There is no shortage for who is in the hunt. There are scouts, trackers and hunters at every turn. Brokerage houses, mega banks, community banks, Internet banks, credit unions of every size, insurance companies and the list goes on. The best of your best depositors will be stalked by rate sizzling poachers.
Deposit hunting and gathering is not the sport of the average banker today. It is the sport of hard work, solid service delivery and smart banking. The aim of all who are in the hunt is to attract new customers and to attain steady, solid deposits. Every well done strategic plan focuses on loan and deposit growth, cost of funds and managing the margin. Most marketing plans call for tactics intended to garner more than the institution is entitled to in market share of deposits. All the deposit hungry hunters are finding out that there is no magic wand or silver bullet that will draw in the dollars. The need for smart defense and well managed offense is where the strategizing pays off.
If you have locations in markets with new housing, new schools and orange barrels on thoroughfares it's most likely you have new, aggressive deposit hunters in the neighborhood. What do you do about that if you're well-established? What aggressive approaches work if you are the newest deposit stalker?
It goes without saying you can make your strategy ALL about rate. Not a good long range plan but sometimes a necessary approach if short term deposit demand or making a big splash as you enter a market is what you're after. Highly successful deposit hunters are patient, persistent and trained like an Outward Bound camper. Every deposit you want and all depositors you don't have are sitting in someone else's market share. To move those dollars and depositors you will need to give your bankers a compass and a map that keeps them successful in an upward trend for deposits. Be certain everyone knows the destination that indicates a job well done by clarifying what the deposit goals are and who all is expected to take action to obtain the goals. You'll find your bankers are lost or stuck in start or all going in different directions if there isn't clarification of expectations, fair and balanced accountability, well-designed sales training and passionate conviction on the part of leadership.
The Hunters Guide for Bagging New Deposits
1. Understand and Embrace the Expectation
It's in your job description. You are expected to bring in new depositors. You are expected to move business your existing customer has elsewhere to your location.
Maybe you weren't hired to be a salesperson, maybe the stress of business development just doesn't agree with you. Maybe your bank has a history of tiptoeing around the "sales" word. As you evaluate the maybes you wrestle with you might choose to ponder that maybe you need some training or coaching to build your comfort level and confidence in being more successful in selling and servicing your customer.
One maybe you might be counting on is history repeating itself and think "maybe the bank will stop pushing for deposits and hammering on me to make calls." In the past you had a good shot at this particular maybe. Call programs and sales cultures were trendy. Still today some institution's sales culture isn't stable enough to be insulated against a bank examination or serious initiatives like an acquisition or a new release from your core processor. These diversions are welcomed by bankers who want relief from hustling new business. It's a risky diversion if you let these business initiatives take your attention off your deposit ambitions.
Growing the franchise value of your organization is job one. Ideally it is grown with continued emphasis on quality with regard to products, service, new hires, training, leadership and processes.
2. Beware of Who and What You Take for Granted
The game plan of the newest and the about to be new competitor in your market is to hunt down and snag your best bankers. The game plan of the most determined market share dominator in your market place is, or soon will be, to pull your best bankers to their payroll.
If your best bankers aren't well rewarded, well informed and clear about how bright their future is at your institution they will be reassured by your competitor that the grass for sure is greener on the other side. Nothing can feed frustration and restlessness for your bankers faster than when they're not well-equipped to meet or beat the competition.
Bankers who resist getting better at business development are not likely to be picked off. So you can wake up and find yourself with a group of tenured Contact customerservice@interaction-training.com 3 All rights reserved bankers that are fairly friendly, pretty good lenders, loyal branch managers and the like. Not a bad group to hang out with but for sure a much challenged group when it comes to getting on board with intentional, deliberate, determined growth.
Now we come to the other "who" you best not take for granted…your customer. Deposit hunters love to prey on the neglected or taken for granted customer of the competition. What a shock wave that runs through a bank when a significant loan moves or a customer shifts meaningful deposit dollars across the street. How about when the rug surprisingly gets pulled out from underneath you on a loan you're about to close?
Reactions run the full gamut. How did that happen? After all we've done for them! Who saw this coming? What other relationships are at risk? Or, how about this one - how will we replace that customer and still meet our targets?
3. Match the Effort to the Need
This is the great fact - if the need for deposits is greater than it has been in the past then so must your effort be to attain and retain them. Respond to what is happening.
Review this checklist and boost the effort.
Does everyone know the deposit goal for this year?
Does everyone clearly know who is responsible and how they are responsible for the goal?
Does the bank provide the following success factors for our bankers to keep the deposits they have and hunt down new ones?
* Often do you hear the top of the bank convey "the sales side of our service culture is here to stay, it isn't going away, and it's a part of how we do business? All personnel with sales expectations will be provided the tools they need to succeed at this. It isn't an option, it's a must, and this is our survival plan for the bank!"
* Is training being done on all aspects of becoming successful at service and sales? Is there a training curriculum that covers all aspects from efficiencies and shortcuts on systems and applications to product knowledge and sales skills enhancement sessions? Are all bankers well indoctrinated on knowing who does what and how what you do impacts others?
* Do performance evaluations includes key sales issues, i.e., attended training that impacts sales including product knowledge, prospecting, sales call issues, met expectations according to position regarding sales, etc.?
* Does leadership provide on-going coaching and routine sales meetings to strengthen skills, communicate expectations and provide recognition? Celebration, stellar customer satisfaction and exceptional internal communication are the backbone of exceptional sales and service. Just ask Apple, Southwest Airlines or Google.
* Are defined performance markers established for sales positions? Is it well established that tellers are expected to make X number of referrals, new account personnel are expected to attain X cross sales ratio, lenders are expected to have X number of calls per month on customers and prospects. Does complaining and bemoaning about the extra effort or data entry regarding sales halt the necessity for it?
* Tools needed to succeed at sales are at the finger tips of the bankers. Is your technology, product mix and data retrieval moving at a pace that keeps the bank on the rise? Is tracking software in place to expedite moving referrals in a timely, effective way and does it automate maintaining sales call history. Are pipelines maintained, reviewed and monitored for progress and support?
If you have a bank charter, you have a hunting license for deposits. What shape are your hunters in? How current is your information on those you hunt? How well cared for are your customers that are prime targets for your competition?
Deposit gathering strategy requires an ever present restlessness, clearly conveyed expectations and leadership. It requires answering hard questions and reviewing the answers frequently. Your competitor is counting on you not having a strategy just having a philosophy. Kick it in gear, hunt down the deposits you deserve and hang on to the ones you've got.
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Honey Shelton, founder of InterAction Training, is nationally recognized as an outstanding, compelling speaker and an expert in extraordinary training in employee performance and customer service. If you found these techniques helpful, claim our other popular free articles and training tools, available at: http://www.InterAction-Training.com
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