Hoosier Banker 47 - How are decisions made relating to what financial partner you work with? - What criteria will you use in selecting that partner? - What mistakes do banks make when they attempt to build trust-based relationships? • A banker in Texas prepares two or three questions that he believes no other banker will ask. He inserts them at various points of the call to pique the interest of the buyer. One is: “What’s one thing you would do at your business, if you knew you wouldn’t fail?” Curiosity ‒ the sales cliffhanger. How do “Game of Thrones,” “The Voice” or any recurring television series keep viewers hooked week after week? They use cliffhangers to leave the audience wanting more. It’s that “wow” factor that is preventing bankers from getting back to call No. 2 more than 17 percent of the time last year. Sometimes the customer forces us into premature presentations, and we don’t know how to extricate ourselves. Other times there is a “hot one” in front of us that we don’t want to get away. A quarter-over-quarter revenue mentality certainly hasn’t helped. This conflict of results now, juxtaposed against banking’s stated desire to build trust-based partnerships, has caused consternation on both sides of the desk. The fact is that when we talk products too soon, price inevitably surfaces, and the banker quickly becomes a commodity. Curiosity is controlled by the sales associate. The banker determines the high-impact questions to ask, and when to pull back from a potentially disastrous and premature product presentation. He or she decides what to leave behind on an initial call. To build curiosity, the banker can: • Leave the briefcase at the office on the first call. Instead, bring two pens that work, a leather-bound notepad, a printed or electronic calendar showing available dates over the next 30 days, and an open mind. This approach makes the prospect comfortable and more open to sharing information. • Redirect: Answer a question with a question. When the CFO asks about cash management products, be ready with three or four related questions, for example regarding what the business currently is doing, how it is working, how technology is involved, etc. Successful salespeople use this Socratic method to keep the dialogue moving and to gain an understanding of the “why” behind the initial question. • The leave-behind. The outstanding book, Insight Selling, covers how winners in the sales process do one thing better and more often than second-place finishers: They educate the buyer with new ideas and perspectives. That education doesn’t come from a brochure or an annual report. Great bankers scour the internet and use various free and for-pay resources to share something of value at the conclusion of the conversation. When a banker starts the conversation, the entrepreneur is thinking, “Do I see myself banking with this person?” If the salesperson can consistently leave the call with a wow factor, the prospect wonders what the next conversation will be like. The banker who builds curiosity has a betterthan-average chance of getting back in the door ‒ which may eventually lead to a new relationship. Customization ‒ our one-to-one world. It isn’t possible to tailor every product for every situation, but business owners understandably buy financial services for their own reasons. Therefore as the banker presents his or her solutions, illustrating customized buying benefits for the buyer creates better results. Learning why customers buy can occur in the first or second meeting, if the salesperson is adept at the curious. Understanding issues such as why customers might be open to change, what type of banking relationships work for them, and their criteria for buying decisions all factor into future presentations.
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