When Common Sense Should Prevail

I recently spent a couple of days in the hospital. Nothing serious…just needed a small tune-up. One of the things I’ve really focused on in recent years is the simple act of observation. Not so much on observing things and beautiful scenery, although I do try to do that, but on observing people.

So as I tuned and turned the volume up on my listening rod those couple of days, I observed that many patients had not figured out one simple hospital fact: Be VERY nice to the nurses and techs! Don’t worry so much about the doctors who come around sporadically. They are important, but the nurses and techs are the ones who do the heavy lifting with patient care and service 24/7. They are often the unrecognized heroines and heros  of our society!!! Show and tell them you genuinely appreciate everything they do, and the great care they give. Three interesting things happen when you do: THEY feel better, you get even BETTER service from them, and YOU feel better when you’ve made THEM feel better! It’s definitely WIN, WIN, WIN.

How does this apply to banking? Well, even more than your board and senior management group, your staff, from the newest to the most veteran contact and non-contact staffers all across your bank, is the group that is really your nurses and tech group. They take care of easy customer situations, difficult customer situations, winey customer situations, appreciative and unappreciative customer situations, happy and unhappy customers, and on and on. They provide your customers with the service they want and need to remain customers, and as a result of doing that, they put food on your table, and a roof over your head. What a group! Are they special? Absolutely! Should you show and tell them you appreciate them? At every opportunity, and minus an opportunity, create one! They’ll be happier, your customers will get the service they want to be happy, and you’ll be happier too! It’s WIN, WIN, WIN for sure!

The “ Why “ and “ How “ of Making Out- of- the- Bank Sales Calls:

In this blog, I’ll make a few brief overview comments on the “Why”. In Early & Company’s  in- your- own- bank training, we cover the “why“ and “how“ in depth. Here goes:

A fact: Most people don’t like to sell anything! Why? There are many reasons, but here are three very common ones: 1) So many amateur sales people have pestered us selling cars,  insurance, investments, retirement programs, et, etc, that we mentally see sales people at the bottom of our social structure, 2) We’re not sure we can answer all the questions which might be asked, and 3) We don’t like the possibility, even the thought of, rejection.

As a group, bankers, in particular, don’t like to sell! Why? Well, again, from among many reasons , here are three very common reasons : 1) For the reasons given in the paragraph above, and because we have not viewed ourselves as being in sales. Often we’re evaluated by our supervisors on everything else, i.e. Loan Quality, Balancing Our Windows, etc, etc., 2) Until recent years, we haven’t really had to sell. But here’s the good news: Competition for banking customers is more competitive now than it has ever been, and here’s the bad news: It is going to get worse! 3) And the granddaddy of all the reasons given by us bankers for not making sales calls, We THINK we don’t have time because we’re so busy!

From this point in our training, we address the subject of “ What sales IS NOT and what sales IS”, then move on to the meat of the training on the “ How “ to decide upon who to call on,  Making the Effective Sales Call , Overcoming Resistance, and “ How To KEEP the Customers We’ve Attracted “.