Increase Sales in your Bank by Coaching Accountability as well as Sales Skill

There are two basic reasons why someone working in a bank or credit union (tellers, MSR’s, lenders, investment specialists, account managers etc) is not cross selling or up-selling: either they do not know what to say to the client, or they know what to say but are not saying it.

A great deal of time is spent in sales management on coaching the sales skill – that is, making sure the team knows what to say. When you are coaching your team for an increase in performance make certain you apply the right coaching remedy to the situation. The tendency will be to focus on sales skill. That may be the issue, but it also might not.

Here is a quick list of the possible reasons why someone that knows what to say or ask a client to get the up-sell is not doing it:

They don’t like selling. They have been through all of the training but do not use the skills because they feel like they are doing something wrong. The concept or idea of selling makes them shudder.

Sales Management Idea: Get agreement that when they are proactive with their clients they are actually providing exceptional service. How do you do that? Share real stories from others in your branch or financial institution where a client complimented a staff member for being helpful. The part that will win them over is when you can show how the staff was actually selling (using the trained sales skills) when they were being helpful. The reverse works as well. Share stories where clients complained and you can trace the complaint back to someone not being proactive (not using the sales skills) and the result was a dissatisfied client.

Lack of accountability. This is one of the major reasons why staff don’t use the sales skills that were trained. The management staff expect them to use the sales skills, but don’t take the time to inspect to make sure they are using the skills.

Sales Management Idea:  Make it important. Identify non-negotiable sales activities you expect and consistently follow up to ensure they are happening. If you really believe your clients can benefit and that it will help your organization why would it be optional? 

They are afraid of rejection. They are afraid the client might turn them down.

Sales Management Idea:  Are they using the right technique? A problem first, solution second strategy should not bring out a fear of rejection. The client would not be rejecting the product or idea, they would be saying they do not have a problem. The staff shouldn’t take that personally.

Forgetfulness. Every time you ask they say they “forgot”.

Sales Management Idea: inspect what you expect. Follow up consistently until they develop the habit at which time you can back off. For example, when reviewing a loan file with a lender ask them every single time you meet to tell you about the client’s retirement plan. How confident is the client in their plan – in their ability to retire when they want? If you ask the lender those questions once a month, they can hide behind “I forgot”. Ask them every day and they’ll start to remember. They will get tired of not having an answer to a question they know they should have, and now know is important to you.

Diagnose the reason the results are not what you want before spending time in coaching. Apply the right fix to the right problem and you’ll see more results.