When we are asked to evaluate the calling practices of an institution we come to one of four obvious conclusions: (1) a lack of consultative calling skills by some or all of the officers, (2) the lack of a plan or strategy designed to identify prospective accounts and to direct officer call activity, (3) officers are not held directly accountable for results by linking call activity to an effective reward structure, or in some cases, (4) all of the above. Do any of these describe the officer calling situation at your institution?
Call reports don’t lie! If you’re not on or near the top of the list in your market, then perhaps you should consider a formal officer call program as part of a solution. So if you don’t like what you see, read on and let’s look at eight essential components of a high-quality calling strategy.
The “right horses” to run the race. You wouldn’t expect to plow a field with a race horse; nor would you expect to run the Kentucky Derby® with a mule. The same applies to the sales-related expectations of your officers. Just because someone is an outstanding operations employee, don’t expect them to excel in a selling situation. Make sure you have the right personalities in place to perform the selling role. These people need to be motivated by a carefully crafted incentive program, and perhaps most important, internally “driven” to succeed! They tend to focus on results, be naturally inquisitive, good questioners, and listeners, gregarious to a fault, and meet new people easily. Additionally, they should be creative problem solvers who want to help others. Be sure to hire and/or promote people into sales positions who are capable of running the race. If not, expect to be in the back of the pack.
Clear management expectations. Nothing is more critical than clearly communicating senior management’s expectations that officer call effectiveness is an absolute pre-requisite for continued employment. Every officer must understand that making effective sales calls is an important part of their job, it’s not optional. This should be done during the hiring and / or promotion process as well as through frequent coaching and appraisal sessions. Your sales culture must be driven from the top down.
A reward structure linked to call results. As mentioned above, you must offer the right carrots for your race horses. There must be a direct link between sales call effectiveness/results and the reward structure for the officer. This bundle of “carrots” includes the most advantageous mix of monetary, recognition, and promotion opportunities attained only through acceptable performance. Of course, your results metrics may be measured through assets gained, portfolio quality, number of contacts, etc. You decide based on what is best for your institution’s overall performance. If you have the right horses, they will run hard to win the right mix of carrots.
A proven call process to direct call activity. Financial customers use a logical process to make buying decisions concerning financial products that can be predicted and tracked. This is true in every industry. Therefore, a good officer call process will always follow the decision-making process to improve efficiency and effectiveness. It’s the straightest path to the sale. This process typically includes: call planning, opening the call and rapport building, consultative questioning, offering / providing financial solutions, and confirming a decision. If you desire consistent results, you cannot leave it up to each officer to make calls using their own process. It is best to use a standard process that everyone can follow and senior management can monitor, coach, and problem solve when results are less than satisfactory. Without a process, you can only evaluate results after the fact, not troubleshoot the activity required to drive those results. If you wait until you see results, it’s too late. Your calling performance problems are tied to activity.
Selling / relationship building skills. Any process requires specific skill sets to perform it effectively. These are skills many people do not naturally possess. We hear over and over: “We only hire experienced officers.” Although that may be the case, after careful evaluation we learn that the overall skill level is adequate, but the unique skills required to sell are sorely lacking. Most problems associated with officer calling, aside from attitude issues, are the result of not following a proper process - and the lack of the skills required to execute that process. Officers, like all of your other employees, require skill training opportunities to build and improve their abilities. They may feel they are “above” skill training, but our experience shows that when performance is poor, it’s typically the lack of process and skills.
Frequent inspection of call activity. The old adage; “You can’t expect what you don’t inspect,” is especially applicable in management theory. Senior management must be willing to inspect progress made on each lead/prospect at least on a monthly basis in order to insure a forward motion of each sales opportunity. Inspection may be based on your knowledge of each officer’s needs and capabilities. Look for the sales activity required to drive results and hold officers accountable for it. Ask officers to tell you where they are in the sales process. If they do not know, there’s little chance they’ll close the deal. Remember, proper activity leads to proper results, so inspect activity regularly.
Direct accountability for results. On a monthly, quarterly, and of course a yearly cycle, officers must be held accountable for their actual performance results versus quotas/budgets. This closes the performance management loop and provides a “hard stop” time line for the evaluation of performance. It’s also an opportunity for officers to explain their results or lack thereof. Finally, it’s a chance for the application of the reward/consequence structure, problem solving and of course the ultimate decisions about the appropriateness of the officer in his/her role. There must be the proverbial “line in the sand.”
Opportunities to improve sales knowledge and skills. All professionals, whether they are pilots, doctors, lawyers, and yes even bankers, need periodic training to improve their abilities. Brainstorming and sharing of experiences, discussing techniques and ideas that have proven successful, are very effective in helping officers improve their performance. In other cases, role playing and case studies provide officers with opportunities to improve in a realistic yet non-threatening environment. On-going training is essential for consistent officer call performance.
In summary, today’s financial institution officer must be able to conduct professional calls on personal and commercial prospects and customers inside and outside of the building. They must know how to identify opportunities with existing as well as potential customers. To do this effectively, they need a process, as well as a unique set of skills that can be used to target, approach, assess needs, and present an appropriate financial solution. And, they must also be competent at helping the prospect move forward with a decision. All of this involves processes and skills that quite frankly, are in short supply at many institutions today. Don’t let yours be one of them! Have a formal officer calling strategy and officers with the skills and initiative to implement it.
