Banks struggle with lending when they try to be "all things to all people" and go about selling without a clear focus and strategy. They need to know which products and customers are profitable for them, and where they can provide real value outside of just the lowest rate. Then, spend their sales time and resources working those deals instead of spinning their wheels on low margin "commoditized" loans just for the sake of volume.

Today we're talking about a blog post written by our CEO, Carl Ryden, a couple weeks back: Putting First things First. Carl talked about the struggle to keep the urgent from crowding out the important. 

According to the research of Stephan Liozu, author of "The Pricing Journey," there are two dimensions of pricing capability, Price Setting and Price Getting, and in order to excel at pricing, companies must master both dimensions.

What makes lenders happy at work? According to CoBiz Financial, named one of American Bankers' top 50 Best Banks for Work for in 2015, the key is providing lenders opportunities to deepen client relationships through exciting community initiatives. Jess Stone speaks with Scott Page, CEO of Colorado Business Bank and Arizona Business Bank, which are part of parent company CoBiz Financial, about the programs they offer to keep their employees happy and connected to the community, as well as advice for banks that may want to launch similar initiatives.