Skip to content
BOL Conferences
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Thread Options
#101364 - 07/28/03 04:41 PM Help with cross selling!
AndrewM Offline
New Poster
AndrewM
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 9
I used to work downstairs as a Personal Banker and it was easy to get sales. Now I'm working upstairs in the drive thru and I can't seem to get any cross sales at all! Does anyone have any ideas on how to cross sale through the drive thru???

Return to Top
Marketing
#101365 - 07/28/03 05:42 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
WOW, you've got a wonderful attitude relating to the cross selling of services. Drive up is not an environment with high cross-sell expectations, so whatever you can sell is a plus. It's hard to sell through a window.

Does your management team have any ideas or expectations?

Return to Top
#101366 - 07/28/03 06:01 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
AndrewM Offline
New Poster
AndrewM
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 9
Not really, this bank used to be traditional and is just now going into retail sales. No one is used to it and no one knows how to do it. Our goal every month is 20.. I know it's small but for just starting up it's kind of hard.

Return to Top
#101367 - 07/28/03 08:53 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
Christina Offline
100 Club
Christina
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 145
Midwest
What type of products do you cross sell? Are you selling account types only (checking, savings, loans) or are you trying to add products (VISA debit, direct deposit, etc.)to existing accounts? Are you asked to make actual sales or referrals to a banker?

Return to Top
#101368 - 07/28/03 10:58 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
Now that puts a little different slant in it - once again a bank is trying to force a sales culture on the staff with the staff having no clue as to what to do to make that happen. I'll still commmend you for looking to make it happen.

Actually, 20 cross sales per month just starting out is a huge number. Cross-selling is a developed skill and your management team will hopefully assist you to develop that skill.

Some advice - if you end up really, really good at cross-selling, go out and get a sales job and buy a house of a lake.

Return to Top
#101369 - 07/29/03 02:16 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
Bankerette Offline
100 Club
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 126
South of Canadian Border
We recently ran a Debit Card promotion and our #1 sales person was located in a drive-up. Her secret was, as the customer drove up, she would pull their information up on the screen and if they didn't have a Debit/ATM card, she would fill out an app for them and send it through the tube as she gave them her speil. She was wonderful. She had a different speil for each age group, depending on their needs, as I'm sure you did in customer service. Good Luck! Have fun, and I'm sure you will be exceptional.

Return to Top
#101370 - 07/29/03 08:00 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
Anonymous
Unregistered

That's a good idea! I just wish there was a way to do it without trying

Hey and if I do get really good.. I'll look for a sales job and get a house on the lake.. sound good?

Return to Top
#101371 - 07/29/03 08:06 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
AndrewM Offline
New Poster
AndrewM
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 9
Oops... that was me (Anonymous) forgot to login!

Return to Top
#101372 - 07/29/03 11:15 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
Cowboys Fan Online
Power Poster
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,615
SC
Just wondering, does anyone have cross-sales goals for their back room departments (collections, loan and mortgage servicing, operations, etc.)?
_________________________

Return to Top
#101373 - 07/30/03 12:17 AM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
Andrew:

I was not kidding about the house on a lake - cross selling of products and services is part natural and part developed as a skill and those who have a little natural ability with people that can actually sell products and services can sell any products and services. Good sales people do not generally stay in the banking field, they move on - or sometimes move up in banking - to some very lucrative industries that have big ticket items to sell with big commissions that will pay for the house on the lake.

Return to Top
#101374 - 08/01/03 12:06 AM Re: Help with cross selling!
HRH Dawnie Offline
Power Poster
HRH Dawnie
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,353
Anchorage Alaska
Quote:

Good sales people do not generally stay in the banking field, they move on




T! I'm thinking your bank isn't high in the sales culture realm are they? I'm an excellent sales person, always being in the top 10% of my states sales when I worked in big banks. As a CRA officer I bring in oil companies to housing authorities, sometimes doubling our lenders sales so...you're just flat out wrong there.

But...20 a month in the drive thru is less than one a day. EASY stuff. My goal in the drive thru was 1 per hour and I always beat that to death.

I once won a sales campaign for the most referrals and was asked by the top brass for my tag line. I sort of giggled and said it was unique to my character and probably not good for mass marketing. They pushed me and I gave them the line (only used on my favorite clients) "That's one big piece of crap you're driving Bob (name here), isn't it about time you got a new car and quit smogging up my drive thru? Rates are below 7%!!!"

Don't laugh...it worked But then I'm a rather unique piece of work LOL

Car loans, CD's, Investments and home loans were always good in the drive thru. I always had rates posted in the window and applications available at all times for all products. My biggest hint is to watch your clients. Some are in the drive thru for a reason...to get out fast. I didn't bother them with a pitch, but did sometimes print their receipt on a brocure Others want to chat. You've got their information up on the screen, send out a dog bone and chat it up, then mention the cd rates
_________________________
Dawn Coursey VP/CRA Queen

CRA Rating is in...Oh who cares...I'm home with the baby.

Return to Top
#101375 - 08/01/03 02:36 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
IUalum Offline
Platinum Poster
IUalum
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 942
Kentucky
Some people just don't have the personality for sales. I happen to be one of them. As T pointed out, lots of banks are forcing their front-line staff to become more salespeople than servicepeople. I know from experience that trying to attain impossibly high goals leads to customers being steered into products that aren't necessarily right for them. There's nothing wrong with cross-selling, but nobody wants to be presented with a hard-sell spiel every time they come in to cash a check.
_________________________
Opinions expressed are mine and not necessarily that of my employer.

Return to Top
#101376 - 08/01/03 04:52 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
Quote:

Quote:

Good sales people do not generally stay in the banking field, they move on




T! I'm thinking your bank isn't high in the sales culture realm are they? I'm an excellent sales person, always being in the top 10% of my states sales when I worked in big banks.




Dawnie - Here's the deal, it's actually not all about you (surprise!), it's about the majority of people out there that do not have your natural gifts and are not being paid to sell, not being trained to sell, don't want to sell and in some cases cannot sell.

But, I must admit, you probably sell refrigerators to the Eskimos up there in your spare time. When someone is good at something, they often think that everybody should be able to do what they do and be happy doing it. That is just not the case in the area of selling services and products. Read some of these posts – you are the only poster that is pro-sales environment in the banking world. But, you are unique and that is just fine with me.

Return to Top
#101377 - 08/01/03 05:47 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
HRH Dawnie Offline
Power Poster
HRH Dawnie
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,353
Anchorage Alaska
But T, this is just the reason that sales become such an issue. The folks here saying they don't sell, aren't on the front line selling. They're in back rooms deciding that sales are hard. For many back room staff, sure sales isn't an easy thing. It's not in their personality make up. But with front room staff, they're initially more comfortable chatting with their clients. If they were shy and retiring, they'd apply for a back room job verses the teller job.

It is not all about me (I'll try not to take offence at that remark)...it's about the function of tellers in today's market place. I've worked with tellers who have been on the line for years as well as new tellers and 99% of them had no issues meeting a goal of one referral per hour worked once they understood it's not about pushing products, but about giving good advice to the clients they care for. I have coached and seen referral programs work to the benefit of the staff and the bank and the clients! But they'll never work with senior management taking a stance like you are. Obviously sales isn't your game either, but sales is the name of the game in retail and commercial banking. You can call yourself a lender, teller, private banker or trust professional...but you don't get the deposits or to book a deal without some sort of sales effort.

We all go to work every day for a bank of our choice. If we just once say "It's a great place to work and bank" in a quiet conversation with a friend...we've just started a sales dialog. EVERYONE can sell, but some are more comfortable with it than others. Again, understanding that sales is nothing more than offering our clients the banking services they need, verses what they might guess they need, is sales, on a consultative basis. Doing what's RIGHT for the client in the long run. If you don't do it for your clients...I will, and soon you'll find they're banking with me...sales culture and all, because I happened to mention some options you never thought to bring up because "sales" isn't your gig.
_________________________
Dawn Coursey VP/CRA Queen

CRA Rating is in...Oh who cares...I'm home with the baby.

Return to Top
#101378 - 08/01/03 06:18 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
complyguy Offline
Gold Star
complyguy
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 494
PA
Ya know, I was going to stay out of this, but I just can't control these self-destructive impulses.

I briefly (3 months - personal record) worked for a bank that presented the position as one in which I would merely cross-sell as opportunities arose. The reality was that every phone had to be answered with that week's tag line, every customer had to be greeted with the tag line and asked whether they had been told about whatever special we were running. EVERY call, EVERY customer, EVERY time.

Customers hated it. We hated it.

There is a big difference between this kind of one-size-fits-all corporate insanity and appropriate cross-selling based upon a recognized need. Many of the banks in this area have opted for the insanity. I'm now working for a throwback (no sales pressure) bank, enjoying a much different kind of insanity.

Return to Top
#101379 - 08/01/03 06:25 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
HRH Dawnie Offline
Power Poster
HRH Dawnie
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,353
Anchorage Alaska
I'm totally with ya Comply! That kind of "tag line" sales stuff makes me nuts. A manager once suggested it at a branch I worked at. So (being the smart alec I am) I said to Phil (my 3 times daily client from a large business) So Phil...ya wanna car today? Phil....ya change your mind about that car we talked about this morning? Phil...you sure you still don't want a car since it's after five?

Phil thought it was a hoot, and the tag line for all, died that next day
_________________________
Dawn Coursey VP/CRA Queen

CRA Rating is in...Oh who cares...I'm home with the baby.

Return to Top
#101380 - 08/01/03 07:06 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
D:
Let's just disagree on this issue - It just not a "do you want fries with that" environment in the banking world and 99% of the banks out there don't have access to someone with your level of insight into this subject - they just want sales to happen, period. It's really a culture issue with the development of a sales culture the big step that is missed, very little planning takes place ahead of time and it just makes everyone unhappy campers on the teller line.

Is there even one other poster out there that thinks like Dawnie on this - it's just a piece of cake?

Sometimes, I think tellers should form a union.

Return to Top
#101381 - 08/01/03 08:24 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
Bankerette Offline
100 Club
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 126
South of Canadian Border
T & Dawnine - I happen to agree with both of you. Selling can be a cakewalk if you have the right mind set. I've just been in charge of 2 successful promotions and it's amazing how much selling everyone can do if there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However as soon as the gold is gone so is the enthusiam and the sales. And the inhabitions are back.

And as far as the planning goes. I think we took 2-3 months to plan each promo. We had a representative from Compliance, Marketing, Training, Branch Administration, Branch Managers, Tellers, and New Accounts.

We are located in small town USA and you can't get much more backward than that, but we have competition that is offering everything and if we want to keep up we need to sell.

Return to Top
#101382 - 08/01/03 08:58 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
Quote:

1) right mind set
2) pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
3) 2-3 months to plan each promo.




There it is: mind-set, planning, pot of goal!

The mind-set is the most difficult, but money talks.

Return to Top
#101383 - 08/01/03 09:08 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
HRH Dawnie Offline
Power Poster
HRH Dawnie
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,353
Anchorage Alaska
Quote:

It just not a "do you want fries with that" environment in the banking world and 99% of the banks out there don't have access to someone with your level of insight into this subject -




I'm not sure I said it was a "do you want fries with that" and hopefully it didn't read that way to everyone. What I'm talking about is what CSB has done. Plan and then promote after teaching your staff how to play along too.

CSB, sounds like you did exactly what it takes for a great promo. With all staff you have to give them the tools to make it happen. The planning is an important part of this and your bank certainly made the right move there. As T mentions many banks don't go this far.

I wouldn't say 99% of the banks out there aren't sales focused. In fact, I'd say that now a days, as CSB mentioned, it's the opposite. Those folks down the street have already started! They're doing it all over the place at locations...probably nearer to you than you think

T....I'm no high caliber sales guru. I'm good, don't get me wrong, but I'm one in several million who are great, working at those locations next door to you. The reason many are good is not luck, it's understanding the value we bring to our clients by providing them with the tools to make their relationship with our banks stronger and more profitable for both of us.
_________________________
Dawn Coursey VP/CRA Queen

CRA Rating is in...Oh who cares...I'm home with the baby.

Return to Top
#101384 - 08/01/03 10:26 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
Dawnie:
Your replies are text book perfect, but where the rubber mets the road - at the teller line - is the area I'm thinking about - not the platform - the planning, pot of gold and training are not available more often than you think, plus the line is always getting longer and now everyone is part-time in the big bank setting. Of course, it's all good for independent banking.

By the way, I understand the concept - it's the implementation and task environment that's a problem.

Return to Top
#101385 - 08/01/03 11:02 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
HRH Dawnie Offline
Power Poster
HRH Dawnie
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,353
Anchorage Alaska
You'd be amazed what people will do to win a silly prize in a silly game right there at the branch T. Whenever a competition is at stake, the staff jump right in, even if it's just a coffee card to be won when they fill out their bingo sheet of referrals.

My experience was at a big bank, working only 20 hours. We had NO full time tellers and the usual 42 windows with 40 of them empty. I personally worked a four lane drive thru while managing the campaigns. Part of my management in the trenches trainee program at a big bank.

You're right in thinking it's hard to put the program in place T. But I'm just saying, the hurdles aren't as hard to get over as people think they are and the rewards don't need to be pots of gold. Putting the line staff in charge of their own referral games can be just as rewarding if everyone buys into the program and understands it's value to the clients.

The biggest hurdle that ALWAYS has to be overcome is the idea that we're offering "fries with that" (my drive thru was between the branch and burger king so the memories are making me smell greeze and salt right now) When caring tellers know they're doing something good for their clients, they do it. But...if their bosses think it's all hoey and don't buy into the program, it won't work, period. It's like a lot of things around banking, compliance included, if management isn't whole heartedly into the program and the value of the programs...it's not worth spending time on
_________________________
Dawn Coursey VP/CRA Queen

CRA Rating is in...Oh who cares...I'm home with the baby.

Return to Top
#101386 - 08/01/03 11:14 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
Creditcop Offline
Diamond Poster
Creditcop
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,685
Indiana
As a former high school marketing teacher, I get very frustrated at the marketing programs in especially smaller banks. Many only see marketing as an expense and not a program to generate more business. I am not in marketing at the bank I am at now and cross selling is non-existant. Management doesn't care about it so why should the employees and for the majority of employees, there is no incentive to cross-sell so it doesn't happen.

At one bank where I worked where the bank wanted to increase its credit card business and had failed to by using traditional advertising allowed me to put together a program where all employees were trained about our credit card program (benefits, how to overcome objections, etc.)and an incentive plan was put in place to pay employees for each approved credit card account after the third one. The program ran 3 months and the number of accounts and total outstandings doubled in that time and the cost was less than 3 newspaper ads. The employee who received the most amount of incentive pay was--------one of our bookkeepers. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm........

Return to Top
#101387 - 08/01/03 11:31 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
Quote:

The employee who received the most amount of incentive pay was--------one of our bookkeepers. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm........




Incentive pay - that's the answer and always will be.

Return to Top
#101388 - 08/01/03 11:43 PM Re: Help with cross selling!
111 Offline
Gold Star
111
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 484
Quote:

You're right in thinking it's hard to put the program in place T.




That I do - it's equal to a cultural shift and that only comes along if management pays the price - referent example, training, planning, and rewards. I will become a believer when a bank is able to hire a teller strictly on commission, someone that is willing to handle all the "stuff" and sell sufficient services/products to make a good living.

With all the banks you point out that are in the sales mode, how many people out there are just hoping to get one of those great sales jobs - has the word got out the banks are on the cutting edge in sales training, commission, etc.?

Return to Top
Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderator:  Andy_Z, MoneyMaker