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. They talk about selling and the need to cross-sell or promote products and services to the clients; they track results with more reports then anyone can possibly have time to read, but that's where it ends in many cases. The actual execution of the "selling" is left up to front-line staff and management to make up as they go along resulting in inconsistent sales and service levels at the branch level.
There's only one thing that stands in the way of more products getting into the hands of the clients - and that's the front-line team - the people that are meeting face to face with clients day in and day out. Their ability to communicate with a client in a way that maximizes opportunities to sell product without offending anyone is mission critical if you want to increase the number of products each client has.
When trying to address this sales effectiveness gap, many of our clients, before they started working with us, fell into the trap of trying to hire people that liked sales. The challenge is that there is very little consistency with that approach. Some sell too soft, others too aggressively, some not at all. You can't rely on someone that was successful in another business being successful in yours. Top-notch sales organizations have a sales strategy that they hire to. They have decided how they want their people to sell, how they will manage the sales process, and they have invested in training everyone how to do so in a way which maximizes opportunities and creates a consistent buying experience for the clients.
We are not suggesting you create a team of robots that does and says the exact same things. There are however, things you can do to increase your odds that you will make a sale. Here are just a few that we teach:
* Power of a good introduction - set the tone for the encounter; create rapport so the client starts to trust you and are open to answering your questions
* Ask good questions that lead the client into a conversation about known / typical financial problems / needs that you know the average client might have
* Only present product after the client has acknowledged a need (this avoids alienating the clients or coming across pushy)
* Build added value in the company (over and above the product you're offering) and do so before you talk about rate. (this counters the need to always have the "best rate")
* Clearly show how the product your are recommending will solve the problem they agreed that they had
* Get the client's feedback on the product
* Ask for a decision. The sale has to have a logical conclusion and the sales person needs to lead that step
* Follow up with them short term and long term. Let them know you weren't just trying to sell them when they bought that last product. You stay in touch to make sure the last product is still working for them and to be looking ahead for any changes in their situation that may require additional products or services
Management
And when it comes to overall sales process what the managers are doing will impact results more than anything else.
* Have they identified what the best sales activities are in the branch that their team needs to engage in to hit the result goals that they have?
* Do they see their role to develop their people?
* Do they actively coach and support the staff in the correct sales activities?
* Is there a plan for how best to capitalize on rate inquiries?
* Are they retraining best sales practices regularly in-branch?
* Do they have a means to track both activity and result?
These are best practice sales management routines that will positively impact sales. If managers are not engaging in them regularly, then your company is missing out of some of the easiest, highest value selling opportunities that there are.
Remember, there's only one thing standing in the way of your clients utilizing more of your products and services and that's your people. If they are just winging it and waiting for the client to start the conversation you are missing out on a valuable opportunity to increase sales all while helping your clients be more successful.
Have a plan; work the plan; be more successful.