Prospects Are an Asset for Community Banks and Credit Unions: Do You Value Them?

Take a look at your financial institution. I would bet you have a lot of people working with you that are tasked with generating new loan and deposit sales. You have commercial bankers, mortgage bankers, branch managers and wealth managers hitting the streets to find prospects that will eventually turn into your new customers. Did you ever consider the amount of time and effort spent in finding and working the prospects before they are converted to customers? Your sales force is spending hours, days and weeks meeting with prospects, going to meetings and other social functions to help build new relationships. Face it, if the sales person had a quarter for each business card they have collected, they would be sitting on a beach in the Caribbean right now instead of working for you.

The issue to consider is we are spending considerable time and money building prospect lists and potential business relationships. Does your institution consider prospects a true asset of the bank? Prospects are an asset of the bank just like purchased computers, chairs and ATM machines. The salary dollars spent generating this asset are very expensive. Sales people have some of the highest salaries in the bank. If prospect data was a bank laptop, would you just let it walk out the door with your salesman when he changes jobs? I would hope not, but that is exactly what is happening in most institutions today.

As a bank or credit union, I am sure you run your organization on a core banking system. Most systems are great at tracking customers but absolutely terrible at tracking prospects. In fact, the majority of core banking systems today do not have adequate capabilities to track both customers AND prospects effectively. To start treating prospect data as an asset to the bank, here are three things you need to do consider:

1) You need to take a systematic approach to treating prospect data as an asset of the bank. What this means to you is you need a system to be able to track prospects across the bank. A centralized database where all sales people can enter the prospect data, maintain the information and share the information across the organization.

2) You need an easy way to allow your sales force to use the system. Most sales people regard CRM or other systems as a hindrance to making sales. They see this as busy work or sales administration which is time wasted. In many cases they are right. Some systems are so hard to use that you can spend too much time entering information into the system only to get minimal value out of it. However, a centralized prospect management system is extremely valuable when combined with management pipeline reporting. Now not only can we maintain our prospect assets but also allow managers to review prospecting activities and help predict future sales closures with confidence.

3) You need to make sure the sales force a) understands why it is important to enter the information and b) realize they will not get paid unless it is in the system. Sorry, but the bottom line is it has to be a job requirement. Saying you forgot to enter your prospect information is not acceptable. Entering prospects, call notes, meeting notes and sales pipeline information show that your sales person is participating in the activities that lead to sales closures.

Prospects are the lifeblood of your institution’s future success. Take actions to secure and maintain your prospects and treat them as the valuable asset that they truly are. If you are searching for a prospecting system or approach designed by and for banking professionals, take a look at IQProspects.

Mobile Banking Growth Demands New Branch Sales Strategy

For about a year, I have been using a mobile deposit app where I use my smart phone to make deposits by taking a picture of my checks and transmitting them to my institution. I have to say, I absolutely love this application. It is a killer banking app as far as I am concerned. It is a game changer because the number one reason I go to a branch would be to make a deposit. Sure, for years we have used on-line banking and bill pay. We all thought they were pretty cool, but mobile deposits is the Holy Grail when it comes to providing a convenient way to bank for most customers.

So, now we see our banking customers heading towards the mobile banking light at hyper speed. This poses a major problem for community and regional organizations where differentiation is based upon personalized service in the branch. Additionally, if most organizations use the branch visit as an opportunity to learn more about the customer and discuss possible cross-sell opportunities, how will this one killer app on a smart phone change the landscape forever? Most importantly, how must the branch sales culture change to support a model where we may never see our customer face to face?

To be honest, when smart phones started coming out with cameras, I thought to myself, "Why do I really need a camera on my phone?" What I really wanted was a phone that did not drop a call. Would that be so hard to build? Anyway, as the years rolled on and the mobile deposit apps hit the marketplace, I realized the value of the convenience factor of this app. It is so easy to take two pictures on your phone and transmit a check. A few minutes later the deposit is in my account.

Now, if you are a community bank, regional bank or credit union, I would bet one of the defining elements woven into the fabric of your institution is your ability to be a customer centric, face-to-face, relationship building organization like this community bank does. Ok, so how do you keep and continue this tradition in the face of a killer app like this? There is no doubt, you will now see less and less customers walking through the door each week. How do you build your customer centric brand when every customer just thinks of a bank as a transaction house on their mobile phone instead of a one-on-one financial advisor?

The answer to the question is simple. Your sales culture must evolve. If you are going to differentiate your organization as a relationship building organization, you cannot wait for customers to just walk in the door. You need a new strategy focused on communicating with your customer using both telephone and email without hesitation. In the past, you may have never called your customer unless they bounced a check. Now you NEED to call and email your customer on a consistent basis or you will never have the chance to grow the relationship like you had in the past with branch visits.

What this means to the branch is that the game has changed. Job functions must be redefined. Touching customers via outbound calls and emails are new sales metrics for evaluating branch associate performance. Keep in mind, phone skills and email writing skills are required for this sport. Both written and verbal communication skills are key. Do we want our branch associates sending out emails with lots of see you 2moro and XOXOs and other texting acronyms, or do we want them using real words. This all translates into how your brand will be perceived by your customer and is a very important factor not to be overlooked.

Finally, how will you manage the contacts? Will this be the Wild West and we just start calling up our customers randomly each day? What if we call one customer 2-3 times this week because one person did not know we called the customer previously? What if we miss out on the most important customer calls like maturing CDs or maybe a call where a large deposit was made into an account just last night? Using customer banking behavior and analytics to help drive your outbound strategy is the way to go. You will need a system to help centrally manage this for you or mistakes will be made.

When you look at it, the smart phone has and continues to change banking as we know it. It is time to consider your approach and put in place retention and growth strategies that work. It is time to bring this topic into your management meetings now. Don’t wait or it may be too late.

Top Banking Blogs – Stay Current on Retail Banking Trends, Bank Strategies, Banking Sales, and Bank Marketing

Banking Bloggers Discuss Top Banking Trends and Strategies

Today at Quest Analytics, we decided to research the top banking blogs and share those with everyone interested in staying current on community banking and credit union developments.

These blogs discuss top banking issues and suggest strategies for bankers to respond to market trends and common issues in banking sales or bank marketing. Every day, these bloggers continue to stay on the leading edge of banking and keep us in tune with current issues, pending or new legislation, and market conditions.

Those involved in retail banking at community banks and credit unions will find these blogs particularly useful. Whether your focus is on bank sales, bank marketing, or just researching bank strategies, these bloggers provide a fresh insight into some of today’s most pressing banking issues.

Take a look at these TOP BANKING BLOGS listed below. We will continue to read these bloggers and add our own insight on our banking blog.

Top Blogs for Retail Banking Strategies, Trends, Sales and Marketing

Rank	Website	Owner
1	Bank Innovation	Royal Media Group
2	Bank Marketing Strategy	Jim Marous
3	Snarketing 2.0	Ron Shevlin
4	GonzoBanker	Cornerstone Advisers, Inc.
5	The Andera Blog	Andera, Inc.
6	Financial Marketing Insights	ACTON Marketing, LLC
7	Financial Marketing and Cross-Selling Blog	Truebridge, Inc.
8	Market Insights Blog	Market Insights
9	Matt Wilcox Pro	Matthew Wilcox
10	Media Logic Blog	Media Logic USA, LLC
11	TonioliCreative Blog	TonioliCreative
12	Affluent Strategies Blog	JP Nicols
13	Jeff for Banks	Jeff Marsico
14	My Marketing Insights	LemmonTree Marketing Group

You Need to Stay on Top of the Banking Market

With over 20 years of experience supporting banks and credit unions, Quest Analytics understands the rapidly changing marketplace for banking. The first thing you need to do after visiting this posting is to sign up for our own FREE SalesDrive Newsletter so you won’t miss any of our upcoming insightful analysis on bank strategies, sales, and marketing. By joining us and keeping tabs on the blogs listed above, you will have the latest news and analysis from the leaders in the industry.

Follow-up Sales Leads Like A Bloodhound

Why do bankers give up on a potential sale so easily? If someone says, “I will think about it,” does this mean you should call them back or would you treat it as a dead opportunity? Too often, we leave valuable sales on the table just because we don’t follow-up like a bloodhound.

Years ago, I lived in England where they still have traditional fox hunts. There is one thing I learned by watching a fox hunt – the dog does not give up! The dog keeps on running and trying to find the fox until the fox is found.

Too often we stop our chase before it even gets started. Let me give you a real life example. A few weeks ago, I stopped into my bank. I have had a home equity line of credit for more than 10 years with this bank. I thought it might be good to see if I could do a bit better from a rate perspective now that rates have dropped significantly. Here is exactly what happened.

I sat down with the branch manager. She was pleasant in her greeting however she did not introduce herself by name or do any type of formal introduction. The branch manager was very polite. She answered each of my questions about the account, rate, and refinancing procedure. After all of my questions were answered, I said that I would discuss it with my wife and we would make a final decision. That was more than 5 weeks ago!

Never once did the branch manager ask for any of my contact details to verify if they still had the correct phone number. Never once did the branch manager ask for my email address. Never once did she hand me her business card so I would know who to call should I have more questions. Never once did she call me back to follow-up on my visit.

If a customer takes valuable time out their day to stop into the branch to ask questions, does that not qualify them as having interest in your product or service? It is time to stop leaving good business on the table and start following-up with every opportunity.

Here is what a banker sales bloodhound should have done:

1) Know your customer. Before a potential customer leaves your office you should know who they are, what relationships they have with you, and make sure you verify their phone number and email address. It is sad to say but phone numbers and email addresses change frequently and most likely your records are old or inaccurate.

2) Hand out a business card. Before they leave your office, hand them your business card. In fact hand them two business cards just in case they need one for their spouse. This is why you have business cards. This year your goal should be to go through as many boxes as possible.

3) Send an email. Directly after the customer leaves your office, send an email! You just verified the email address, so send them a quick email and say thank you for stopping in and you look forward to talking with them in a few days. If the email bounces, call them up and re-check the email address. You must have written it down incorrectly.

4) Follow-up like a bloodhound. Don’t stop until you get a final answer. Maybe is not a final answer. We will think about it is not a final answer. Yes, I would like to make an appointment or No, we are no longer interested is a final answer. 

5) Follow-up again. Lastly, let’s say a few days go by and you do not hear from the potential customer. Now is the time to be creative in your approach. Call them back and this time, use a servicing approach. Here is an example:

Hi Mr. Smith, this is Jane from Your Bank. We talked a few days ago about refinancing your home equity line of credit. The reason I am calling is that I may have forgotten to provide you with one other important piece of information about refinancing your loan. I noticed that you do not use our mobile banking product. Well, with your new line of credit account, you will be able to access this account from our mobile banking application.

This simple follow-up call provides one new nugget of information for your prospect but it also provides you with a valid reason to talk with them to gain commitment.

Don't let a week go by without contacting them again. Bloodhounds don’t give up. Bloodhounds want to win. Don’t you want to win? Sure you do. Stop letting business go to your competitor and start following up like the banking sales professional you really are.

Bank Phone Number Roulette

A May 2010 article from Reuters stated that nearly a quarter of all homes in the U.S. have abandoned land lines and only use a cell phone. The article further noted that, almost half of adults aged 25 to 29 lived in households with only cell phones. This means that keeping your customer phone numbers up-to-date is becoming more of a challenge.

Incorporate processes at your front-line to collect and verify phone numbers and email addresses at least once per year. This will allow your institution to stay in touch with your customers through these channels and cut down on costs, both in time and money, of bad contact data.

Quest has worked with many institutions who don’t even have current mailing addresses for many accounts, let alone phone numbers or email addresses. You need a process in place to continue to validate this data, this is just good business. And it is good customer relations.

As communications technology continues to change, you will be faced with an exponential backlog of outdated and invalid contact data for your customers unless you routinely validate and update it.

Here are some tips on how to keep things updated in times of change.
Read the full article in our Sales Ezine:

http://www.quest-analytics.com/sdarticles/SD201008-02.asp

Getting More out of New Account Openings

The new account interview is so very important to driving new and future sales. Your customer’s or member’s first account opening with your institution embeds their first impression of your organization. The type of service they receive on this first transaction will either be memorable in a positive or a negative way. If it is negative, trust me they will be telling their friends about the experience. You may ask, how do I know if I did a great job? You will know. The next time they are in the bank, they will ask for you by name. This will give you another chance to lock in a lifetime relationship with this customer.

Although the customer may have initially contacted you due to some great marketing about your “Free Checking” or other product line, never assume that this is the best product for the customer. You need to ask the customer about how they plan on using the account, the balances they plan on having and the number of transactions they will perform each month. It may be that they will have sufficient balances for an interest bearing account. If this is the case, explaining the advantages is very appropriate. Never assume that because they came into the institution for one particular account, that this is exactly what the customer needs. This is the point of the interview. The same holds true for CD discussions. Ask questions about what their short term and long term needs are for the money. Based upon their answers, you can make a good recommendation. The bottom line is you need to ask questions so you can properly help them open the correct account(s) from the start. This will help them get the most from your institution.

Ask questions about their other banking relationships. Most customers have 5 or more banking relationships. If you want to become their primary bank, you need to know how you can help them with their other needs. Don’t be afraid to ask where they have their other accounts. Don’t criticize their decision to use other banks. Tell them that many of your best customers have relationships with other banks as well. Do explain how easy it is for you to set-up account linkages so they can easily move money to your institution.See more tips your customer service agents should take to make sure you get the most out of every new account interaction by reading the full article - http://bit.ly/ctgRTY

Bad Data Costs Your Bank Money

Banks and Credit Unions of all sizes can cut a large chunk of operational and marketing expense by simply paying more attention to the quality of customer data. As absurd as this may sound, it is absolutely true. Routine and marketing mailings to bad addresses, as well as service and marketing calls to bad phone numbers are costs that add up very quickly and waste your valuable operations and marketing dollars.

Consider this example:

Marketing or operational mailing pieces per month = 20,000
Cost per mailing piece (production and postage) = $1.25
Total monthly cost = $25,000
Total annual cost = $300,000

Month 1 bad/outdated addresses = 1,000 (5% of mailing)
Cost of month 1 bad/outdated addresses = $1,250

Add 1% growth of bad/outdated addresses per month = 16% annually

Even if half of the bad addresses at some point in the year update their addresses, that is still 8% annually or $2,000 per mailing and $24,000 per year.

If your bank/credit union is like most institutions, you could probably put that money to use somewhere else where you would see a return on it.

So, do you have a strategy in place to deal with the degrading quality of your customer data? Do you have a process to regularly audit and review customer data with those who know the data best, the customers themselves?

Quest Analytics works with clients on these very scenarios. As a result, we now offer our IQDataQuality(TM) solution. It puts a proven process in place to ensure your customer information is validated at routine intervals by your front line. Our solution works directly with all teller applications and core systems.

Click here for more information on IQDataQuality:



http://www.quest-analytics.com/FactSheets/Quest%20Analytics%20IQDataQuality%20Factsheet.pdf