Nearly one hundred Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri bankers came together virtually on March 18 and 19 to enhance their marketing and management skills. The Tri-State Marketing and HR Conference, a partnership between the Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri Bankers Associations, featured a top-notch line-up of speakers that challenged participants to bring their best every day while making time to create a fun and collaborative workplace.

Sean Payant, Chief Consulting Officer at Haberfeld, started the day with his message, “Getting in the Game.” As an industry, we spend vast amounts of money, not to mention time and internal resources, to promote our institutions — to get people to choose us. We brand and we market. The marketing professional’s role is to get consumers — the team captains — to pick our financial institution first. For this to be most effective, however, there must be alignment between marketing and execution. Building true alignment between marketing and execution depends on four factors: product knowledge, customer service, accountability and incentives.

Next up was Rachel Harden, Public Relations Specialist at Bajillion Agency in Topeka, Kansas, who shared her vision for retaining and recruiting employees. She pointed out why marketing to current and future team members is just as important as marketing to new customers. Rachel showed the meaningfulness of working for your company and the ways people make an impact in their job. She explained how key messages, logos, values, visuals, and more are brand tools that help your employees feel connected and invested in their work.

Neal Reynolds with banbkmarketingcenter.com took center stage next with his presentation, “Bananas, Baking Soda and Bank Marketing.” What do bananas and baking soda have to do with bank marketing? The days of growing banks and businesses by growing the number of branches are long past. These days, starting even before the pandemic, customers are putting banks in a challenging position; on the one hand, they want relationships that they can trust, and on the other, they want all of their banking services in the palm of their hand.

Day one concluded with a presentation by Joe Micallef with Grow UP Sales. According to Joe, besides checking in on their clients, many bankers struggle to find ways to engage their clients and proactively assist them with their financial challenges. Now is not the time to sell to clients, but you can certainly save them from their financial anxieties. Joe provided marketing and sales teams advice on engaging clients today more confidently and offering tremendous value.

Day two featured KBA Legal Department Director Terri Thomas sharing how to communicate more effectively. Today’s financial institutions understand that to compete, they must build and maintain successful team cultures. Unfortunately, if not understood and properly managed, pitfalls can hinder a financial institution from meeting its goals and create a negative and even hostile environment for management, employees and customers alike. Terri explained how perception influences our day-to-day interactions with others and how to identify and work with various social styles to establish successful relationships with co-workers and customers.

Following Terri was Bobby Young, VP-Staff Attorney at KBA. 2020, what a wild and wacky ride! Last year brought interesting changes to human resource management and employment law. He unfolded the new and trending HR and employment topics for 2021 and some lingering concerns from 2020.

Naomi Mercer, SVP, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at ABA, said as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and social change movements, a deliberate, effective approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion is more of a business imperative for banks than ever and an important reflection of community commitment. Naomi discussed the role DE&I issues have played in the crises and how banks can refocus on DEI moving forward.

The conference concluded with a super-charged, energetic, and inspirational message by Holly Hoffman, CBS Survivor Contestant. She explained that unless we make a conscious effort to bring ourselves back to center and refocus, we begin to lose ourselves. It is never too late to find your purpose. She shared a simple tool to refocus and reprioritize you — Write a Note. As you “write yourself a note,” you will begin to discover if you are where you want to be. You will encourage yourself to find purpose. No matter what stage of life you are in, we all need purpose. Define your life. Be confident. Be great. Be you.

Thank you, Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and BankTalentHQ, for your generous sponsorship of this year’s event.