Are you looking to boost your credit union’s loan portfolio? Want to stay ahead in the competitive world of financial services? In this episode of Credit Union Conversations, host Mark Ritter, CEO of MBFS, sits down with Todd Stauffer, our seasoned Relationship Manager in Western Pennsylvania, to share insights on succeeding in commercial banking. From navigating market trends to leveraging speed to market for a competitive edge, Todd reveals strategies to help credit unions thrive. Tune in to learn how to adapt to changing interest rates and build lasting client relationships!

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• (00:00) Intro: Meet Todd Stauffer
• (02:17) Advice for young professionals emphasizing hard work for growth in banking and financial services
• (06:11) Borrowers are adapting to higher interest rates, reflecting changes in credit union lending
• (06:55) Varying rate expectations across markets, important for competitive lending in credit unions
• (07:15) Investors accepting lower loan-to-value ratios, relevant to commercial real estate lending
• (09:16) Speed to market as a competitive edge for credit unions against big banks
• (13:17) Maintaining high pull-through rates in loan applications, critical for credit unions 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Hard work and discipline are critical for achieving long-term success in financial services and commercial banking, requiring professionals to stay resilient, adapt to setbacks, and consistently execute well-thought-out plans to thrive in dynamic market trends.
• Credit unions secure a competitive edge through rapid speed to market and transparent communication, setting them apart from larger banks by offering tailored lending solutions and fostering trust in client relationships.
• Borrowers are demonstrating adaptability to higher interest rates and investors are accepting lower loan-to-value ratios, showcasing resilience in commercial real estate markets, which enables credit unions to support robust lending opportunities despite economic shifts.

RESOURCE LINKS:

Mark Ritter - Website

Mark Ritter - LinkedIn

Todd Stauffer - LinkedIn

KEYWORDS: Credit Union, Financial Services, Todd Stauffer, Mark Ritter, MBFS, Commercial Banking, Loan Portfolio, Western Pennsylvania, Borrower Adaptation, Interest Rates, Real Estate, Speed To Market, Competitive Edge, Client Relationships, Market Trends, Career Guidance, Credit Union, changes in credit union lending

[00:00:25] I've been able to grab a vacation and. Joining me today is Todd Stauffer, our credit union relationship manager who joined us two weeks ago as well. Todd, how are you doing? Hey, doing well, mark. How are you doing today? Awesome, awesome, awesome. So, well we, we, we kind of did a deep dive, uh, but for two weeks ago, but for those of you who missed it, um, Todd is our relationship manager in Western Pennsylvania, and he works with credit unions in that area.

[00:01:21] And we would love to help you out. And Todd. And the rest of our relationship managers would, uh, would love to help you out as well. So, Todd, I wanted to pick your brain this week. You are in, uh, an ex now, an experienced professional. You're no longer considered a young professional, even though you probably consider yourself in your mind.

[00:02:10] What would you sit down and tell 'em for guidance for your years of wisdom? Good,

[00:02:36] But that's just something that I think just to young people need to. Because I think especially after coming out and starting in the financial world, I think you have, you know, expectations and, you know, realizing that hard work's gonna take time and making a plan, executing it every day. And I think staying disciplined is really the key for that.

[00:03:05] Mark Ritter: You, you know, Todd, you, you're probable it might be of that last generation of. I have to roll up my sleeves and get stuff done and try and it's okay to fail. You know, I, I, I have two young 20 somethings and both of which think that, you know, being well known on social media, everything's true.

[00:03:58] It can be [00:04:00] easy as, there's a lot of shortcuts to that. Making a career sustainable of success is a much harder journey.

[00:04:18] Mark Ritter: Yeah. And, and, and, and sometimes I feel like people don't think it's o it's okay to fail. It's okay to try a career or try something and then say, I don't like this, or I, it, it, it's much harder to know what you don't wanna do than what you want to do. Yep,

[00:04:52] There's such a difference when you're working in that environment that can really just, you know, make your day, your [00:05:00] days, you know, not a job, but turn it into a career

[00:05:16] So he, he needs a job. Uh, yeah. Feel, feel free to, uh, hire a young and hungry profess young professional at 22. So please, please. 'cause uh, I don't, I don't want 'em back there living in my, our bedroom here, so. Oh, geez. So, yeah, it's, uh, it is a hard road. Um, but the good news, you know, and, and as you've seen, there's good times and bad.

[00:06:07] Um, you know, what, what's your state of the universe today?

[00:06:32] Um, so that's been kind of a change and we're seeing people more accepting of that. Um, and we're doing a lot, I do a lot of lending in different markets too and different markets. We're really seeing rate expectations can be vastly different. So that's something that we're trying to keep up to date on and really just understand what our competition's doing and seeing what we can do to still be competitive.

[00:07:15] So people are adapting, I think, which is, which is positive, and we're just continuing to do our best to be competitive and keeping up with the markets that we service.

[00:07:39] They're kind of the norm. Um, and, and you know, when rates, when rates were 3.5%, 3% for these real estate deals, everything looked good. Everything could cash flow. Correct. Be because your cost of money was so good and, and, and now you're seeing some stress in the [00:08:00] portfolio as these rates go up because property, maybe properties weren't managed properly, they weren't keeping up with it.

[00:08:30] Yep. Exactly. Yeah. And

[00:08:49] Mark Ritter: So, Todd, shifting gears here for a little bit. We see all sorts of competition. Uh, and, and, and that has evolved. But what are you seeing [00:09:00] with credit unions competing versus the big, big banks, today's world, in gaining opportunities and winning deals? What's it like competing against the biggest of the banks who have a very different balance sheet than, than your typical credit union?

[00:09:41] So that speed to market is so huge for us to win business, and I'm constantly looking for ways to increase. Speed, uh, increased decisions because especially whenever we have brokers that are sending out a deal to multiple different, um, banks or [00:10:00] credit unions, we, we wanna be top of mind to know that we can deliver on what we say and really be, you know, speed to market.

[00:10:27] Mark Ritter: You know, and, and sometimes I see the big banks, what they do is they'll put a big X over certain industries, certain marketplaces, you know, we don't do buildings in Western Pennsylvania. Scratch, scratch. Whereas there, you know, there may be a lot of good deals, even so much as an office space. You'll have somebody just say, we don't do office spaces in western Pennsylvania.

[00:11:29] What, what are you else hearing from the other side of the marketplace?

[00:11:54] And, and that's hard to adapt to. So we're trying to make sure that we know what our competitors are doing. Um, [00:12:00] they really have. We come in over the last couple years where they've had a, a larger deposit focus. So sometimes they want, you know, overall relationships. So just knowing what our competition's doing, you know, that that's the biggest thing that we need to know, uh, locally so we can be competitive and understanding the terms that they're offering so we can figure out again, where our niches, where we fit, uh, and how we can be competitive to win deals, uh, whether, you know, however big or however small.

[00:12:33] Mark Ritter: I think that's one of the most difficult pieces mentally for a credit union in that when, when you do a car loan, you can do a car loan to every person within a hundred miles of you.

[00:13:07] And the other areas, we'll just give them a quick no and a thank you and, and talk and communicate and move on. I mean, what, what do you see from that perspective?

[00:13:34] Things that we need to mitigate or any hard discussions that's just done before we even do the application. So we can keep our pull through rate from application to close above 90% or sometimes 95%. Uh, historically, over the last six years since I've been at MBFS and I'm always asking clients, what are you seeing in the market?

[00:14:09] Uh, we're not looking to do one deal with a client or a member or a broker. I think the goal is to do multiple and continue to grow those relationships.

[00:14:37] I, you know, there, there are people who doing it out there on an automated basis, uh, and maybe just they, they're getting a deal done in 30 seconds on an automated basis. But, uh, that's a different marketplace, you know? And, and if you want a $50 million deal, yeah, you're gonna split percentage points and go with the absolute cheapest of the cheap.

[00:15:03] Todd Stauffer: Absolutely.

[00:15:23] Please connect Todd with Todd on LinkedIn. Uh, go on the website and you can connect with him there too. We'd love to talk to how Todd. The rest of our team can help out your credit union. Todd, thank you so much for joining me. Uh, have a great day and uh, talk to you everybody very soon.