Banking And Customer Service: Sales Advice Needed
For the last several days, I’ve been going back and forth with a reader who says she’s an operations manager for a bank and has 10 branches reporting to her.
I feel like she was looking for someone to write a new book and base it on the religion she wanted to start.
You know the kind: ” Here’s my opinion, find some data to back me up. We’re going to do it like this, because we want to, not because the data suggests that the customers want it. “
I’m not a koolaid drinker, nor do I blow smoke up people’s asses very well, I just tell the truth, sell the product and move on.
It’s really that simple and you know I like simple.
But I’ve been wrong before and maybe I am again. I feel like this method assumes that “everyone” is their customer.
When I walk in a bank, all I want to do is accomplish my task, be it deposit, withdrawal, etc.
If I want to talk to anyone about further services, I’ll make an appointment and talk to their expert, not a teller, who could have started just yesterday.
I don’t like being treated like a captive and have them hold my receipt or cash while I listen to a spiel that I didn’t ask for, while the other customers in line grumble about it taking so long.
The questions of the day are below. I need your honest opinion and any suggestions, so the next time I have to deal with a banker, I’ll be able to point them towards this post and not have to find data to back up their desires.
1) Do you believe a bank is an institution or a business ?
2) Do you feel comfortable waiting in line behind another customer while a teller tries to sell them more services ?
3) Do you think this method of marketing their services will be effective ?
4) Do you trust bank tellers to give you solid financial advice ?
5) Do you go into your bank to perform a service or to be sold new products ?
Please add any comments, answers or thoughts below and I’d really appreciate your taking time to answer.
I Hate Settlin’
You may have noticed, if you’ve read more than 10 of my posts here, that I hate settlin’.
I hate mediocrity. I hate average. I hate compromises. I don’t like to finish lower than first.
Jennifer Nettles, seen above with Kristian Bush, the other half of Sugarland, said it and sang it well in their newest hit, Settlin’:
” I ain’t settling for just getting by, I’ve had enough so so for the rest of my life. Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high. Just enough ain’t enough this time, I ain’t settling, for anything less than everything. “
When our daughters were little, I had no problem being the bad guy and saying no.
Now they’re 22, 21 and 19 and guess what, I still have no problem being the bad guy, saying no and telling them what I feel is the truth, even if it makes me unpopular.
BTW - those three daughters are as cool as the underside of the pillow, don’t give us any reasons to be afraid for their lives and are as good as the peanut butter fudge from Grand Rivers, KY.
Back to sales relsted thangs. I’m ready to embark on a new way to operate and market a few sites that could be astronomical. It could also be a dud. That doesn’t scare me in the least.
We won’t know until we try, but I’m not settlin’ for anything less than our best effort.
And knowing me like I do, I’ll push, harass and browbeat myself and my entire staff until we make it a success.
Like I said, I hate settlin’.
Was Madonna The Original Linkbaiter ?
I was hurtling down the highway a couple of days ago, listening to my Sirius radio on the Big ’80’s channel and when Madonna came on to sing Like A Prayer.
Suddenly it hit me that she was the original linkbaiter and that video was the first linkbait.
I remember the buzz around it when it first aired.
Sexually suggestive movements … in a church.
Burning crosses.
Suggestions of inter-racial relations.
Yada-yada. Blah blah.
Churches upset. Mothers upset. Teachers upset. Her accountant was upset … with all the extra money he had to try to not pay taxes on.
She started linkbaiting way before blogs were around … in their current form.
Actually, she started linkbaiting before most of today’s bloggers were born, or at least out of school.
She made it into an artform … literally.
Was she the original linkbaiter … or just the best of our generation ?
Tony Stewart Agrees With Me About NASCAR
As much as I hate it, I have to agree with Tony Stewart, who happens to agree with my previous rant about NASCAR treating it’s fans like they’re stupid.
Tuesday night on his Sirius Radio show Tony said arguably the same thing I had said a few days earlier.
Here’s some of the quotes from Tony Stewart:
” It’s like playing God, ” he said on his Sirius Satellite Radio program. ” They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it. It’s happened too many times this year. “
About NASCAR and their propensity to throw a caution flag if one car gets too far ahead of the field, Tony said:
” I guess NASCAR thinks, ‘Hey, wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it’s going to work in racing, too, ” he said.
” I can’t understand how long the fans are going to let NASCAR treat them like they’re stupid before the fans finally turn on NASCAR. I don’t know that they’ve run a fair race all year. “
He said a lot more and ESPN has a great review of the situation, so I’ll link you to their article.
They’ll soon suffer for treating their fans like their stupid.
Don’t make the same mistake in your own business.
Tomorrow we’ll go back to our regularly scheduled programming !
If The Dalai Lama Was Your Sales Manager
Inspiration hit me, like only inspiration can, upside the head after following a post from LifeHack.org to it’s homebase at RirianProject.com.
This particular post was about 10 Timeless Lessons from the Dalai Lama and they’re great lessons, but here at Simplenomics, we talk mostly about sales, so I thought I’d try to adapt it to selling. Here goes :
Lesson #1 - “ Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. ”
Great salesmen aren’t really born. No pink and wrinkly baby ever led the company in sales. You only become a great salesman by taking the risks that the fearful, average salesmen won’t take.
If there’s a sure way to get noticed, it’s by selling the account that has never bought before, by selling the big jobs and by getting the job done … without whining, lying or cheating.
Lesson #2 - “ When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.”
This could be my favorite, because I rarely lose out on any project in my area. When I do, I analyze the heck out of what I did or didn’t do, so it never happens that same way again.
You’ll never sell every account or every job that every account does, but if you learn to accept defeat gracefully and learn from the losses, you may come out even better than the salesman who sold the job.
Lesson #3 - “ When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. ”
If you ever realize you’ve mislead or misinformed a client or customer, be sure you’re the one to tell them. Don’t worry about losing the business, just don’t let them find out from a competing salesman or, for that matter, anybody else.
I’ve gotten major accounts and made major sales by finding out what a competitor told a potential customer and analyzing his story. I never lie to a customer and if you sell against me and try it, you’ll be out of a job in a short, short time.
Lesson #4 - “ Spend some time alone every day. ”
Plan your work and work your plan. You’ve heard it before, but do you actually practice it ?
I do. I don’t rely on memory, I write down every voicemail message and the premise of every phone call. Then, at some point during the day, I check my notes and look for calls I need to make or actions I need to take.
Never ending the day with a call or email hanging is one of the secrets to my success. That and the fact that none of my competitors does it.
Lesson #5 - “ Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. ”
You’ve got 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason. Listen twice as much as you speak. This is one I struggle with, at times, and it always bites me in the backside when I violate this rule.
Never be afraid to let silence be your best offense. Just last week, I let a customer hang in silence for several seconds, becuase I was pissed that he kept calling every 30 minutes to ask me the same question.
The end result ? After about 5 seconds, he said, ” Let’s just put this off til Monday and get back after it then. ”
Which was exactly what I’d told him we needed to do 7 calls earlier.
Silence can be golden.
Lesson #6 - “ Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality. ”
This one’s pretty easy. This is exactly why I had this blog built.
I’ve enjoyed some success, using my simple ways and I wanted to share those ways with the world.
You should do the same, because you know some things that nobody else knows.
Seriously, you do.
Need a blog built or a campaign planned to shared said knowledge ? Use the Contact Form on this blog and we’ll see if we can help you.
Lesson #7 - “ Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.”
Never ever try to become someone you aren’t. I’ve had offers to join sales teams that I knew needed me, but I also knew that I wasn’t like them, in one way or another.
If your sales manager asks you to lie, cheat or steal, RUN, don’t walk, RUN as fast as you can away from them and find another way to make a living.
Only one time did I ever end up feeling like a hog at an opera and I’ll never make that mistake again.
Lesson #8 - “ Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. ”
I’ll bet that you can look back and remember a few times that you didn’t get a job or make a sale that you wanted.
I’ll also bet that you can look back and see that the majority of those times you ended up better off because of it.
Don’t waste energy asking why … instead ask what’s next ?
Lesson #9 - “ A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. ”
You’ll never know just how lucky you are to have a supportive spouse … until you sit at a dinner table with someone who doesn’t have one.
I would not be half the person I am without my loving, supportive, patient much-better-half.
Thanks Joi Tania !
Lesson #10 - “ Be gentle with the earth.”
How are we gonna relate this one to selling ? I have no idea !
But I do believe that the better you are to your fellow man, the more you’re rewarded with good fortune.
So go forth and be gentle with some poor customer or client today and see if it doesn’t come back to you in triplicate.
Thanks again to the two inspirations for this post and to the Dalai Lama for the original thoughts, which I hope I didn’t do any damage to.
Like Hippocrates said, ” First, do no harm. ”
We bloggers should try that more often.
Marketing Blogs: One Post A Hero, Next Post A Goat
You gotta like Mike Smock. Well, you don’t gotta, because a lot of folks don’t. But some do.
Mike’s a marketer from way back. Some of his ideas are way back and some are way out in front.
That’s probably said about most successful marketers, like Mike is.
Why do I bring him up ?
Simple. If you don’t read his blog, you should.
Here’s a taste of what’s waiting for you:
In this post, he’s a stud marketer after my own heart. He quotes Erv Frederick from Miller Lite, talking about their commercials that ” … aren’t meant to put trophies on the shelves of our advertising agencies, they’re meant to do one thing: Sell beer.”
Finally ! Someone who remembers what an ad was meant to do.
But then Mike says in another post that ” If You’re In Sales Or Marketing And You Consider Yourself An Advocate For The Customer…
Then you need to go to work for the customer. “
Bzzzz ! Wrong answer, Mike.
To be an advocate is ” to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly. ”
You can be for the customer, without putting them in charge of the process.
I’m sure, not I believe, I’m sure that if you take care of the customer, make it easy for them to buy … again and again … they will.
That sounded like ego talking, Smock, not a salesman or marketer.
Too much money maketh a man proud … and stupid.
Ask John Daly. Or Ozzy Osbourne. Or Snoop Dog. Or Tom Cruise.
Success Is Simply Six Words Strung Together
” I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through - then follow through. “
Those words from Eddy Rickenbacker were true some 50+ years ago and they’re still true today.
If you want to become a salesman of value to your customers, your company and yourself, hopefully in that order, you need to do just that.
Think Things Through
You know who the account is.
You know what they buy that you sell.
Whoop-de-doo.
What do they need that you don’t sell that you can bundle with what you do sell ?
Who do they buy from that sells a product that’s not as well suited for them as yours is ?
Who can you get to tell them about that product ?
They’ll believe someone else about 309 times faster than they will you, because you stand to gain from it.
Get testimonials from your current customers that are specific to their needs.
Put them on a PDF that can be downloaded from your website.
Have a white paper written that addresses their problems.
This is sales, not rocket science. It ain’t that hard.
Then Follow Through
This is the simple little maneuver that seperates those who sell from those who wonder.
In golf, the follow-through is a direct reflection of what happened just before impact.
In sales, the follow through determines whether or not you ever make an impact.
Just like me, every other business person keeps a running tally of all the promises you make that you never keep.
When those con’s outweigh the pro’s of doing business with you, we drop you as fast as we can.
Being the dud that you are, it’s a long time before you even notice you’ve been replaced.
If I’ve gone through enough stock to have to reorder several times before you come to ask me what happened, you shouldn’t even try to call me, you should mail me an apology first, then send a note asking me to call you when I have time … if I ever do.
Follow through, after you’ve thought it through and I’ll be good to you, for you and because of you.
Simple.
How To Completely Disable A Sales Force With A Cellphone
One man and a cellphone completely disabled an entire sales organization for over 36 hours this week.
You knew cellphones were more powerful than they used to be, but you had no idea they had features like that, did you ?
I waited well over 36 hours earlier this week for a salesman to return my call.
I don’t usually wait that long, when I’m the customer, nor do I make people wait that long when the roles are reversed.
When this salesman called me back, too late to get the order, I asked him what took him so long.
Our sales manager switched our cellphone carrier and it took that long for the new carrier to pick up our service after the old one cut us off.
What ?! He did this on a Tuesday ?
You have got to be kidding me, that some knucklehead had the lack of common sense to do this on a Tuesday, instead of late on Friday … say around 6 PM, after the salesmen had all quit answering their phones for the week anyway.
If they had done it at 6 PM on Friday and it took the same 36 hours for the change to kick in, they would have started working around 6 AM on Sunday. They would have had another 24 hours or so to play with, just in case.
How can you cripple a travelling sales force like that ? No voicemail. No email. No phone … that works, that is.
Nothing but irate customers can come from a sillyass decision like that.
Simply, nothing.
Maybe I should have titled this post, ” If Goofy Was Your Sales Manager. “
Put this on your list of things you let other people do first to see if it will work or not.
I Am A Tea Snob
Okay, fine. I admit it.
I like hot tea. No honey, no cream. No sugar.
Just a really flavorful cup of hot tea, as I slowly get away from SO MUCH coffee.
I’m not giving it up, just cutting back.
My local Starbuck’s has allowed me to try several, several tea’s of late.
BTW - My company made the integrally colored concrete blocks for this store and supplied the rest of the masonry materials.
My favorite so far is one from Tazo - Wild Sweet Orange.
It’s really intense and extremely flavorful. Multiply that by 3 or 4 and you may be close to the experience you’ll get from it.
Here’s what the Starbuck’s website says about it:
” Wild Sweet Orange: A full-flavored, juicy infusion of lemongrass, citrus herbs, licorice root and orange essences. Ingredients: Lemongrass, blackberry leaves, citric acid, rose hips, spearmint leaves, natural flavors, orange peel, safflower, hibiscus flowers, rose petals, natural orange essence, ginger root and licorice root. (Caffeine free). (Available only in filterbags). “
Run down and try a cup and let me know what you think.
What’s this have to do with sales, you ask ?
While I was there, the manager told me he could hardly keep it in stock.
I recommended he order more that he’d been ordering.
There. That’s a great sales tip for him.
Mediocrity Is A Sin
” The only sin is mediocrity. “
As best as I can determine, that quote is attributed to the late Martha Graham, the founder of the Martha Graham Dance Company.
I hate settlin’. I won’t do it.
I see way too many businesses settlin’ for less than best, in relation to how they market their products.
I see them not using blogs and/or bloggers as well as they should.
I see websites that just absolutely stink up the joint.
I see sales taking a backseat to flashy, funky and (customer) friendly.
Sure, I get contacted several times per week by people wanting me to review their book, but I can only read so many books per month, let alone per week.
I just went to another golf related website that was all flash, photos and whirlygigs, with no content at all.
How in the world do they even hope to rank well for their keywords or come up higher than page 35 in the search engines ?
Want to know who comes up on page 1 ?
Sites that sell those products, basically as affiliates.
Blogs that write posts about those products and services.
I recently had a year-old post get 347 hits in one day after Zach Johnson won The Masters using a SeeMore putter.
For zero cost.
That’s what you should … could, be paying for visitors if you’d just create a nice, clean, content-filled website instead of one with 33 transitions from one .jpg to another .jpg.
Sales, selling, getting product out the door. That’s what makes all the money that they waste on ad campaigns and websites that were done to win awards … for the ad company or web designer !
If you’re tired of your website not ranking for the keywords that you think you should own, give a sales-minded blogger a call and spend some money on a salesman for a change … instead of making an ad company rich and famous.
