Sherri May & Co.

Simple steps to boost profitability (part 2)

An effective, low cost way to reconnect the dots for branch teams between sales and service is to form an employee Sales & Service Committee. Here are some specific actions the Sales & Service Committee can implement to get the ball rolling:

1. Profile. Profile. Profile. If you already use a customer profile, make sure it’s as good as it can be. If you don’t use a customer profile, it’s time to start. An effective profile must be brief, focused and conversational. Focus on key information about the customer’s financial life, where else they bank, balances, payments, home ownership, equity and future goals. Gather enough information to enable bankers to calculate key ratios like Net Worth, Loan to Value on property and Debt to Income. Remember, the customer profile is the best way to gather the information that most positively influences sales through expert consultation. And expert consultation is our highest calling … now that’s service!

2. Think big, think strategy. There’s a difference between “selling accounts” and serving customers by helping them create and achieve financial strategies. It’s the difference between “Let’s open that savings account for you today,” and “Let’s definitely take a look at that savings account, but I’d like to hear about your financial goals so I can recommend the right combination of financial strategies to help meet your long-term objectives.” It’s about creating broader cross-selling opportunities with customers based on the details of their financial lives. A best practice is to craft scripting to help bankers talk with customers from the standpoint of increasing the value of their relationships with the bank.

3. Practice makes … well, you know. Role-plays are universally distasteful. But eliminating them because of their distaste is a key contributor to losing the ability to connect the dots between sales and service. In a “back to basics” move, role-plays should be reinstated with gusto! Customer contact staff need to know how to script, and they must practice. Think of your favorite championship sports team. Do you think they stopped practicing just because they won the Super Bowl or the World Series or came out on top of the Final Four? Of course not! Scripting and practicing through role-plays must be incorporated into your weekly routine.

4. How much by when? Bankers must make weekly commitments for sales activities and results. Ask for commitments at the beginning of the week, in front of the whole branch team, write individual commitments on a big flip chart and post in a non-customer contact area. Then, with the whole team, debrief results at the end of the week. Schedule sales meetings every Monday and Friday, cascading results upward each week. This process of accountability and reporting must be “carved in stone.” In other words … a bank-wide non-negotiable!

5. Show me the money. Recognition should be a regular activity and can be non-monetary. But results, whether achieved through direct sales efforts or service excellence, should be compensated. The concern of sales eclipsing service often makes community bankers think twice about implementing sales incentives. But incentives are necessary for peak performance. So, include a service element in your incentive design through a secret shopping program. Include team awards, by branch, internal teams (Tellers with Bankers), partner teams (commercial, mortgage, investments, etc.). No doubt that implementing a robust incentive program is hard work, but it will drive results.

I can’t conclude this discussion without sharing an experience I’ve seen time and time again. The scene is a branch sales meeting. The manager is reinforcing some basic sales skills and helping employees craft scripts for the situation of the day. He or she then invites participants to role-play. Cut to a close-up of a staff member who makes no effort to mask a distinct scowl. He or she proclaims that years of tenure make this exercise completely unnecessary, “I’ve been around long enough to know how to talk to customers. I don’t know why we’re wasting our time.” I can assure you that the very souls who feel they don’t need practice are the ones who need it the most. A branch manager friend of mine who consistently achieves top tier performance is a master when it comes to handling these situations. She recognizes resistance (which is futile) immediately and, under her expert wing, enlists the resistor to co-lead discussions. Under the manager’s close supervision, the transformation is often stunning. “I know this sounds negative,” she explains “but it’s similar to a familiar adage, keep your high-performers close but your resistors closer.”

Simple steps to boost profitability (part 1)

Even in today’s culture, I’m surprised how often I hear that “Sales” is still a dirty word in the financial services world. Between the negative connotation of sales and sinking consumer trust, the proactive sales curve is trending backwards. Worse, many bankers continue to view the sales process as counter to good customer service. Back in the day when the sales culture was in its infancy, we spent a lot of time connecting these dots. Perhaps it’s time to start connecting again!

Banks large and small are feeling the pinch of the divested wallet. Turmoil in the marketplace has led to customers feeling more comfortable than ever to spread their financial stakes across multiple providers. Perhaps they financed their last home through a mortgage broker, have credit cards with American Express, a home equity line from a large bank in response to a direct mail piece, a brokerage account with TD Ameritrade and CDs with multiple local banks leaving only their checking and maybe short term savings with your bank. Knowing that share of wallet translates to loyalty, what’s a banker to do?

This is where sales comes in, and at the heart is superior, personal service from a trusted banker who lives and works in the local community. Too many banks make “Customer Service” their tag line or advertising pitch … customers however want action.

Helping branch staff reconnect the “Sales” and “Customer Service” dots is the necessary first step. Most will rise to the challenge provided they feel confident in their ability. So the key is to engage employees by providing the communication and training to build the comfort level needed to create this shift. An effective, low cost way to do this (without the need for consultants or increases in FTE) is to form an employee Sales & Service Committee. Choose individuals to be responsible for “service through sales” activities and give them responsibility for the following 5 steps:

1. Establish a commitment to customer service by implementing sales and service standards that every employee will follow at point of contact with the customer.
2. Identify skill gaps and solutions to overcome those gaps. Note that this needn’t require huge investments in training, simple mentor programs (pairing bankers with tellers) can be very effective.
3. Establish measurements for acceptable sales and service performance. These should not be overly aggressive at the beginning.
4. Create rewards and recognition for top performers. Again, it can be as low cost as an extended lunch hour, preferred parking, lunch with the branch manager … better yet, the branch manager could “chauffeur” the winner to work for a week!
5. Create accountability for those who consistently do not perform. The teeth are in the performance review.
Of course Leadership should be involved to set the strategy and provide support where needed.

In Part 2 we will explore specific actions the Sales & Service Committee can implement to get the ball rolling.