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Presentation Overload

Submitted by wcederberg on Wed, 10/16/2024 - 21:22

What makes a good sales presentation? Many salespeople get the idea that if they are able to dump everything they know about the product onto the client they have made a good presentation. They try to entice clients with the product hoping they'll see their need as a result of the presentation. They feel that if they have good product knowledge, are able to keep control of the conversation, and give the client every possible bit of information they'll get the sale... right? Wrong.

What stands in the way of more sales?

Submitted by wcederberg on Sat, 09/21/2024 - 16:40

Financial institutions have strategies and plans for almost every part of the business. They have marketing plans, IT infrastructure plans, plans for how much risk they will tolerate, and plans for what they will do if a disaster strikes. Most of these plans are very detailed and well thought out. Unfortunately, when it comes to the sales plan - the plan on how their teams will cross-sell products and services to existing clients - many financial institutions are woefully unprepared.

No Opportunity for Discovery in this Modern Era?

Submitted by Chris Dudenas on Sun, 09/15/2024 - 10:47

Things are a little different now, aren't they?
 
Times are changing and with that comes new online digital ways to start or
even complete banking business. A few emails back and forth and we can have most of a deal wrapped-up. And in the case of a new customer, member or client, frequently we aren't meeting them until they come in to sign for the product they called-in asking about. People I talk to feel like they don't really get a chance to do the desired in-depth discovery discussion like they used to when email wasn't so widely used.

Olympic Level Performances

Submitted by wcederberg on Sat, 08/17/2024 - 12:46

Watching the Olympic Games coverage and the in-depth analysis provided in slow motion by sports physiologists got me thinking about sales process and the variance in results we see between individuals playing the same game. The sports analogy for sales has been used so often because it really does fit. In both pursuits the difference in results comes down to preparation and desire. Preparation is technique, practice, and effort. Desire is that attitude or drive to win.

Stop Selling Insurance

Submitted by wcederberg on Fri, 07/19/2024 - 15:50

We deal with a lot of lenders that have a requirement to sell insurance on their lending products. It's a big money maker for the financial institution and there is a lot of pressure to have high insurance penetration numbers. The challenge is that many lenders are "untrained" when it comes to insurance sales. They go into it with a bad attitude that affects their ability to sell. To begin with, they feel like the insurance is overpriced so that affects their ability to talk about the products with any real conviction.

Avoiding Procrastination Objections

Submitted by Dan Leboe on Mon, 07/15/2024 - 19:16

There are many reasons why people procrastinate when buying your products: they might not like the price, they may not think the product you selected will work for them, and/or they might not like you or your company. Rather than tell us exactly what they are thinking these kind-hearted individuals let us down easy with objections like "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you" or "I think I'll keep looking around and I'll let you know".

Coaching the Order Taker

Submitted by wcederberg on Sat, 07/13/2024 - 11:53

What to do about employees that have opportunities to do referrals but they just aren’t. Everyone agrees that an approach that is passive, “do nothing” unless the client asks for it is not only bad for sales, it’s also bad service.

For the coach who is inspecting what they expect, the signs and symptoms of order-taking are easy to spot: They don’t get many referrals, loan file reviews show off-book business with no discussion notes, or we hear conversations that should (but don’t) lead to exploring unmet needs or dissatisfactions with a competitor.