Welcome to The Top 5 Percenter™ Blog
Dive in for concise, powerful insights on elevating community banking. Discover strategies and success stories for superior performance, from boosting financial margins to cultivating a dynamic culture. These posts literally contain the secrets of the Top 5 Percenters™. Sign up to the newsletter so that you don’t miss a single post.
3 Essential Questions to Increase Sales
What I’m about to say to you is sales heresy… The most successful sales people don’t actually “sell.” That’s right. They don’t sell. They facilitate buying. You’re thinking, “But wait Roxanne, that’s just semantics.” If that’s true, then ask yourself… “Are 100% of your people comfortable with (and using) the sales script your last sales trainer taught them?” Of course they’re not…because that...
How To Measure Your Way To Premium Pricing
If you ask commercial lenders how they’re doing, most would say they’re performing strongly. But performance for them too often means sitting in the bank, waiting for B and C credits to walk in, interviewing them, getting their data, sending it to the credit committee—then trying to sell the committee on how to make that loan work, even though it has risks.
Busting the #1 Myth About Sales
There’s this myth in community banking… It goes like this: “Sales is hard. Sales is uncomfortable. It feels, well, salesy…” If it feels like sales, you’re doing it WRONG! Sales is, more than anything else about service. You SERVE the customer by asking great questions, delivering deeper understanding and guiding them to the best possible solution for their specific situation… Today’s video show...
This ONE Step Stops “Rate Shoppers”
Have you seen the latest study showing that community bank customers rank rate and price as the #1 criteria for choosing their bank? No? Me neither…because it doesn’t exist. Yet, the “myth” that price is the paramount concern for your customers runs rampant inside community bank sales teams. The real research shows that price is only 5th on the list of considerations for most customers… So why...
An Alarming Cross-Sales Trend
Have you seen the cross-sales trend? It’s alarming. The average consumer has 16 financial accounts…checking, savings, mortgage, insurance, retirement accounts, and on and on… SIXTEEN accounts all together! Yet across the industry, community banks are only capturing an average of 2.2 cross-sales on a new account. It’s not just alarming, it’s dangerous. ...
Accountability Secrets and What They Can Teach You About How to Focus Everyone on Results
“Loan demand dried up.” “I’m too busy to develop business.” “Nobody told me.” Most workplaces are filled with the “busy without results” people. Those folks feel that a well-crafted excuse is a fine replacement for results any day. Worse yet, it doesn’t even occur to them that organizations that allow “excuse crafters” to ply their trade end up freezing everybody’s salary, cutting bonus...
Managing a Kick-Butt Sales Team
Click HERE for your free coaching session or call our office at 952-737-6730 There are three points that you must hit to build a sales team that inherently kicks out the weak players and attracts future achievers. Number One: Make sure that you have the right people on your team. Sounds logical but you'd be surprised at how few sales managers are picking their team correctly. By using hiring...
Expecting and Getting More from Your People
Click HERE to get your copy of "Thank God It's Monday!" A young woman came to me after a Kick-Off session recently and said, with tears in her eyes, "I took this job because I had to. Now, after tonight, I WANT to be here." What changed? She simply saw that the expectations were higher and the dysfunctional behaviors were called just that, and now they all had permission not to allow any of...
Three Steps to Increasing Sales Results, Part III
Click HERE for your free coaching session on sales Last time we talked about research that was shared by Professional Selling Power magazine that declared that: Number 1) Having a selling system that works can increase sales effectiveness and net results by as much as 30 percent. 2) Following a selling program or procedure can increase selling effectiveness and net results by as much as 20...
Three Steps to Increasing Sales Results, Part II
Last time we talked about research that was shared by Professional Selling Power magazine that declared that: Number 1) Having a selling system that works can increase sales effectiveness and net results by as much as 30 percent. 2) Following a selling program or procedure can increase selling effectiveness and net results by as much as 20 percent. And 3) Maintaining a positive mindset or...
Three Steps to Increasing Sales Results, Part I
Do you want to increase your sales proficiency of your people by 100 percent? Professional Selling Power magazine reports this formula: Number 1) Having a selling system that works can increase sales effectiveness and net results by as much as 30 percent. Number 2) Following a selling program or procedure can increase selling effectiveness and net results by as much as 20 percent. And number 3)...
Recruiting Your Next Superstar
If you want great employees, you must become a great recruiter. Most ads are written for people who are looking for jobs. The best candidates, however, already have good jobs. People don't move for a job that feels the same. So, follow these five rules to attract extraordinary performers. 1) Spell out EXPECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS At least half of your ad copy should be geared toward what you want...