January 2006 Client Corner -- Edgewater Bank

January 2006 Client Corner -- Edgewater Bank

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CSSP: Edgewater Bank has been doing strategic planning with CSSP for three years now. How has your three years of SSP helped improve Edgewater in that time?

Robert Baldwin: Edgewater started to use Simplified Strategic Planning to attain the financial goals set by the Board of Directors and management. One major aim was to change the culture of the bank to one of sales and proactive service, in place of merely being there when a customer walked in and requested some product or service.

CSSP: How has your experience with SSP differed from the planning you did in prior years?

Robert Baldwin: Previously, strategic planning was done by firms that knew banking. This resulted in their providing us with a plan that directly copied or reflected what they had done for others. They brought us no new or challenging ideas. As a result, we felt that we were not differentiating our bank from any of our competitors.

CSSP: In what ways has your CSSP consultant contributed to your successes?

Robert Baldwin: With the direct involvement of our CSSP consultant, Dana Baldwin (no relation) our plan is more structured, disciplined and much better defined. The action plans lay out time frames needed to accomplish our goals and objectives. The strategies and actions needed to carry out those strategies were developed by our team, not the consultant. Dana gave us guidance and kept us on track and on time. He challenged our thinking and helped us assure that our plan was well-focused, well-defined and, while a stretch, attainable in the time allotted to it.

CSSP: What led you to choose to utilize SSP and have a CSSP consultant lead it in the first place?

Robert Baldwin: The Chairman of our Board of Directors had attended CSSP's seminar, part of Michigan State University's Eli Broad Graduate School of Business Continuing Executive Education Program. After he attended, he recommended that two bank officers go to the seminar. We attended, and upon completion of the seminar, decided to engage CSSP to guide our strategic planning.

CSSP: You have had to deal with increasing competition in markets where you are a relatively small player. How have you addressed these challenges?

Robert Baldwin: We determined what our strengths were and spent considerable time deciding how to take advantage of them. We determined that our strengths included local and quick decision making. Customers could count on not having to wait for an out-of-town response to loan requests. As we are a community bank, we wanted to take advantage of our community involvement, both in the form of funding and with employee participation in community activities and charities. Another strength is our friendly, know your customer service. One more is our responsiveness, which results in having an ability to bring new products to market quickly.

CSSP: What have you learned over the last three years that has helped you change your business and enable it to grow that you did not know before you started with CSSP?

Robert Baldwin: We now have a much better understanding of competition and how to beat it. We understand the product and service needs of our market place. We have visibility internally and thus the ability to build on our own strengths and resources.

CSSP: Now that you have three years of experience with SSP, what would you do to improve it further?

Robert Baldwin: We need to utilize it more than we have so far in the area of reaching budget and financial goals. The changes we have made and are making don't happen instantly. We are building toward reaching farther and higher, but it takes time. This process has also given us the tools for expansion into other markets.

CSSP: What would you say to someone who was on the fence about doing strategic planning, and why?

Robert Baldwin: You need to do it to set your course for the future and to give you direction and purpose. The action plans are vital to keeping your feet to the fire and meeting the time frames you have assigned. We think it is a vital and continuing factor in any business's success.

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