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BlogsTaking it to the Bank
Managing The Cross Sell
By Lee Conrad
April 29, 2011
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In our upcoming May issue of Bank Investment Consultant (out next week), we have a couple of offerings that add more value if taken together than they do separately. (I’m not usually one for jargon, but I believe that’s that they call synergy.)
I can’t give you the full scoop, but I can talk about the nutshell version. We have our annual top-20 program managers, a list highlighting the best program bosses in the channel. It’s an interesting look at what strategies the best leaders in this business are pursuing. Many of them strike the same chords: the importance of good hiring, fostering a team atmosphere and so forth.
In the same issue, you’ll also see our exclusive, quarterly BIC survey. Every three months, we survey our top-50 bank reps—our other big ranking, this one from the December issue—on a specific topic. This one was on cross selling.
What were the results? One: cross selling is really important. Two: Most banks aren’t doing it very well.
As much as banks and bank reps want to tap into the cross sell potential, the right incentives often aren’t in place to get employees outside the investment program to act the right way.
Granted, this was a very limited universe as far as surveys are concerned, so the conclusions are more anecdotal than scientific. But as anecdotal evidence goes, this illustrates a lot of missed opportunities. Only half of the respondents said they get even as much as 20% of their assets from referrals from their bank’s tellers.
We talked to a few outside experts for ways that bank reps can help themselves. But they say the biggest problem is still the cultural differences between tellers, who are customer service oriented, and advisors, who are more sales oriented.
So you can try to change the culture, or you can put new incentives in place. But by and large, our program managers didn’t talk about those issues.
Again, this is anecdotal. Most of the program managers highlighted in our magazine only got a paragraph, so it’s possible that they are indeed working on this. But at the very least, it doesn’t seem top of mind, even while our survey indicates that it should be. And that’s what seems like the missed opportunity.
2 Comments
Financial institutions are always trying to 'Manage The Cross Sell' while at the same time their customers are trying to 'Manage The Cross Buy'. In my experience I have observed several different selling/buying patterns and have noticed that there is one theme that is present in every selling/buying situation: if the buyer is not ready to buy, then the seller isn't selling anything! For banks to be in the right place at the right time when their customers are 'ready to buy' is the foundation for becoming good at cross selling. Some of it can be luck (which you will take all day long) but most of it is work. Good, smart, work. I am a big believer in working smarter. So how can a bank be in the right place at the right time? They can educate their customers on topics that will either save them money or help them avoid costly mistakes in the future (near and far term). If your customer trusts that the information you are providing to them is useful and valuable, chances are that when they are ready to buy, they will buy with you. If you are committed to managing your customers needs, you are well on your way to be able to Manage The Cross Sell! I look forward to reading the May BIC.
I've been recruiting for banks for almost 30 years and I've heard over and over about the "holy grail" of banking...real integration of commercial, retail and private client needs. With all of the best intent it hasn't happened...not really. Silos still separate the various components and most "solutions" are tied to mandates and/or incentives. We all talk about "cross selling" - the term alone shows there is a problem. We ask people to sell something that they know little or nothing about, in some other area of the bank. It is a "them" versus "us" mentality often fostered by a lack education or simply scripts to follow, and the "selling" crosses real boundaries. For sure you will get more referrals with proper incentives but you won't change the culture without continueing education, a simple set of questions, that a teller can follow, that lead to a referral, AND incentives that tell everyone involved they are part of the same team.
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ûAs Group Managing Editor of SourceMedia's Investment Advisor Group, Lee oversees all editorial aspects of our Bank Investment Consultant brand. He has spent half his 20-year journalism career at SourceMedia and legacy companies. Before taking over BIC in April 2011, he spent more than three years as managing editor of On Wall Street. And before that he was a senior editor at U.S. Banker magazine for four years. He also worked as an editor in the newsletter unit of legacy divisions of the company for three years, covering various aspects of the fixed-income markets.
ûLee started his career as a reporter at the St. Louis Business Journal after graduating from the University of Missouri with a B.S. in economics. He is currently working toward an MBA at Baruch College, part of City University of New York.
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2 Comments
Financial institutions are always trying to 'Manage The Cross Sell' while at the same time their customers are trying to 'Manage The Cross Buy'. In my experience I have observed several different selling/buying patterns and have noticed that there is one theme that is present in every selling/buying situation: if the buyer is not ready to buy, then the seller isn't selling anything! For banks to be in the right place at the right time when their customers are 'ready to buy' is the foundation for becoming good at cross selling. Some of it can be luck (which you will take all day long) but most of it is work. Good, smart, work. I am a big believer in working smarter. So how can a bank be in the right place at the right time? They can educate their customers on topics that will either save them money or help them avoid costly mistakes in the future (near and far term). If your customer trusts that the information you are providing to them is useful and valuable, chances are that when they are ready to buy, they will buy with you. If you are committed to managing your customers needs, you are well on your way to be able to Manage The Cross Sell! I look forward to reading the May BIC.
Posted by: Truebridge | May 2, 2011 10:50 AM
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I've been recruiting for banks for almost 30 years and I've heard over and over about the "holy grail" of banking...real integration of commercial, retail and private client needs. With all of the best intent it hasn't happened...not really. Silos still separate the various components and most "solutions" are tied to mandates and/or incentives. We all talk about "cross selling" - the term alone shows there is a problem. We ask people to sell something that they know little or nothing about, in some other area of the bank. It is a "them" versus "us" mentality often fostered by a lack education or simply scripts to follow, and the "selling" crosses real boundaries. For sure you will get more referrals with proper incentives but you won't change the culture without continueing education, a simple set of questions, that a teller can follow, that lead to a referral, AND incentives that tell everyone involved they are part of the same team.
Posted by: Tom Wieder | April 29, 2011 1:13 PM
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