customer, and there are tools and solutions that our customers have today that don't have today, excuse me, that they do need to be successful. So it's the why behind the ask of really building relationships with your small business customers. And again, I don't understand why somebody doesn't want to come to work each and every day and do that for your customers and do it for each other. So
Lindsey Strange (30:07):
Ryan, can I add one piece to this segmentation? How many relationships are your bankers managing today? I heard a chuckle. So I think there's an opportunity to really say what is the expectation you have of your relationship managers or of those that are in sales chairs for you to say, are they over saddled with a book that they're just managing? They can't get out and grow it right because just too heavy. There's too much there. So I would just encourage you to think differently if segmentation is not a part of what you're doing today to understand how can you segment the book in such a way where the right people have the right work and it empowers your teams that you expect great things of to go capture more build relationships and handing off other parts that are maybe more administrative in nature to those that are more well equipped to handle that. It really does bring the whole team around the member, whether it's treasury management, the product team, the finance team, your underwriters, credit quality, whoever, bring the team together, let them do what they're really good at, and then let's go out and get some more.
Ryan Curley (31:20):
And I think this is a really important point, Lindsey, in that if you're not segmented and you're not actually being deliberate and intentional about what segments you want to serve and how you want to serve them and what you want to bring those clients and how are you actually going to differentiate to that segment? There are others in the market who are thinking at a segmented level and are thinking reasonably specifically about narrow segments of the market. And now are at a point where they say, not only can I build a solution for that segment, but I can reach them through new ways. And I think that actually creates a real need for banks to be consistently banks and credit unions consistently coming back to that to have a lot of clarity around who they want to serve and what they want to deliver against them
Lindsey Strange (32:05):
And stay there.
Kimble Lewis (32:06):
Yeah, great point. I'd see in the audience, Derek Ellington, my former boss at Wells Fargo, good guy when he came in on the frontline question, I'm going to add some quick 2 cents on that. He came in with the focus on making sure the frontline had the right toolset, skillset and mindset to win. That in and of itself, it starts from the top down as you mentioned with leadership, believing that you have to invest in growth, upskilling the team and giving them the tools and having a message to galvanize them around a mindset to win in a market and to really have an insatiable focus on the customer that is the way to get the frontline really effective, become effective in what they do. So I just wanted to add that 2 cents there.
Ryan Curley (33:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
Carol Sexton (33:13):
I just want to jump into on segmentation. We did over the past couple of years make the decision for our relationship managers to focus on particular industries, the deposit rich industries, the ones that we're really good at. And we know from data that we have opportunity within our market to penetrate those industries. So you select them and it just doesn't magically happen. You have to show up at organizations that they're a part of. So if it's the Real Estate Bar Association, you've got to be involved and you have to show up. It's the things you do in the community and with organizations, with those industries that you want to attract that really make a difference and set you apart. And then for the branch folks, the branch managers, it's the 400 feet around the branches or the micro businesses that really other backbone of the economy. And that's a segment that the branch folks focus on.
Ryan Curley (34:16):
And I think it gets at the heart of, I think what we've really been focusing on for most of this discussion, which is differentiation. How are you at your institution actually creating a differential advantage relative to other options that your clients have? Because they have lots of them that says, this is why I choose, and this is why I ultimately, hopefully advocate and support a given bank. So maybe would be interested in just perspectives as you think about how to differentiate and in a sustainable way, how you actually think about it. We talked about segmentation, we've talked about product, we've talked about innovation, but if you were to say the one thing that's really going to be the differentiator that's becoming more and more important to SMBs, the panel would say what?
Carol Sexton (35:05):
Well, more and more important I think is obviously easy solution. Simple for them so they can be in their business instead of worrying about banking their business. But we know we're not there yet. We know today we don't have the right digital tools. So what we can proudly hang our hat on is people. And that our people really are passionate about helping our small business customers and be that single point of contact for our small business customers. I think back to, I think it was 2021 when the small business team leader and I did a call on Zoom of course, because back in 2021, you didn't meet people in person and we were pitching a prospect and Brad's great, he did his homework, vertical iq. And we never go in as a hard sell. We do listen, we do our industry research, we listen to the customer, tell us what's important to them, have a great dialogue. And he had pitched to other banks, had pitched them, and right on the spot he said, I'm going to choose Cambridge Savings Bank, and it's because of your message of being the single point of contact most important to me. And so I think it's listening and really being that advocate for your small business customer and understanding what's important to them. I think that sets us apart today in the future. We hope to have that coupled with really strong digital tools. So it's expertise with ease.
Ryan Curley (36:44):
And there's a long list of banks and credit unions that are on the journey as it relates to digital. So you have good company, but Lindsey.
Lindsey Strange (36:50):
Yeah, for us, differentiation, I'm thinking of all the things, right? We've talked about relationship and I mean authentic relationship, but for us, this is about, I think there's three pieces. The first is our nimbleness in saying, this is what you need and we don't offer it today. And this is a segment we're very interested in with tremendous opportunity. We're going to go find the solution, we're going to build the product, we're going to do the things, and we double down and we do. The second piece is speed to deliver. We don't have to wait for some model to come back and tell us something or wait for credit committee to meet or whatever it is, is like, let's get the CEO on the horn, let's get the chief credit officer on the horn. Let's get the COO on the horn and let's talk about this deal.
(37:36):
And if we can all get real comfortable, it's like, yes, let's go. Right? So we have an ability to deliver with speed. We have the ability to deliver the product. And I think for us, community is at the heart of what we do. So our businesses see us showing up, they see us investing, they see that we're innovating and standing up A-C-D-F-I to really support and help to grow business in our markets. They see that we're thinking differently about how we leverage SBA or how we leverage our partners to really come around the member. So I think the differentiation is really about speed to deliver, about being innovative and nimble with product design and delivery and finding partners if we're not the right one. I mean like fintechs, right? Or digital solutions. And then our extreme commitment to invest in the community.
Kimble Lewis (38:29):
I'll add something briefly to that. I think differentiation is so, so important, and I look at it from the perspective of the business. So businesses are looking to buy products from their banks, credit unions. I partner with fintechs and consultants. They're not looking to buy products, they're looking to buy transformation. And if we as value partners are creating solutions, platforms, and processes that help small and mid-size businesses transform, take advantage of the advancements in business and technology, then we are helping them differentiate. And in fact, we are differentiating ourselves. I find that my experience teaches me that service innovation, as Amy talked about yesterday, was so important. That is the core. Having an insatiable focus on a customer starts from top down. And if you have that, you're going to create the culture within the organization and you're going to have product teams and innovation teams and risk, and everybody is going to really be laser focused on what the small and mid-size business needs are currently, what they are in the future. Create a persona for them and anticipate what their needs are based on data so that you can, as an organization, create the solutions that differentiate you from your competitors. So I just think it's so important with an insatiable focus on the customer, understand that clients are looking to buy transformation and not products.
Ryan Curley (40:19):
That's great. Well, I know we're sort of coming up on the timing set, but I don't know if there are any questions for the panel from the audience.
Kimble Lewis (40:28):
You're welcome.
Ryan Curley (40:33):
Okay, well with that then maybe we will call it there. And I'll just thank you all for your insights. Really enjoyed the discussion.
Kimble Lewis (40:42):
Thank You.
Carol Sexton (40:42):
Thank you.
Lindsey Strange (40:43):
Thank you.