I believe that banks often make the mistake of complicating simple tasks which is particularly true when it comes to deposit growth.
However, shifting our focus from “training” to “educating” can turn this problem into a big win in no time.
Training teaches people what to do. Education teaches people how to be.
Banks have been using the words “trusted advisor” for decades now but are only about 5% of the way toward being able to say those words with any credibility. Their teams simply don’t know what to do to make themselves the only banker that customers would ever need.
Although there are many steps to bring sophistication and wisdom, the bar must be cleared first—being able to handle a rate inquiry and turn it into business that doesn’t depend on matching or coming close on rate.
According to the research from BankShop®, only about three percent of rate inquiries are handled in a way that would capture the business without matching rates. Three percent!
Perhaps you also have an accidental “sales prevention department? People are friendly but don’t have the system and abilities to stop the shopper from shopping rate.
If you have this problem, you’re not alone.
But as my dad used to ask, “If everyone else jumped off the cliff, will you do it too?” I heard that one too many times. But now it stuck. Thanks dad.
Most bank employees fail to ask engaging questions that could break this preoccupation with rates, ultimately resulting in lost business, and the inability to even keep your current customers without having to pay up
Perhaps most of your bank’s employees know how to handle those inquiries to convert them to business.
But, if even one employee mishandles an inquiry, it could sabotage a potential deal and lose a customer with a million-dollar lifetime value.
Most banks do mystery shopping … but they do it all wrong. If you aren’t shopping to make sure that at least 80% of the inquiries turn into business with at least 5-6 cross-sales, you’re creating a happy bus…but the bus isn’t going to Profit Land.
It’s not your fault. Almost every bank has this problem.
There are three easy steps to fix your basic and easiest deposit growth without having to pay higher.
The first step is to identify the areas that need improvement and focus on mastering the basics—converting every rate inquiry into business.
The second step is building confidence through mystery shopping and rapidly increasing those scores. You must work an organizational behavior system with those shops to radically shift the results every week. Shopping alone won’t work. It will just make you sad to look at the results and you don’t want to be sad, do you?
For most banks that use the system, we recommend, they pop their cross sales on new accounts from 2.2 on average to over 5.2 within five months. And that is sustainable because … well … that’s the point. When they start to own the entire relationship, it’s a game-changer for their bank’s efficiency ratio. It can knock off as much as 10 points without cutting one expense. Dozens of our clients witnessed that improved efficiency ratio and were shocked they could make that impact without cutting expenses—it’s all done on the revenue side.
Finally, the third step is to incorporate clear execution steps to capture all rate inquiries and convert them into whole-relationship clients for a rapid profit impact. A visibility system with intrinsic rewards must be carefully crafted so you do it right the first time. False attempts create a “this too shall pass” culture making each subsequent attempt harder.
You can capture those easy-to-capture deposits if you follow these steps:
Step 1: Follow a system proven to double or triple mystery shopping scores.
Step 2: Build confidence with a consistent system to jump numbers fast.
Step 3: Build on your progress to incorporate clear execution steps so that you capture 100% of all rate inquiries and convert them into whole-relationship clients immediately and consistently for an immediate profit impact.
Make sure you tune in to the next video where I’ll show you the best way to get the entire deposit relationship for your most desired prospects and best customers.
What if I told you that you can easily hold on to your best customers AND snatch the best customers from your competitors – WITHOUT even discussing rates? Dive into the proven blueprint that turns skeptics into believers at the 2nd Annual Deposit Mastery Conference: Deposit Domination Deep Dive this June! Register here.
– Roxanne Emmerich
Please watch the video above and share it with your exec team and board.
