614.374.2890 [email protected]

GROW YOUR PROFITABILITY

We help community banks improve their profitability, market share & customer satisfaction.

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE STRATEGY SESSION

#1 Improve operational efficiency and team buy-in

#2 Create your customer satisfaction & growth plan

#3 Become the leading financial institution in your market.

What’s the Cost?

What is iT costing you and your customers to not take action?

Most banks today are still not investing in the single most important key to their present and future success…

…relationship building skills. They simply try to hire good people, often with experience. They hope they bring the right things to the table, but reality is that they all have their own ideas of what relationship building looks like. They don’t have a clear way that their organization goes about the single most important activity that defines your success. They leave it to chance and hope that making good hires will get them there.

When you choose a defined relationship building process and teach it within your organization, you are building the foundational skills needed for success and to differentiate you in the market. It doesn’t need to be complicated or include dozens of hours of training, but it needs to be grounded in teaching the skills needed to learn about and understand your customers needs. Then solve those needs with your products and services. Add to that a consistent follow up plan so that you are present when the opportunity is right, and you’ll WIN their business most of the time. We help you lay out that plan and ensure that your processes and systems are aligned with your strategy. That way all that you do and provide, empowers your team to succeed at relationship building.

When you see the lights come on for your team as they experience the simplicity and friendliness of the relationship building approach in our Trusted Advisor process, and you see their excitement and enthusiasm as they overcome their fear of selling and see success, maybe for the first time, you’ll know you have struck GOLD. Your team members will become confident in their relationship building skills. You’ll see team members that never got beyond conversations about the weather, boldly ask clients about their finances, truly seeking ways to help your customers. As their confidence continues to soar, they will have these conversations throughout every aspect of their daily life. They will truly be ambassadors for your clients and your bank.

Banks that leave their customer relationship skill building to different leaders with different ideas or even worse to chance, rarely are known as good performing companies. When you don’t make this investment in your team, you will likely be known as an average performing bank at best and your clients will consider you to be just another bank. You’ll have a few strong team members that customers flock to account for most of your relationship growth and the rest will just be along for the ride, riding the coattails of a successful few. And your successful few will eventually tire of the constant pressure on them to perform while others just watch. You’ll either lose them, or worse yet, they may simply join the ranks of the watchers. Don’t leave your financial institution’s future to chance. Call us today.

Let’s GO

Get outside expertise 

We help you discover vital things you are not able to see.

REMOVE ALL DOUBT

Leave no room for doubt with your board, your team and your customers.

BECOME THE LEADER

Be the trusted advisor that everyone remembers as their guide to financial success.

Value, Experience & Visible Results

How Is Visible Progress Different?

If you are like so many other financial institutions that we work with, you are doing everything you can to make your customers and shareholders feel like they are your most valued asset during these challenging times. With every client we have talked to, however, almost every single one has overlooked a handful of vital questions, blind-spots and strategies simply because they are so familiar with their customers and processes that they inevitably miss some of the vital “trees for the forest”. When this crisis begins to lift and we help our communities climb out of the coming recession, will your customers and community remember you as the bright lighthouse that guided them through troubled waters to safer harbors, or will they remember you for missing the mark based on preventable oversight? At Visible Progress, we’re here to make sure you don’t drop a single ball.

During the housing market crash of 2008, we helped guide dozens of financial institutions from struggling and failure to steady growth and thriving. Today, those same financial institutions are rock-solid, fully-prepared and making visible, daily progress during uncertain times.

With over 45+ combined years helping banks, credit unions and financial institutions to create and implement strategies that bring daily, visible results, we can help you be the safe harbor that all of your customers are seeking.

Visible Progress, Visible ROI

Real EXPERIENCE.
  Real Results.

The Visible Progress Difference

popular Services

We have custom services from over 75 years in combined expertise to suit your specific strategic need.

AUTOMATION

  • Marketing automation
  • Smart autoresponders
  • Automated 3D sales campaigns (SMS, ringless voicemail & emails)
  • Appointment generation without cold-calling
  • Customer relationship retention through smart-automation campaigns

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT MARKETING

  • Web Marketing Strategy & Design
  • Marketing Automation
  • Facebook and Google Ad Strategies and Tactics
  • New Account and Relationship Onboarding  and Expansion Program

STRATEGIC PLANNING

  • Board, Executive, Departmental Plan Development & Execution
  • Change Management Planning
  • Program and Project Management

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

  • Trusted Advisor – Developing,
    Acquiring and Expanding Relationships
  • Trusted Coach – Sales Management and Coaching
  • Generating Leads and Referrals with Confidence
  • Scorecard and Incentive Program Design
  • Proactive Relationship Building Strategies

OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

  • Efficiency Analysis and Improvement
  • Mortgage Operations Design & Improvement
  • Loan Operations Consolidation
  • Technology Implementations
  • CRM Selection and Implementation
  • Customer Experience Mapping and Design
  • Universal Banker Implementation
    • Program Design
    • Job Design
    • Compensation & Incentives
    • Staffing Models
    • Training & Onboarding

ALTERNATIVE SERVICE CHANNELS

  • Customer Care Center Design & Implementation
  • Customer Experience Mapping
  • Customer Care Operating Standards
  • Customer Care Staffing and Modeling
  • Call Flow Automation and Routing
  • Quality Assurance Management
  • Relationship Building Best Practices

MERGERS

  • Conversion Planning
  • Product, People, Customer Impact and Compensation Mapping
  • Employee Onboarding
  • Conversion Relationship Expansion Strategies
  • Employee Readiness Management
  • Merger Communications
    • Website 
    • Employees
    • Customers

what They’re Saying

Client Testimonials

“Tim is a natural leader, coach, and visionary. He holds his employees to the highest standards and keeps them focused on the priority work that impacts the business. Tim is accountable to his commitments for Visible Progress, which influences others to be accountable to their own work. He understands the benefits of investing in his business and he is not afraid of making a commitment to provide quality tools for his employees. I have had the pleasure of working for Tim and he is easily one of the most insightful leaders I have worked for. Every interaction with Tim is positive with a laser-focus on the customer and business. Tim is an effective coach and he shares his vast experience with his employees that creates an environment of constant learning. What separates Tim from other leaders that I have worked for is his genuine care for his employees. Tim is an approachable and caring leader who strives to ensure his employees are happy and successful in their personal and professional lives. He uses his experiences in life and business to relate to his employees on a level that creates an unparalleled working relationship.”

AJ Frint
Business Team Sales Leader
Apple

“Tim has been a wonderful addition to our team at Northpointe. His ability to dig into processes, ask the right questions and stay focused on delivering a great experience to our customers has already made a significant impact. Tim has the rare ability to balance customer and associate impact with technology and operational needs, which is not easy to do. His common sense approach to bringing people together and working through challenges is one of his key strengths. Tim is also a gifted leader and seeks opportunities to mentor others. He is passionate about helping others grow and make the most of their talents. One of the things I appreciate most about Tim is that he makes sure that others understand and learn the processes used to improve the business – he doesn’t just come in and solve the problems, he makes sure that the organization gets better at leading and managing the business. I would strongly recommend Tim’s work to anyone looking for a partner to help drive measurable improvement in results, business strategy, employee engagement, customer service and/or operational efficiency.”

Leonard Iakiri
VP of Retail and Mortgage Banking
Northpointe Bank

“Tim Scholten from Visible Progress is the consummate banking professional who balances proven relationship management concepts with field-tested practice and coaching principles. Tim’s career in the financial services industry, which spans three decades, gives him a unique perspective on what works and what doesn’t in both retail and call center banking operations. Tim has now delivered sound, practice-centered sales and relationship management to all of our call center and retail associates here at Delaware County Bank (DCB). The effects of this training are profound, changing the “conversation” around selling into a Trusted Advisor “conversation” and having an immediate impact on service and sales in these two customer touch point areas. Tim is a valuable resource for us at DCB, who delivers his advice and processes in a forthright and easily understandable fashion. He has already had a noticeable impact here and we expect that to continue with higher sales and cross-selling metrics. I would recommend him to any prospective client and will continue to use his services in the future.”

Dave Archibald
SVP-Retail & Marketing
Delaware County Bank & Trust

OUR TEAM

Over 60 years combined experience in banking, online marketing, automation and business development.

Tim Scholten – Founder & President – Visible Progress

Tim Scholten is a veteran banking executive and founder of Visible Progress. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Visible Progress is a leading consulting group that partners with financial institutions on smart strategic planning, immersive operations/systems review and inspirational change management. Guided by Tim’s expert hand, Visible Progress has earned a reputation for delivering exceptional return on investment while leading bankers through a variety of initiatives including bank launches, major systems launches and upgrades, strategic streamlining and cost-reduction projects and the development of top-notch call centers.

Diahn Hevel – Lead Banking Consultant

For over 25 years, Diahn Hevel has helped senior executives maximize the return on investments in their people. Her consulting and employee performance development practices focus on performance coaching skills and execution, organizational and talent development, sales management, and employee readiness for change initiatives. Client examples include Arvest Bank, Chase, C&F Bank, First Merit Bank, First Niagara, Frost Bank, Heartland Bank, Huntington Bank, M&I Bank, Nationwide Financial, Peoples Bank, Webster Five Bank, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and WesBanco Bank.

Aaron Schulman – Lead Digital Marketing / Brand Consultant

Aaron Schulman has been working as a strategic partner to many business owners in the areas of Internet Marketing, Web Development, Message Development, Social Media Marketing and Advertising, and Marketing Automation. With over 15 years of experience serving entrepreneurs, business owners, non-profits, start-ups, and large businesses improve their Marketing Message and Internet Marketing & outreach effectiveness, he enjoys helping businesses find hidden opportunities for market growth, improved communications and automation systems to help increase ROI while reducing costs for scalability.

Schedule Now

Get your free Strategy Session and make Visible Progress in your business today.