How to measure your bank's vital signs: track these six indicators to gauge your bank's business health.

• Author: Godfrey, Wendy H.
• Position: Fundamentals: Marketing Metrics

When you go for a medical checkup, your doctor is likely first to examine your vital signs--take your temperature, feel your pulse and determine your blood pressure.

The same is true when you assess a bank's health. You need to regularly check the institution's vital signs. It makes sense for the marketing manager to take on the role of bank "health manager" to ensure that the institution is as robust and active as it could be. Periodically, the marketer should take the bank's "pulse," diagnose any weaknesses and report to management about the institution's condition.

Here are six vital signs that need to be examined: market share, core deposit growth, service quality, customer experience, net provider score and brand awareness. Below are details about assessing each sign.

1. Market share

   The FDIC has market share data available to everyone online at http://www2.fdic.gov/sod/. There is a lag time, and it only includes banks, but it's a good place to start. You can compare your growth with the market as well as that of your major competitors; you can also compare share of deposits to share of branches and more. There are other suppliers who provide market share data that may be more comprehensive, but, depending on your budget, this may or may not be an option for you. Market share should be measured at least annually.

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2. Core deposit growth

   Growth in core deposits--total domestic bank deposits less domestic time deposits larger than $100,000--is often used as a key metric in determining how successful a bank has been in attracting funds through traditional bank channels. These deposits, which are typically obtained from a bank's regular customer base, tend to be more stable and less expensive than other sources of funds. Not only are these deposits valuable, these customers tend to be more loyal, are less price sensitive and are most likely to have multiple products and services. According to a study by FIG Partners L.P., core deposits nationally grew by 3 percent during the 1st quarter of 2007, roughly the same as seen in the 4th quarter of 2006. Use this as a benchmark upon which to measure your bank's growth in these valuable deposits.

3. Service quality

   How do your customers define service now that they're going online to pay bills, transfer money between accounts, open new accounts and apply for a loan--and use ATMs to get cash, make deposits and check balances? Is having an easy-to-navigate Web site the new definition of good service? Or is it refunding ATM fees, free checking, having someone...