financial services e-book

© 2014 Richardson. All Rights Reserved.2

The purpose of this e-book is to highlight some of the major change themes we see and how winning organizations are adapting their approach with Richardson’s support.

IN THIS BRIEF:• Major Change Themes • Secrets to Sales Success • Banking Success Story

Financial Services E-book


CHANGE THEMES

1.Decreased Trust

2.Misaligned Teamwork

3.Demand for Value-based Insights


Decreased Trust

One of the lingering effects of what has been called “The Great Recession” is that many clients remain suspicious of financial institutions…

Decisions are being made by larger groups with more transparency into your organization and gatekeepers, including procurement officers, are blocking or limiting access, with greater intent to shift risk from their organization to yours.

1. Decreased Trust


2. MISALIGNED TEAMWORK

Misaligned Teamwork

5

As financial institutions continue to grow their fee-

based businesses…

-there is an increasing number of product lines

-increasing demand for cross-sell production across these

product lines-an expectation by clients of

access to subject matter experts

…This makes it more difficult for your team to:

-stay current on client needs, -keep pace with a broader range of capabilities, -build trust, skill, and alignment with a new and changing group of partners


The balance of power has

shifted against client advocates in favor of risk

management and profitability

2. MISALIGNED TEAMWORK

Customization demands

from clients

Standardization pressures from

external regulatory bodies

Internally, from compliance,

operations, risk management, legal, finance, and senior

management

Misaligned teamwork can exist in balancing:


Demand for Value-based Insights

3. DEMAND FOR VALUE-BASED INSIGHTS

This impacts every member of a client-retention or new-business pitch team, including senior leaders and subject matter experts, and their ability to communicate with clients in a way that causes them to engage rather than withdraw.

Buyers are shielding themselves from sales pitches — using RFPs, consultants, procurement officers, and other gatekeepers

Instead, are looking for insights and solutions relevant to their goals and challenges


Gaining or Regaining Client Trust1. GAINING OR REGAINING CLIENT TRUST

Your client-facing professionals and SME partners favor talking over questioning and listening

This puts your team in a position where they are actively engaged in building (or rebuilding) client or partner trust.

By driving a shift in this focus, many leaders are prompting their teams to discover (or rediscover) that information is power, enabling them to more effectively frame responses to concerns, as well as solutions, ideas, and alternatives.


Developing Effective and Efficient Team Selling

2. DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT TEAM SELLING

1. Lead an effective pre-call meeting- Ask targeted questions during pipeline- Participate in the pre-call meeting as a coach

2. Execute effective team preparation- Through your attention and participation as a leader, you have the opportunity to set higher expectations and standards for team preparation leading to higher levels of execution

3. Coordinate team follow-up- It is essential for teams to debrief as soon as a possible after the client, prospect, or center-of-influence meeting to compare notes and agree on accountabilities. - You can play an important role as a leader, asking your team about the timing, rigor, and outcomes of their post-call discussion and, when possible and appropriate, participating to ask questions and provide feedback.

4. Coach your team to leverage such best practices as investing in internal relationships and taking time to create authentic rapport with their internal partners

- Do less talking and more questioning and listening that facilitates partnership, collaboration, and agreement- Leaders in winning organizations are actively engaged in coaching their teams before and after these conversations and are willing to participate in the actual discussions when there is a material role to be played.



Engaging and Selling With Value-based Insights3. Engaging and Selling With Value-based Insights

Value-based insights, once properly prepared and practiced, have wide application in building your business:

o Enabling sales officers to gain an initial meeting

o Relationship managers to expand perceptions about your organization’s capabilities in a new area

o You and other senior managers to differentiate your organization in a client or sales meeting

o Subject matter experts to distinguish their ideas as being not just smart, but relevant to the client


Richardson approaches financial services employee training with a three-step process to ensure that

each client reaches its goals.


Conclusion

• Attained 129% quota• Increased client satisfaction scores

• Tripled pipeline Sales cycle shortened by six weeks

• Increased new deal size by 40% • Closed $67mm in business from

cross-sales referral program

Richardson approaches financial services employee training with a three-step process to ensure that each client reaches

its goals.

Step one is Define — Identify the critical success factors, and focus on improving those that matter most.

Step two is Develop — In which Richardson helps experienced, sophisticated bankers win deals to grow share of wallet through self-awareness and discovery in highly engaging, interactive workshops led by outstanding facilitators with extensive banking experience.

The third and final step, Drive — Focuses on skills reinforcement, coaching, and measurement to ensure that trained behaviors become lasting habits.


Connect With Us

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If you have any feedback or comments, please e-mail me at:[email protected]

You can connect with Richardson at:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/richardson Twitter: @Richardsonsales Call us: 215-940-9255Join our blog: http://blogs.richardson.com/

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financial services e-book

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