www.bankersonline.com Building a Sales Culture by Gayla R. Sherry, SPHR, BOL Guru BIO AND CONTACT INFO In today's competitive financial services environment, there are only three strategies to grow your bank:

• Get new customers • Provide more services to existing customers • Keep existing customers from leaving the bank

All three strategies require significant effort, including building sales skills for your employees. In addition, implementing these strategies may require your bank to undergo a change in culture. Changing the culture may sound scary, but the effort does not have to be daunting. As with any significant change, changing the culture and providing the associated training and support for your staff takes time and planning. Here are some steps toward effectively changing your bank's culture to a "sales culture:" Communicate the need for sales initiatives to all employees Many employees may not be aware of the necessity to sell (and cross-sell) bank services to current and existing customers. Keep in mind that most employees have been "groomed" in an order-taker environment, which means that employees are accustomed to simply providing the services as a customer asks for them. In a sales culture, employees learn to build a relationship with the customer, and engage in active listening to learn what the customer needs. In a sales environment, everyone sells services, not just those employees in new accounts and loans. In addition, employees may not know that commercial banks' existence is threatened by increased competition. Share with all employees - regardless of their tenure or job assignments - that commercial banks have consistently lost their share of the financial services market since the late 1940s. Provide information for employees, such as FDIC statistics, which indicate a decline of 10 percent of deposits held in community banks in Oklahoma from 1992 - 2000. Acknowledge reasons for employee resistance to sales assignments It is human nature to resist change, so you can expect employees to resist sales assignments. Generally, bank employees resist sales assignments for these reasons:

1. Employees fear the very idea of selling, especially those in positions not typically associated with high customer contact or customer calling. Many employees associate the word "sales" with the stereotype of a used car salesman in a plaid sports coat. You can help offset this fear during conversations about sales, during sales training, and follow-up sales meetings by clearly communicating what you expect.

2. Some employees may resist sales assignments because they fear being rejected. Few of us like to hear the word "no," and rejection can be disheartening for many. Overcoming the fear of resistance, and learning to accept the word, "no," is a critical part of any sales training and reinforcement.

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3. Another common perception among bank employees and staff is the idea that a sale is making a cold call. A sale in banking is not running out to the nearest intersection and hauling in a new customer. Sales in banking is building relationships, learning to actively listen, and recommending services based on the customer's needs and the service's benefits to the customer. Once employees realize the true meaning of sales in banking, their resistance is likely to diminish.

4. Finally, many employees may not be aware that sales are part of their job duties. This is especially true for employees who are in positions not typically associated with sales. In some cases, even the tellers - who have the most customer contact of anyone in your bank - may not be aware that sales is a part of their job! As bank management, it's important that you incorporate your expectations of employees to sell and cross-sell bank services into performance expectations.

Provide extensive sales training Of course, if you expect employees to sell and cross-sell bank services, you must provide training to equip them with the necessary knowledge to meet your expectations. This is especially important when helping employees move from the "order-taker" environment to a sales environment. It's important to help employees understand the importance of sales in banking, and the relationship of sales to the bank's future profitability (and existence!) During the training, it's also essential that employees learn what making a sale really means in banking, and to address their fear of sales. An essential objective of sales training is to provide training about the bank's products and services to all employees. Employees tend to only know services in their immediate department or unit, not services provided elsewhere in the bank. In addition, most employees are accustomed to describing products and services in terms of features, yet customers purchase services for the benefits. Effective sales training must include relationship building and customer service skills. Organizations can have a great sales force, but if the service is inadequate after the sale, the customer will leave the organization. Sales training should also include the opportunity to practice skills, such as identifying customer needs, linking those needs to bank products and services, handling resistance, closing a sale, and making referrals. Provide follow-up and reinforcement Building a sales culture does not end following sales training. It's essential to continually reinforce the training, and reinforce your expectations for employees. Also, as adult learners, we often must try the new skills before we can perform them smoothly. Encouragement and reinforcement during this trial period is essential to incorporating the skills into everyday activities. The content of sales training and your continued expectations of employees to sell and cross-sell, and provide excellent customer service can be reinforced in several ways. Conversations related to performance goals, periodic sales meetings, and individual meetings are ideal forums for discussions about your expectations. Sales meetings can also be a venue to provide additional product knowledge, changes in products and services, and for sharing success stories. Even the most resistant employee can be energized by hearing successful experiences of a co-worker! An essential component of following up and reinforcing sales in your bank is to reward sales through recognition. Monetary rewards are always positive, but other forms of recognition can be effective as well.

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Transforming your bank's culture to a sales environment is essential for profitability - and survival. By planning and implementing strategies, including communication, training and reinforcement, you can ensure a successful transition for your bank. Copyright 2001. Gayla R. Sherry Associates, Inc.

Knowledge Is Power! Here's How To Get It. by BOL Guru Rick Wemmers Community banks are facing increasing competition and many seem to be frustrated and stymied as to just what to do about it. The traditional approach is to whip the officer call program harder and run advertisements that shout meaningless phrases like "Big is Bad", "Small is Better",. “We're Your Local Partner”, and other chest-beating phrases. It is a good example of telling customers and prospects what banks want them to hear, not what the customer want to hear. Is it any wonder why they aren't listening or taking the actions banks want? How many products or services do you buy that don¹t have benefits to your need, way down the list? Many consultants talk about the need to build a sales culture in the bank. While true, this is not the big challenge. The overwhelming challenge is how to get bankers, who aren't basically sales oriented, to become more than a "glad-hander making ‘Howdy Doody’ sales calls." To some, taking the first step is like climbing Mr. Everest, so they don¹t do anything or, at best, make some pitiful attempts. One of the age-old truths about any sales force is that confidence and success comes with increased knowledge: knowledge about how to sell, knowledge on how to recognize what the prospect wants and needs, and knowledge about the particular benefits of a product that appeals most to this prospects’ most important wants and needs. It's amazing how happy and effective a sales force is when they have a product everyone they call on wants. Stop and think a minute of why such a product was created. Someone took the time and effort to determine what of their customers' needs weren't being filled. When they learned this, they developed one to fill the need. When they announced it, customers flocked to their door. Simple logic? Yes! For the successful banks, the process is the same. They have listened to what their prospects wanted, trained their sales force on how to communicate the bank's ability best to fill those prospect wants and then wrote the order, and most of them have not resorted to low pricing. They have realized today's consumers are more informed, more technology-oriented and have a greater sense of urgency in life than ever before. Virtually all consumers will increase all these attributes faster and faster as the months pass. The Information Age or New Revolution, as some say, is here and on a roll! Community bankers need to capitalize on these facts and build services that not only meet these needs, but anticipates the next phase. Here are 5 actions any bank president can take that will improve his bank¹s ability to gain more business- guaranteed:

1. Stop assuming you know everything about what your prospects want, need and will buy from a bank. Conduct some objective research. You don't have to spend a lot of money to do this. Assign the job to one of your younger officers have him/her prepare 8 questions and make appointments with 5 prospects. Instruct him/her to focus on listening to the answers given by the prospect to the questions. Review the responses and read carefully what needs are being communicated.

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2. Search your current customer files, even if you don't have a MCIF. There is valuable information here that any good data manager can provide from whatever you have - believe me. Make lists of customers for major categories, e.g., checking, loans, etc. Look closely at the lists, noting with whom you have more than one relationship. Focus selling efforts on converting some of those who only do business on one basis and get them to add just one more. It has been proven time and time again that it¹s easier and cheaper to sell another service to a current customer than it is to sell a new relationship.

3. Put a plan in writing. I know you don't need one, but trust me. Doing this can make the difference between success and failure. With a written plan, you can share with others your specific expectations; you can refer to it regularly and everyone can see the results of their efforts and it becomes a basis for rewarding the contributions made by others. Make it a 3-month plan, no more. Include objectives that you can measure objectively. Conduct weekly communications about who is doing what. Add rewards along the way for achievers and present these awards in front of the whole group. Make it a team effort, not only one for individuals.

4. Reach outside your bank for information. Stop guessing what might work, should be done, or seems right to you. Learn from the mistakes and experience of others like you. Why spend your own money learning what is already known? Use it to beat your lazy competitors. There are many sources at your fingertips: State Banking Associations, local libraries, consultants and the most powerful of all, the Internet. There is so much helpful information on this media it is sometimes overwhelming, but don’t let that stop you. Assign the task of harnessing the Internet to one of your young officers. With a little help, almost anyone can begin the process of gathering information that will be helpful to you and your growth ideas. If your young person is eager but doesn¹t know where to begin, there are several sources for help. One is a web site called www.bankersonline.com. My partners and I have started a new Internet-based bank business development resource that provides information on successes of other banks, proven selling materials, customized programs for any bank to improve sales productivity and competitive data. You can check us out at www.bankmarketingpros.com.

5. Make a long-term commitment to train and educate your sales team. This doesn’t mean sending a few to a sales course now and then. People don't learn to be successful sales people, especially when they basically don't like to be, with a short burst of motivation and skill practice. It takes a lot of time, spread over a long period, with lots of reinforcements to make a few candidates successful. Look at sales training programs that involve a long commitment, maybe even base some of their compensation of the success of your sales team. If you don't know of any, contact me and I'll help. With companies like WalMart, Nordstrom and State Farm Insurance getting into the banking business, competition for community banks, everywhere, will only get more fierce. Now is the time to take firm actions to increase the selling capabilities of all employees. Everyone can contribute in some way, I know.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but the builders started with a firm commitment and a plan. You can and should do the same. Use the preceding suggestions to make your start. If you get stuck, call

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me. I¹ll give you some FREE ideas to get you started. Copyright, 2000, BankMarketingPros.com. All rights reserved. Rick Wemmers is senior partner with BankMarketingpros.com which offers business development help to banks across America. He can be reached at rick@wemmers.com or 1-800-873-2006

Proven Ways To Improve Your Bank’s Sales Culture In 30 Days! by Rick Wemmers, BOL Guru There are numerous services, books and training companies that offer to show banks how to address this question. I have two problems with these sources:

1. They usually provide too little, too quickly, and the training doesn’t stick. 2. They are bought with the wrong expectations.

It is abundantly clear to me bank employees don’t expect to be sales people. They are accustomed to and fully expect to have people come to them for help, not go seek them out. I would like to offer a fresh approach to bank training, based on what I know is working today for many businesses including some banks. Step 1 – The bank CEO makes a public commitment to his employees he will do what it takes to improve sales revenues within the next 6 months. A specific goal is promised for a kick-off meeting in two weeks. New training and assistance will also be outlined. Step 2 – Create two prospect lists – A & B, either businesses or individuals. The A Prospect List should be no longer than 12 names. These 12 are prospects of whom no one in the bank knows of any reason why that prospect couldn’t become a customer. Here’s why I recommend 12 names:

• It is easily remembered by all who can help • It get much more constant focus than a longer one • The conversion rate on short lists is significantly higher than for long ones.

The B Prospect List should be no longer than 25 names. These 25 are desired, but there is a known reason that this prospect most likely won’t become a customer, at least right away. Here’s why I recommend 25 names:

• These are good prospects but just don’t justify immediate attention. • This list, while longer, is still manageable and memorable.

By having these two lists, everyone in the bank can easily see who the bank would like to capture. They can better feed helpful information because they know the specific targets everyone has. Let me point out that these lists are not cast in stone. They are “living” lists and can and should be adjusted frequently, as new information becomes available. Step 3 – Hold an Employee Kick-Off Meeting More and more companies today are seeing the value of having all employees on the sales team, and not only on the team, but helping to set

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goals, activities and rewards. Many bankers just don’t see this. They feel it is the sole responsibility of the officers to set and manage the bank’s major selling efforts. Sure, CSRs and tellers are expected to “cross–sell” but the big sales efforts are for and by top management. Right? Wrong! Why put the whole burden on officers? They don’t like to sell any more than the rest. Why not leverage the resources of all the employees? Make the job easier for everybody. Hold the kick-off meeting, announcing goals, sharing prospect lists and ask for every one’s help during the next 30 days. Step 4 - Hire a Sales Coach I know. The CEO is the coach! Right? How many bank officers see their CEO as a sales coach? Few I would say, if they are truly honest. Most bank management struggles with politics, personalities and personal priorities. This encourages the “herd mentality,” encouraging all to keep a low profile and stay on the move. Excuses for missed calls and failed conversions are the usual ones, and accountability very spotty; as far as providing helpful information, advice and direction to one another, not a chance.. A good sales coach, who understands bank management selling, can be worth his weight in gold. He isn’t encumbered with politics. He has a big bag of helpful tips and tactics. He can be a personal confident without jeopardizing a career path. He can add accountability that is acceptable to everyone. He can be the spark to light the fire of excitement. How long should the coach be involved? I would strongly recommend 60 days. With the proper CEO support, the right coach, after a kick-off session, can provide ongoing reinforcement by phone, email or occasional site visit. Less than 60 days won’t give the program a chance to build its own momentum. Step 5 - Do Your Homework. Most bank sales calls are very general – “We want your business…any part of it.” “We’re good people!” Any good salesperson knows the value of a “call preparation”. The same applies for bankers, but most feel that just being friendly will get the job done, eventually. There’s nothing wrong with relationship-building calls, it just isn’t what works best when you are out to build the bank’s business quickly. Get to know your prospect before you make the first contact. Learn what problems his business/industry faces, concerning finances and banking services. Know something about the history of his business, his plans and where your banking services can help. Find out how he feels about his current bank relationship and don’t wait to ask him directly. Identify what specific bank service(s) he wants needs, but isn’t getting from his bank. Think about it. Aren’t you more interested in talking to someone who has obviously done his homework and talks about your needs, regarding the product he is selling? Step 6 - Quarterly Sales Plan There is nothing wrong with having an annual growth goal, just don’t wait until month 9 to check the progress. Meet every month and review progress to date. If not on, plan for the year, adjust immediately. If a team member isn’t performing, do something about it quickly. Malingerers will hurt the rest of your team. Those are my 6 proven steps for quick bank sales culture change with significant results. They certainly are not for most banks, just those who want to take giant growth steps. If you would like to know more, give me a call.

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Cross sell, cross sell, cross sell. Did we mention cross selling? by Sam Ott BIO AND CONTACT INFO Make sure your employees do not miss cross-selling opportunities. Cross-selling is a low-cost, efficient way to inform your customers of your new product lines and remind them of your old ones. Your employees should be instructed to always offer at least one additional product or service each time they are interacting with a customer. If you have a Web site, it's a perfect medium to spotlight a specific product or service. Contests and performance incentives are good ways to increase employee participation in the program. Training Sales Reps to Get the Interview Answer by Rick Wemmers, BOL Guru BIO AND CONTACT INFO Question: Do you know of any system that can effectively teach sales reps how to secure new B to B appointments with decision level contacts, so that they can begin the educational sales process. I find that most do not know how to "sell" the appointment over the telephone, and they fail to generate enough new appointments on a weekly basis to reach their revenue objectives at month-end. Any suggestions? Answer: Bankmarketingpros.com has several systems and procedures which work to get appointments with business owners by bank sales reps. The key is to approach the target audience with something the business owner wants and needs to know about, other than banking services. Customer 'clues' should prompt bankers to sell products, services by Donna Busking SELL... Bankers often shudder at this four-letter word. Traditionally, selling services has not been a part of most bankers' descriptions. Why not? We've waited for the customer to come to us and tell us what they want. Bankers have been "order takers" rather than sales people. To be competitive in today's banking environment, every banker must be a sales person. While service should always come first, sales should be right behind, but how do you instill a sales culture in your bank? You certainly can't give bankers a lecture or memo designating them as sales people and expect results. Developing a true sales culture will take tots of time and planning. There are some things you can do short-term. Sales are a function of product knowledge, asking open-ended questions, listening to your customer, and then offering each customer products that will benefit him/her. By using customer clues, bankers are no longer order-takers. Each customer gives us clues. A husband and wife sit down to open an account. Are they new to town and buying a house? Then you certainly need to tell them about your mortgage loan services. A teller customer indicates her family will be going on vacation. Now is the time to sell a safe deposit box, direct deposit or bill payment service as well as travelers' cheques, credit card, ATM card and debit card. New accounts personnel and tellers are not the only people in the bank who should be selling. Loan officers have an excellent opportunity to sell at the time a customer is applying for a loan. Does the loan applicant have a deposit account with you? They should, and, if they do have an account, the loan officer should have the loan automatically debited from checking. If the bank offers credit cards, every approved applicant should be offered a credit card.

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The clues can go on and on. Someone complains this time of year about taxes. Discuss IRAs with them or tell them about non-deposit investment products which may offer tax advantages, such as annuities. A customer deposits a brokerage check into their money market account. Introduce that customer to your investment counselor, if you offer discount brokerage. Every customer with whom a banker comes in contact gives clues about him/her self, which should prompt that banker to offer other products and services. Training bankers to clue-sell is simple. Provide training that offers clues, and let bankers compete with each other to determine products which would match those clues. Incorporating some fun and games in training sessions can be much more effective than lectures. Selling will be perceived in a better light if the training is unique and fun. While SELL and CLUE may both be four-letter words CLUE-SELLING is an easy way to introduce bankers to selling products which benefit customers. Of course, there will be many hurdles to jump before selling becomes a way of life, but the first step can be fun and very effective. Busking is a consultant and trainer with more than 20 years experience in the banking industry. Her professional background includes sales, service, strategic planning, quality management, operations, training and management experience. She previously served as Senior Vice President of two financial institutions and currently is a member of the Board of Directors of First American Bank. Her clients include banks as well as other businesses and organizations.

Follow these Three Commandments to Retain Customers by Donna Busking In today's competitive environment, banks want to maximize fee income and decrease costs. One aspect of costs rarely looked at is the expense of losing customers. If banks knew how much it really costs to lose a customer, they would be able to make accurate evaluations of investments designed to retain customers. Unfortunately, today's accounting systems do not capture the value of a loyal customer. Most revenue systems focus on current period costs and revenues, and ignore expected cash flows over a customer's lifetime. Estimates are that it costs eight to ten times as much to attract new customers through marketing as it does to retain them, and it's a given that the more services a customer has with a bank, the less likely that customer is to leave. Just as important is the fact that the longer a bank keeps a customer the more money it stands to make. Banks with long-time customers then can charge more for their products or services. Yet another economic benefit of longtime customers is the free word-of-mouth advertising they provide. So what's a bank to do? It's really very simple, but it will take time. Don't expect overnight miracles. It will be necessary to invest time and money in training and uncomplicated measurement systems. Make sure that service is the first commandment of your bank's mission. Without good service, customers will choose not to use additional services, or they will leave your bank altogether. In a small town, instances of poor service are communicated rapidly by word-of-mouth and can negate any marketing you may do. Surveys, mystery shopping and talking with your customers are easy methods to determine what kind of service customers feel you are giving. The second commandment must be selling. Teach employees to be sales people rather than order takers. In other words, if a customer comes in to open a checking account, make sure bank employees try to sell a savings account, ATM or debit card, overdraft protection, credit card, direct deposit, etc. Selling should be a key part of employee evaluations, and rewards and recognition must be constant. By selling several services to customers, banks actually can decrease operating costs. If direct

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deposit is sold to a customer, the cost of handling that deposit is $.053, according to Banker's Hotline, while the cost of making a deposit through a teller is $1.07. You may say that you already have tellers so they might as well be handling that deposit, but services such as direct deposit can create excess capacity on the teller line. That excess capacity can be used to handle future growth without additional employees. The third commandment must be to listen to your customers. As bankers, we become so accustomed to our point of view that we find it difficult to think like customers, but there are very simple ways to become good listeners. Surveys should always include a section that allows customers to make comments or suggestions. Suggestion boxes in lobbies or even on the back of teller envelopes can garner more ideas. Perhaps the best tool of all to obtain customer feedback is customer focus groups. Focus groups bring together eight to ten customers with similar demographics, product usage patterns or other traits into a room for a discussion led by a trained moderator. The groups can tell you what you are doing well and what you should do differently. They provide a world of data in one simple setting. Brainstorming in focus groups frequently leads to better ideas for product and service enhancements. While it may pain you to learn of criticism you don't normally hear, focus groups - if well moderated - tend to unleash hidden sentiments that may prove meaningful. The customer you should really listen to most is the customer who no longer does business with you. Customers who defect to the competition can tell you exactly what parts of the business you must improve. You can send surveys to customers who have defected as well as gather information at the time an account is closed, or you may assign an individual to call the former customers. Any method can work so long as you pay attention to the ex-customers' reasons for leaving, and address those reasons that should be of concern. Of course, you can do all these things and still lose some customers, but if you are doing a good job your customer service ratios will be positive, two or more products will be sold to each new customer, products and services will be designed with customer needs in mind and perceived customer problems that are often invisible to management can be corrected. Outstanding service, a focus on sales and listening to your customers will result in more products and services per customer, higher fee income, decreased operational and marketing costs, excess capacity in service areas and profitable customers who stay with your bank longer. What more could a banker want? Busking is a consultant and trainer with more than 20 years experience in the banking industry. Her professional background includes sales, service, strategic planning, quality management, operations, training and management experience. She previously served as Senior Vice President of two financial institutions and currently is a member of the Board of Directors of First American Bank. Her clients include banks as well as other businesses and organizations.