They focus on products, scripts, and sales goals. The best-performing banks focus on something entirely different: becoming indispensable to their customers.

In this week’s video, Roxanne Emmerich shares a powerful story from her banking career that reveals why customers stop shopping rates, deepen relationships, and view their banker as a trusted advisor rather than a vendor.

In this video, you’ll discover:

• Why conversations—not products—drive meaningful cross-sales.
• How trusted advisors eliminate rate shopping and strengthen customer loyalty.
• Why cross-sales are a lagging indicator of relationship depth, not a sales tactic.

The banks winning today aren’t pushing products. They’re solving problems, creating value, and building relationships that competitors can’t easily replace.

Watch now. 

I attended my very first bank CEO conference quite a few decades ago. And you know what the theme was when people were talking about cross-sales? They said these words: “My people are still order takers.”

Fast forward a few more decades, and I can tell you now, when I talk to CEOs, the first thing they say to me is, “My people are still order takers.”

How could we not have made progress within decades on such an important piece?

Because cross-sales is a measure of trust.

When you are the only bank they’ll ever need or want, they bring the entire relationship to you, and that’s called cross-sales.

So cross-sales isn’t about sales and slugging things. Cross-sales is about being such an expert at what you do, crafting each question so beautifully as a trusted advisor, and seeing the opportunities so that at the end of this questioning process, you can say, “Based upon what you’re telling me, I think I can help you.”

“I’m going to recommend this because you told me that you had a challenge with that.”

“I’m also going to recommend this because this will fix the challenge that you mentioned about whatever.”

“I’m also going to recommend this because you had whatever.”

And then you take them through that and say, “Do you have any questions, or would you like to get started?”

That’s essentially the process.

But the key here is: Do your team members know how to ask the right questions, and do they know how to be in the listening?

Are they listening soul to soul, or are they in their head?

Are they connecting with that person in a way that makes that person feel like, “Man, I feel heard, and this feels good”?

I’ll never forget. I had a woman who came to me when I was in banking, and she had a PhD in a very challenging topic. She and her husband had two children. She far out-earned her husband, and she was a saver while he was a spender, and they were this close to divorce.

So they came in, they shared all of this with me, and they said, “How can you help us work through our money issues?”

And I took them through a process that I now teach our Trusted Advisors as I certify them. I basically teach them how to have the kind of conversation with people whereby you can make a meaningful difference in their lives.

When I left full-time banking to start this firm, she came to me and said, “I’ll never find another banker who can do what you did. You saved my marriage. You saved my savings.”

“I’m never going to find another one.”

I said, “Oh yes, you will. I’m off to teach hundreds of thousands of people how to do this.”

And now we have lots of Certified Trusted Advisors who actually bring expertise and value to their customers such that they will say, “You’re the only banker we’ll ever need.”

One Trusted Advisor said to me the other day, “Roxanne, ever since I discovered this process, none of my clients bring up rate anymore.”

Yeah. That was the point we were talking about all along.

It’s never supposed to be about rate.

If they’re talking about rate, you are a vendor, and they have proclaimed you as such.

You are never to be a vendor.

You are to be their partner and trusted advisor well beyond lip service.

That’s the game.

Cross-sales is just a number that lets us know we’re getting that job done.

The post The Power of Cross-Sales: How to Grow Relationships Without Being “Salesy” appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

Let’s call this what it is: a silent epidemic in banking.

While everyone’s chasing deposits or watching rates, weak cross-sales are bleeding your bottom line.

2.2 products per customer isn’t a metric—it’s a warning sign.

Top-performing banks don’t rely on “just ask” pep talks. They install discipline. They engineer trust. And they triple their cross-sales while everyone else sleeps through another training session.

This episode blows the lid off the myth:

• Why cross-selling isn’t a tactic—it’s your most scalable profit lever
• How the best banks explode loyalty and margin with a single shift
• The daily system that transforms “good enough” into market domination

Cross-sales are either your slow death or your power play.

👉 Want to see how real banks triple cross-sales—without pushing harder? Join the movement at the 10th Annual Best Banks in America™ Super Conference. Hear directly from the Top Gun CEOs who built the systems that make it happen. If you’re ready to stop guessing and start dominating, this is where your transformation begins.

Do you know the fastest way banks sabotage their profitability?

Hint: it’s not loan defaults or interest rate shifts. It’s something far more insidious.

Hidden in plain sight: weak cross-sales.

Now before you tell me, “Roxanne, our people are cross-selling,” let’s look at the reality. The industry average for cross-sales is stuck at about 2.2 products per customer.

Those numbers aren’t moving. And every incremental sale left on the table represents thousands—even millions—in lost revenue every year.

Here’s how this usually plays out: You’ve invested in sales training—again. You’ve handed out quotas—again. And you’ve just told your people to “just ask for the sale”—again. Yet the needle never really moves.

Why?

Because cross-selling isn’t about asking or pushing products. It’s about building relationships so meaningful that customers practically sell themselves. But let’s face the brutal truth:

Most banks aren’t doing this. They’re pushing products, not solving problems.

Now imagine this: your cross-sales jump from a sleepy 2.2 to six or even eight per customer—within months. Your efficiency ratio improves dramatically, allowing you to achieve the same or more profitability with fewer people and lower expenses. And your customer loyalty skyrockets, making you virtually untouchable to competitors trying to poach your best customers.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s exactly what the top referring banks—the ones recognized by the Institute for Extraordinary Banking—do consistently. They don’t just have good intentions. They install a systematic discipline and a repeatable approach to cross-selling.

Here’s the secret:

Shift your mindset. Move your team from being product pushers to trusted advisors who add meaningful value with every interaction.

Engineer consistency.

Implement daily routines and accountability measures to ensure that your team isn’t leaving opportunities to chance.

Track ruthlessly.
Make cross-sales a core metric tracked daily, weekly, and monthly—and celebrate it openly and often.

And when banks do this, cross-sales don’t just inch upward.

They leap forward—predictably, repeatedly, profitably.

But even before that, here’s your assignment today: Look closely at your current cross-sales numbers. Ask yourself honestly, Is “good enough” really good enough?

Decide right now to implement a proven, predictable system that moves your bank from mediocrity to mastery.

Stop settling. Start performing.

Because the banks that get cross-sales right aren’t just profitable… they’re legendary.

See you at the top.

The post Why Most Banks Fail at Cross-Selling—And How the Best Banks Are Tripling Results appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

If “our people just need to do more” actually worked, you’d already be at 8.0 cross-sales per customer—and popping champagne every month.
But you’re not.
Because knowing doesn’t drive results. Systems do. Culture does. Accountability does.

In this video, we expose the lie holding banks back—and reveal how the Top 5% of performers are engineering consistent sales growth with one non-negotiable:
They treat cross-sales like oxygen.

You’ll discover:

• Why your bank’s efficiency ratio is quietly begging for a cross-sales system.
• The daily habits top banks use to triple results in under 12 months.
• How one CEO (Keith Knudsen) took a “good” bank and made it award-winning, without adding staff.

If you’re tired of stagnant sales, culture-by-memo, and lukewarm results…this is your blueprint.

Let’s talk about the lie that keeps banks stuck:

“Our people know what to do—they just need to do more of it.”

If that worked, you’d already be at 8.0 cross-sales per customer and celebrating like it’s your birthday every month.

But you’re likely not.
Because knowing doesn’t change performance.
Systems do. Culture does. Measurement does.

If your team isn’t living cross-sales every single week…
If cross-sales are stuck in neutral or limping along at 2.2 which is average
It’s not your people.
It’s the system (or lack of one).

Here’s the truth:
Cross-sales are the single most underleveraged profit driver in most banks today.

• They boost deposit quality
• They create stickier relationships
• They let you justify premium pricing
• They protect your base when competitors knock
• And to transform your efficiency ratio as a lovely surprise

But for most banks, cross-sales are a hope and a memo.

“Let’s do better.”
“Remember to ask the extra question.”
“Don’t forget to go for the add-on.”

Meanwhile, nobody tracks.
Nobody celebrates.
Nobody owns the number.

So nothing moves.

The banks in the Top 5% of performance, or Top 5 Percenters as I like to call them, have one big difference:
They treat cross-sales like oxygen.

👉It’s part of every daily huddle
👉 Every team member knows their number
👉 There’s accountability AND celebration
👉 And the culture is trained to build value first—then earn the sale

Most banks tripled cross-sales in less than 12 months…
Not because they had better people.
But because they had better systems, better rhythms, and a culture that refused to coast.

Now—incidentally…

One of the best examples of this transformation? Keith Knudsen.

His bank wasn’t broken. It was good. But good wasn’t the goal. Greatness was.

And within one year:
💥 Cross-sales tripled
📈 Sales consistency became cultural
🚀 The team locked in above 8—and never looked back

“We created a performance culture so strong,” Keith told us, “that the results were the by-product—not the goal.”

And the story doesn’t end there.

Keith is going to break it all down—step by step—in our next episode of the Top Gun CEO Interview Series on May 20.

If you’ve ever:

• Struggled to move cross-sales
• Felt alone in trying to drive culture
• Wondered, “Is there actually a system that works?”

Then block the time. Because what Keith shares will make your next leadership meeting feel like halftime at a comeback Super Bowl.

Yes, we’ve had execs tell us they’re literally watching these Top Gun interviews with their execs with popcorn—because they finally have hope and the how-to’s.

Now… it’s no surprise Keith’s bank was also named one of the Extraordinary Bank of The Year—the highest level of Banky Award.

That’s not a PR stunt.
It’s what happens when performance meets purpose—and someone has the guts to install the systems and demand the execution.

The Banky Award isn’t about ego.
It’s about positioning.
It gives your team a flag to rally around… and your prospects a reason to choose you at full price.

So if you’re delivering results like this—or you’re ready to—
Don’t sit back and clap for the winners. Be one.

Click here to join us May 20 for the Top Gun Interview with Keith Knudsen.

Apply for the Banky Award and position your bank where it belongs.

Results aren’t random. They’re engineered.
And on May 20, you’ll see exactly how one of the best in the business did it—step by profitable step.

Show up. Take notes. Bring popcorn.
Let’s make banking legendary again.

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board. 

The post How to Triple Cross-Sales, Light a Fire Under Your Team, and Finally Hit the Numbers You Know Are Possible appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

In this session, I will show you how your people (like many bankers before them who couldn’t but now do) can average 6–7+ cross-sales and ALL the deposits in a way that never feels sales-y.

If you’re the kind of leader:

Who has been preaching to your people that you want all the deposits and all the cross sales, but you feel it isn’t getting better fast enough, stay with me.

Or, if you have some people who are still “order taking” and losing the opportunity to do business with many of the rate inquiries who would have turned into your customer IF your person handling the inquiry knew a system that would actually make that happen, stick around. I have your back.

Or, maybe you’ve got this. Your people are not matching rate and you’re fairly certain that no deals are falling between the cracks, stick around. We’ll talk about how you can know that for sure.

Maybe you have one of these obstacles.

Most banks have been doing internal or external sales training for years. They never accomplished the cultural transformation that created a sales culture with the sales accountability to keep a flow of low-cost deposits flowing. Now, after all that money and time, when they’re really truthful, they’ve realized that it just isn’t working when they see other banks are now averaging over 6–7 cross-sales and mastering attracting large low-cost deposits away from competitors. They know they can’t give up, but they just can’t have another false attempt because the team is now doing the “slow walk” thinking management will soon give up.

Still others are finding that most sales training is, well… sales-y. That simply doesn’t belong in community banks or any bank.

Also, many bankers lack the skill to be a trusted advisor. They do have the product knowledge but don’t know how to bring the type of extreme value necessary to be that person’s trusted advisor. Most importantly, they lack skills and confidence, but it’s not their fault—there just hasn’t been sound advice and a good system that helps them win.

One 30-year bank executive told me recently, when finishing a course in the Trusted Advisor certification, that he really had no idea that he had no idea how to be a trusted advisor until he discovered the right skills. He started pulling in seven-figure checking accounts immediately once he knew.

EVERY bank faces at least one of these challenges—join the club. Now let’s work together to knock the issues down one at a time.

I’m now going to give you three steps to build an accountability-focused sales culture system based on a sales education that works AND that your people will love. One bank president who had been a teller just four years before she learned this system told me last week, “I just feel like I’m making an incredible difference in people’s lives. My daughter said,  “mom, you really love your job, don’t you.”

THAT is how the right sales approach should feel. The customer wins. The bank wins. The team member wins.

Let’s crack these steps so you start getting some results within a few weeks.

Step 1: Build the right revenue system.  Have you ever heard a bank executive tell you that sales training’s impact doubled or tripled cross-sales and grew non-interest-bearing deposits by a dramatic amount?  As they say,  “said no banker EVER.”  It’s not about sales training. It’s about a system with intentional congruence between organizational development systems, performance culture systems, the right sales system that no sales training company ever seems to know.  All this is tied together with a blended learning program with ever-increasing expectations with accountability that builds them up—not shreds their confidence. You’ve seen how most banks lose about 1/3 of their team when they start traditional sales training so you know that is “a thing.”

Step 2: UNLIKE so many false-attempt sales trainings,  you have to get your people to come from their heart space—a place of extreme care for the future success of each customer.  With that as a base, they can then learn to ask questions in the order of how people like to buy what they need. It’s about purposeful help—not sales.

Until they get the impact that what they are really doing is saving marriages from divorce due to fighting over money, helping people retire with ease and peace of mind, and guiding businesses to sound fiscal management…they will always feel like it is sales-y and the client will feel it too.

Step 3: Create an ever-increasing accountability and visibility system. Most sales programs end up causing at least a third of the team members to run for the hills. That’s completely unnecessary and very unproductive.

The problem is that sales training must be integrated with a true understanding of cultural transformation at a deep level where people are learning how to be—holding each other accountable, celebrating success and learning to “live their word. ” Understanding that their promises and commitments are how they reveal their character.

The key is that every day and every week, as the blended learning of online, offline, coaching and practicing happens integrated with a management system and “stage appropriate” accountability, a predictable weekly improvement is imminent. Remember, you don’t have a sales training issue—you have a confidence issue.

Again, three steps to a solid foundation of community bank sales culture transformation:

Step 1: Ongoing cultural transformation with extreme integration.

Step 2: Get team members “at cause” to bring extreme value from transactional to transformational.

Step 3: Develop a progressive accountability and visibility system that builds confidence.

By doing this, you can sleep at night knowing your well-educated team can “connect” with prospects and customers effectively — attracting all the deposits you need CONSISTENTLY—regardless of what the economy or your desperate competitors do.

– Roxanne Emmerich

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board.

The post Unleash Your Bank’s Full Sales Potential with a Proven Accountability and Visibility System [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

This is exactly what we need to do with low-cost deposits. Let’s face it, there is no end in sight to the competition for low-cost deposits. Even when your bank is flush with deposits, you should be actively increasing your non-interest-bearing deposits as a percentage of total deposits. It’s like Christmas every day—each month you wake up and know that each dollar used for loans is pure profit. This is good. Yet most banks lack a process and the skilled people to consistently bring in low-cost deposits. 

Instead, they put up billboards, run advertisements, open CD accounts, and offer ridiculous interest rates. They don’t understand that many customers aren’t that 
rate sensitive. What these customers want is someone who can make a meaningful difference in their lives and their businesses. This value far outweighs what they would gain from an interest-bearing account. But does your team have the skill set to deliver this? 

Does your team have confidence? One thing I know for sure, from decades of working with many Top Five Percenters™, is that those who achieve and maintain top 5% performance are masters at bringing in low- or no-cost deposits. It is a system and a skill set. It’s hard, but once people know how to do it, they can bring in one account after another. 

I recently called a bank CEO because I heard one of our recent graduates from the Accredited Banking Professional Program brought in a $14 million checking account from a local business. For a bank with less than $100 million in assets, this was significant. Not only did they bring in that account, but they also brought in the entire relationship, with 14 cross-sells. I called to congratulate the CEO, who said, “That’s nothing; my people bring in a $2-3 million checking account every week.” 

Don’t tell me it can’t be done because there are people doing it. They aren’t doing it by pushing brochures or using outdated sales tactics. Those methods won’t get you invited back to the table. To be a Top Five Percenter, your team must elevate their skill sets so that your bank can become a top 5% performer. Competing for deposits won’t get easier, but you can get a lot better quickly. You must act because your competitors are coming after your depositors swiftly.   

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board. 

The post  Why Is It So Important to Hold On to Low-Cost Deposits appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

How could we not have made progress on such an important issue over decades? Cross-sales are a measure of trust. When you’re the only bank they’ll ever need or want, they bring their entire relationship to you. That’s called cross-sales. 

Cross-sales aren’t about pushing products. They’re about being such an expert at what you do, crafting each question beautifully as a trusted advisor, and seeing the opportunities. At the end of this questioning process, you can say, “Based on what you’re telling me, I think I can help you. I’m going to recommend this because you mentioned you had a challenge with that. I’m also going to recommend this because it will address the issue you mentioned about [specific problem].” Then you ask, “Do you have any questions, or would you like to get started?” That’s the essence of the process. The key is, do your team members know how to ask the right questions? Are they truly listening? Are they connecting with the person in a way that makes them feel heard and understood? 

I’ll never forget a woman who came to me when I was in banking. She had a PhD in a very challenging field. She and her husband had two children, she earned significantly more than her husband, and she was a saver while he was a spender. They were on the brink of divorce. They shared all of this with me and asked how I could help them work through their money issues. I took them through a process that I now teach our trusted advisors. I teach them how to have meaningful conversations that make a difference in people’s lives. 

When I left full-time banking to start this firm, she came to me and said, “I’ll never find another banker who can do what you did. You saved my marriage and my savings. I’m never going to find another one like you.” I told her, “Oh yes, you will. I’m off to teach hundreds of thousands of people how to do this.” Now, we have many certified trusted advisors who bring expertise and value to their customers, making them feel like they have the only banker they’ll ever need. 

One trusted advisor recently told me, “Roxanne, ever since I learned this process, none of my clients talk about rates anymore.” That was the point all along. It’s never supposed to be about rates. If they’re talking about rates, you’re a vendor, and they see you as such. You’re never to be a vendor; you’re to be their partner and trusted advisor, well beyond lip service. That’s the game. Cross-sales are just a number that lets us know we’re getting the job done.  

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board. 

The post The Power of Cross-Sales—How to Do Them Without Being Salesy appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

Why? Let’s say you’re out with other soccer moms, and somebody mentions they’re planning on building a new home. Hmm, there’s potential for a mortgage there, isn’t there? And since your mortgage lender isn’t present, you need to handle that inquiry and know how to move it forward. 

Now, imagine someone calls in and asks about your CD rates. God forbid someone grabs that phone, starts talking about the CD specials, and doesn’t know how to engage that person beyond the rate. It’s crucial to turn that rate inquiry into a business opportunity where the rate doesn’t matter. Let’s say you’re in operations and you see an opportunity while on the phone with a customer. Do you know how to have that conversation, or do you think that’s for the “big people” over there? 

In community banking, every job is a sales position. Sales isn’t a bad word. Sales is simply helping people get what they need. If people want to criticize the word “sales” in banking, why would we allow that? Just because someone embezzled once, do we want to say that accounting is a dirty word? Sales is about helping people buy the right things. When we understand the goodness in what we do, it becomes one of the most ethical things we can do. That’s when the magic happens. 

When organizations understand that everyone is in sales, they begin their journey to becoming a Top Five Percenter™. If everyone sees and seizes opportunities, revenue comes in faster and more profitably because we’re converting inquiries into full relationships, not just focusing on pricing. Employees feel better about themselves and feel like they’re making a difference for customers, rather than just handling inquiries and moving widgets from one side of their desk to the other. 

That is the essence of community banking—making a difference in people’s lives. Help your team members understand that everyone is in sales and that sales is the most noble of professions.  

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board. 

The post Everyone Is in Sales appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

In other words, they lacked critical thinking skills and strategic thinking. They could follow instructions, but they didn’t know when or how to change course, assimilate incoming information, and make good decisions on the fly. Developing our people’s thinking style has never been more important. 

Yes, AI can handle many tasks, but it cannot perform strategic thinking. In the future, many jobs that existed in the past will simply disappear. However, those who possess critical thinking skills, can anticipate problems, and create proactive plans will be the executives of the future. And here’s the issue: 

We can’t spend 30 years developing these skills. We need to start teaching people as they join our organizations how to apply critical thinking to their decisions. I created a formula called the SIR formula that requires them to bring solutions whenever they encounter a problem. This approach forces them to use critical thinking skills from the start. In a top-performing organization, there is no room for those who only complain about problems. 

We have plenty of room for those who bring a SIR with an actionable plan to immediately address issues. The real benefit of the SIR process is that it teaches them to apply critical thinking skills quickly. These individuals are your future executives because they demonstrate the ability to foresee challenges, consider all possibilities, and make sound decisions. This is crucial for advancing your team members in the world of AI. 

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board. 

The post Can Strategic Thinking Be Taught or Nurtured? [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

What if you could get your team excited about having your clients acquire all the products and services that would help them. A cross sales ratio is just a measure of trust. If a client trusts you and sees value, they bring everything to you and continue to add more as they need it. It’s not sales. It’s a measure that they see you as a trusted adviser.

Now if you’re the kind of leader who begs pleads and bribes your team with incentive pay to increase their cross sales, maybe for decades to no avail, and you just can’t seem to move that needle, even though the average person has at least 16 pricing services at various financial institutions, you’ll greatly benefit from this video where you will learn how to finally get out of this endless loop of effort without a breakthrough.

Or if you’re the leader who has people who already have cross-sales of six or seven on average, but you know, that’s nowhere near the 16 products and services that customers actually have. In other words, you’re still not their banker. This is the place for you.  

Or maybe you have employees who ran from the big banks and their pushy, manipulative sales systems, and ended up convincing the rest of your team to believe that sales is bad. So now nobody is helping your customers buy what they need.  

In whatever case, you’re going to love finding out how to take back your ability to get your people to believe that sales is simply helping people buy what they need. It is one of the most honorable things that they can be doing.

Order taking has been an industry dilemma for over 30 years, and it seems that cross sales needles haven’t moved one bit in three decades, despite millions of dollars wasted on bank sales training. Perhaps that’s not so surprising considering the challenges that you must overcome to make it happen.

For example, many people perceive sales as slick—presentations and pushy. We have a special approach, and they don’t want anything to do with it. Even though they won’t always say it, it does show in their results, doesn’t it?  

Or perhaps you struggle like most banks that have sales attempt battle fatigue. Millions of dollars have been spent on attempts and improving sales cultures in banks, and less than a few 100 really accomplish the desired results.

Still, others do what they’ve been doing for so long that they’re insulted that you suggest it’s not enough. They think and act as if they care about the customers. But it isn’t obvious as their clients still run around town to competitors to meet their banking needs.  

Let’s cover three steps that will help you move the cross sales needle in just a few weeks.   

Step one, you have to forget what you believe regarding cross sales, or what folks are telling you is true. With zero evidence it seems like every bank CEO does the same thing when they want cross sales. There are three components, hire a sales training company, set goals, and create an incentive program. If that ever worked, it would be worth a try. But I have a mountain of evidence that a doesn’t.

Hundreds of if not thousands of CEOs have told me that they have tried that before coming to me, surprised and disheartened that it didn’t work. Before you sign that contract with the sales trainer, ask them to show you what percentage of their clients last year doubled their cross sales on new accounts within four to five months. How many of them picked up at least 40 basis points of NIM minimum over the year of their training? How many of them are increasing net interest-bearing deposits as a percentage of total deposits?

In God We Trust, for all others, show me the data, right? If it’s not over 70 to 90% know that you risk losing good employees and customers. Once the inevitable failure of the sales frame networking happens, you also risk losing credibility to fix the problem going forward. Which you of course, still need to fix.

Step two, in contrast to what sales training firms tell you to do, which sells their program but doesn’t deliver the results you need, you will be best served by starting your sales culture transformation with something outside of sales. Do you know why we Mystery Shop, every bank that attends our events prior to them attending? Those who tell us that they have great service that doesn’t need to be improved, get a thorough report of their mystery shops, and their teams mostly average in the 3.2 to 4.2 range.  

Step number one of a breakthrough or performance is dealing with the facts. Almost without exception, the banks that say we have great people, and we have great service score in that range. Start by moving that needle up to over nine and do it fast. It needs to happen in six weeks, and you can’t miss getting it right the first time or the second attempt is at least three times more difficult.  

When and only when your people are feeling confident that they’re being of extreme service to customers will they be open and ready for sales.  Because now they’ve realized that sales is really just the next level of taking care of people. It is what good service entails. And it sure shouldn’t feel like sales.

After we do our proprietary kick butt kickoff process, we show bank executives the few things they need to do. In 30 years, we haven’t had one bank that hasn’t doubled their mystery shopping scores, and over 90% have tripled. In fact, all of them move to well above eight; an epic improvement from the 3.2 average start. Without a foundation of knowing that every point person can do the basics and the phones as they help people buy, sales training would be an expensive train wreck for you, combined with disgruntled employees and customers who feel sold to. In other words, you need sales readiness to be mastered before you start sales training.

Step three, once they move that mystery shopping needle fast, really fast, they build confidence. In our seminars, we show you how to pop that needle past nine almost without exception within six weeks. Now and only now when the birdies mouth is opened as a mother bird brings the first worm by getting extraordinary results through being open to helping people buy, as demonstrated by a good mystery shopping process, one that shows that they care about customers, you can now embark on the sales process. One with the right type of blended learning and progressive stage appropriate accountability, visibility, follow up, and motivational components weaved in at the right times, and must be a proven system woven together or you’re setting yourself up for another disaster.

Again, these three steps:

One, do a lobotomy for your executive team on everything they have heard and believed to be true about the sales training, incentive pay, and goals plan that has never worked.
Two, move the client experience needle fast, really fast so that clients are amazed at the experience, and your people are loving the experience of what real service looks like.
Three, then start the transformation and interweave blended learning as you increase your accountability process.

It’s not easy, but you will get a predictable result if you follow a predictable process.

Watch the next video to discover how to choose the right people for your sales slots.

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board. 

The post Getting Excited About Why Cross-Sales Matter [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

With AI we now have the tools to find your next best customers, but if you don’t bring wisdom to the tools, you have more junk.   

There’s a world of difference between information and communication.   

There’s a world of difference of being able to use AI to find customers and being able to use AI to find customers with the right parameters in the right way.   

There’s an old saying garbage in garbage out. That’s not true, it’s garbage in garbage stays. If we choose the wrong people to go after, and your people are working on them and it’s not working, you can be masters at your process of bringing them in. But if we choose incorrectly and we don’t have the right people, that can be a problem.

In the future, we’re going to have AI as it’s going nowhere. It will be one of the tools that we’ll be able to use in marketing (and by the way, everybody in banking is a marketer, when they really understand what marketing is).  When we use the tools correctly, and then we find the processes to get in front of them, that’s when the magic happens.   

Now more than ever critical thinking skills, expertise, and mastery need to drive AI because, again, garbage in garbage stays.

Can we afford, when we’re on our path to being a Top Five Percenter, to not have properly identified our next best customers and the best tools to communicate with them to break the relationship with their current financial institution so they can come to you with the entire relationship and make a quick decision? And make sure that you’re giving premium pricing on top of all that? That is what mastery looks like.

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board. 

The post How Technology Can Help Scale Personal Relationships with Customers [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.