While summer has only just come to a close, planning season for 2023 and beyond is already in full swing. Now is the time when organizations like yours set aside dedicated time to review their finances, plans, and strategies to determine what their goals are for the coming months and years. This is when new business ventures are found, risks are taken, and carefully designed plans are developed. Planning season is stressful, but there’s one key element that can ease the burden off of organizations and key stakeholders: data-driven strategy.
Strategy is more than just a buzzword; it’s how banks and financial institutions can evaluate their markets, branches, and current plans. It’s how organizations of all types can concretely determine what works and what doesn’t. All strategy stems from data, and data, as always, is king.
Using market and demographic data to determine potential future growth can completely reshape planning season. Instead of blindly guessing where markets will grow and which demographics could best use a new branch, strategy can use data to concretely determine which branches are irrelevant, which should be remodeled, and where entirely new branches should be built.
Data Deserves Respect
Data empowers strategic process. It’s key to advancing conversations that drive decisions for the future. The best place to find and utilize relevant data for your organization’s strategy is by conducting a market study. Market studies can answer critical planning season questions such as:
- Are my branches in the right places?
- Should I close a location that doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic?
- Where are my underperforming locations? Why are they underperforming?
- Where are my most engaged members or customers? Is there anything I can do to help these branches grow?
- Is my back office large enough for future growth?
- Is my corporate office large enough to support future employee growth?
Planning season can feel confusing and overwhelming but making critical decisions while backed with strategy and data can help hard decisions feel easy. Planning shouldn’t be a guessing game. It should be supported by concrete evidence that can help push your organization further than it’s ever been. Instead of dreading planning season, look at it as it should be—an opportunity to evaluate the market and organizational growth to plan for the future.
Interested in learning more about market studies and data analysis? Check out NewGround’s free Branch Growth Snapshot and get a firsthand look at your branches’ performances.
Want to learn more about the importance of strategy? Click here to read another one of NewGround’s insights: Don’t Go Into Planning Season Without Data Analysis
