46 MARCH / APRIL 2017 SALES / MARKETING The 5Cs of credit are the cornerstone of banking. Character, Capacity, Capital, Collateral and Conditions are vital in making daily loan decisions. Selling in 2017 involves five new Cs, and these competencies are as critical as the credit Cs. From Adam and Eve to 2017 Who invented selling? It was Eve who made the first sale, when she convinced Adam to take that bite. What might have happened had Adam known resistance handling techniques? Fast forward to the early 1880s and John H. Patterson of the NCR Corp. Patterson helped build a financial empire by convincing business owners that providing receipts for purchases would be to everyone’s advantage. Patterson is widely known as the father of modern selling. For both Eve and Patterson, product pushing and closing the sale were the be all and end all. Consultative selling materialized in the late 1960s as a way to bring the buyer into the process. Questions became the star, and the product took a supporting role. As the new century dawned and the internet changed everything, trust-based selling emerged as the new standard. The new five Cs fit well into what the client wants and what the banker needs to do to get more, keep more and sell deeper. The New 5Cs Best-of-breed bankers separate themselves from the rest of the pack by executing five key behaviors. These five Cs build trust and loyalty, maximize the customer experience and optimize bottom-line results: • Conversations; • Curiosity; • Customization; • Collaboration; • Coaching. Conversations ‒ the ultimate differentiator. Data indicate that 10 to 12 touches (phone, email, voice mail) are needed before a prospect agrees to see a banker. Data also indicate that 54 percent of bankers stop touching after the first rejection. A study by CSO Insights also suggests it takes an average of seven calls for a prospect to become a client. Given those statistics, how can sales professionals create differentiation? It’s through conversation. Conversations that are well planned and targeted to the needs of the client help move the process forward faster and in a trust-based manner. Last year bankers made it to call No. 2 only 17 percent of the time. Why? They were too eager to talk, and not as focused on listening. Following are some ways that successful business bankers have optimized conversation: • One banker forwards ahead several “thought starter” questions as an agenda. Talk about differentiation … when was the last time one of your competitors emailed a list of impactful questions to the prospect prior to a call? • Another banker pre-boards insightful question ideas down the left side of her notepad prior to the call. She doesn’t memorize them, but instead creates a guided dialogue using a “BNG” approach that is focused on the buyer: - Where have you Been? - Where are you Now? - Where are you Going? - How do you plan to get there? - What stands in your way of achieving those goals? - What is your timeframe for those objectives? - What issues will you face if you do or don’t execute on your initiatives? Trust-Based Selling The new 5Cs Jack Hubbard Chief Experience Officer St. Meyer & Hubbard jhubbard@smandh.com Article author
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