A crucial part of the planning process is reaching deeply to find the
best ideas. Many companies already have a process in place, but if you are
looking for inspiration, consider the following six-step approach.

Six Steps to the Big Idea

1.       Do Your Homework (Immersion): Study the situation, visit
competitors, read new research, talk to customers, interview employees,
attend a conference, poll your customer base, and so on.

2.       Optimize the Environment: Clear away constraints to
thinking, go off site, stockpile the food and coffee, play music; do
whatever it takes to let your thoughts flow freely.

3.       Rattle the Brain: Perform “thinking exercises” to
limber up the brain before tackling your specific problem (see our ideas,
left, or Jump Start Your Brain by Doug Hall for 37 more).

4.       Generate Idea Nuggets (free form): Think of every
possible solution to the problem, regardless of how crazy; write them down
without judgments or justifications.

5.       Assemble Idea Nuggets Into Strategies and Tactics:
Transcribe each nugget on a
3×5 card and arrange the cards into bigger concepts and ideas.

6.       Be Bold: Don’t immediately dismiss strategies that seem
too big for your budget; winners
could be shopped to strategic investors or other financial institutions for
additional funding.

Source: Adapted from Jump Start Your Brain by Doug Hall, Warner
Books, 1995. A new version, Jump Start Your Business Brain was
published in Sept. 2001. Both are available in paperback from Amazon for
about $12 each.

Do Your Homework

To see potential opportunities in a new light, look beyond your normal
circle of peers, subordinates, and other industry sources.

Observe First-Hand: Find out how consumers really use online
financial services and observe how the services could be improved. For
example:

•               Enter into a far-reaching conversation with an
  important vendor, preferably in person
•                Arrange for a classroom of MBA students to debate the
  pros and cons of online services
•                Attend a focus group on online financial services
•                Hire a consultant for a brainstorm session
•                Sponsor focus groups for branch and call center staff
  to discuss serving/selling customers online
•                Post a short questionnaire on your website; have a
  copy of each response forwarded directly to you (no staff filters)
•                Issue an RFP (request for proposal) for the
  development of a “next-generation” service

Attend an industry conference: Away from the daily grind,
surrounded by the latest technology and bombarded by new ideas: a perfect
prescription for breakthrough thinking. The two biggest U.S. online banking
conferences take place in the fall, the American Banker’s just-completed
Financial Services Technology Forum and BAI’s Retail Delivery
which will be held next month in Las Vegas.

Dive in to third-party research: Grab a few research reports, head
to a quiet table in your favorite coffee shop, and turn off your Blackberry.
Now, really read the whole report, skipping the executive summary
until the very end. Take notes and highlight pertinent pages. At the end of
the day, create your own executive summary with a list of possible action
ideas and questions to share with your team.

Commission your own research: Research culled from your own
customers and in-market prospects is infinitely more believable than
national studies. If research budgets are nil, you can still post a short
survey on your Web for next to nothing and have results tomorrow. The data
won’t be applicable to your entire customer base, but it might provide a
number of good ideas and insights.

Or if you’d prefer to take a quick reading of consumer sentiment without tipping
your hand to the competition, consider tapping into the preassembled panels of
Web research companies. At InsightExpress  http://www.insightexpress.com/
 it’s possible to ask 200 consumers what they think of your idea for an
out-of-pocket expense of about $1,500. Questionnaires are easily
composed using online templates, and you’ll have results back within hours. All
results are stored online where you can run your own reports and cross
tabs.                     

As we discussed last month , there’s a real void in the marketplace when it
comes to premium online banking services. In today’s retail environment,
where you can choose from hundreds of varieties of every product on the
shelf, it’s shocking that Bank of America provides just a single flavor of
online banking to its 11+ million subscribers. Granted, users choose which
features to use, so the service isn’t truly identical for all.

But surprisingly, everyone still pays a single price: $0. For Bank of
America, that price point has been an important and highly visible component
of its strategic branding message. However, we view 100%-free online banking
as a temporary aberration. U.S. banks have had their hands full during the
past few years complying with new regulatory initiatives and fighting
fraudsters from around the globe.

And it’s a relatively recent phenomenon that online banking penetration
has surpassed 20% at many banks. Below that point, there aren’t enough
customers to make a segmented offering profitable. So even though it will
require extensive buyer education, we believe that by this time next year,
at least one, and possible two or three, top-10 U.S. banks will offer
premium online banking options.

The pioneer in this area is Online Resources, which began offering
MoneyHQ, a premium online banking option, late last year. Early
results are mixed. While Online Resources admits that client adoption has
been slower than expected, it is pleased with consumer adoption, which
stands at 9% of bill pay customers across the 45 clients who’ve been live
for at least four months. In total (as of Sep. 29, 2004), 120 clients are
signed, with 90 operational, representing 33% and 25% respectively of
eligible clients.

Strategically, we have no doubt that MoneyHQ is the right
direction, and the 9% initial adoption rate is encouraging. However, it’s
difficult for ORCC’s community bank and credit union clientele to
successfully educate the market on the benefits of premium online banking.
It may take the multi-million dollar advertising budgets of the big players
to really jump-start the service. We should know a lot more as 2005 unfolds.

Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder