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Four persons who earned their designation as a Certified Financial Marketing Professional (CFMP) discuss the value of certification, what it has meant to them and how it has benefited their organizations.
JOHN SMITH, CFMP
Your accountant has one. Your financial adviser has one. Your information technologist has one. They all have professional certifications. Today, almost every industry offers certifications. So, it is not surprising that the hank marketing field also offers certification.
What is certification and why is it useful to practitioners in the area of financial services marketing?
Certification is "the practice of qualifying an individual to perform in a job or occupation based on a minimum set of standards,' according to the American Society for Training and Development. "That means a professional body or organization has come together to set standards concerning what an individual should be able to know, do and be in a given field. That organization has also created a measurement tool (exam) to sample that performance."
The Institute of Certified Bankers (ICB), a subsidiary of the American Dankers Association, is a leading industry provider of financial services certifications, including the Certified Financial Marketing Professional (CFMP) designation for financial services marketing professionals.
In this article, four persons who received their CFMP designation share their thoughts on the value of the credential. They are Jeff M. Bargerhuff, senior vice president and marketing director of Nevada State Bank, Las Vegas, Nev.; Patrice Brusko, vice president and marketing manager, Harleysville National Bank, Harleysville, Pa.; Bruce A. Clapp, president of MarketMatch, Clayton. Ohio: and Alisha JR Johnson, senior vice president and director of marketing, Highland Bank, St. Paul, Minn.
The questions were posed by Mark DeBaugh. marketing and communication manager for ABA's Institute of Certified Bankers.
Why should a financial services marketing professional become certified?
Brusko: It's a recognizable designation that indicates to peers, hank management and vendors your level of experience and training.
Bargerhuff: For marketers in community hanks, it provides the generalist training needed to successfully run a small marketing department. For marketing professionals in a large organization, it provides the additional training necessary to advance to the next career level.
Johnson: Although it is not an exact analogy, the CFMP is intended to do for bank marketing something similar to...