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Close 50% of Your Top 100 Best Customers Each Year

by | Profitability and Growth

 

I believe teams can create a result that far exceeds the sum of its individuals.

 

In this video, I’m going to share how you can dramatically increase the chance of getting larger deals at premium pricing by utilizing team selling instead of the “individual contributor” model of sales.

If you’re the kind of leader who:

 

  • Has already begun selling via teams and you’re getting good results, you’re going to be glad to know that you can take it up a notch to apply even more tweaks to improve results.
  • Has gone all-in on the individual sales model, and it’s not working as well as it could. You’re going to love seeing how this process helped banks knock it out of the park when their old model wasn’t getting the best of results.
  • Is really frustrated that sales are happening with those who fall in the door instead of targeted on the very best next potential clients in a way that closes them without the nasty four-letter word “rate” being brought up. You’ll love this because you’re about to get a plan to FINALLY get the traction you deserve.

…You’re going to love this!

 

There are usually three issues that cause banks to not get good results from their initial attempts at team selling:

 

  • First, they don’t know what roles the team members should play or even who goes into each team to optimize the chance of success.
  • Secondly, the individuals don’t know how to pass the baton of responsibilities properly to prepare for the first and second meetings. They don’t know how to bring the necessary value to each call to help seal the deal.
  • Third, the very structures, accountability systems, and incentive pay programs you have set up are now the very problems that keep you from getting the right kind of deals.

Never fear. Every bank seems to run into these.

 

Take these three steps so you can use team selling to experience dramatically different results in a few weeks.

 

Step 1: UNLIKE so many attempts at sales training that almost always seem to create a bigger mess of offended best prospects in your area and loss of opportunity from those few than bring results, you first need to start by creating your Level 4 USP—hat extreme difference you uniquely bring to the table so that they can’t WAIT for your first meeting.

Step 2: In contrast to the numbers game approach, make sure that a clear targeting program for the right few—no more than 100 organizations—are identified and that reputational equity is built before your first contact. You want them in love with you BEFORE you show up, so you don’t ever look like a “vendor.”

The goal is to systematically pick off and close 50% of that Top 100 list each year, all at premium pricing and all with full relationships, so your people bring maximum ROI from the salary dollars you invest.

Step 3: As opposed to putting together a few teams and keeping those teams together, instead put together teams based on education, sales ability, and emotional intelligence assessments. The initial “call on team” might have a few different members than the “deliver and bring in all the business meetings” team.

The point is to bring in the right players and unique skills that are right for THAT prospect so that customer doesn’t ever bring up the price and instead asks, “How soon can we start?”

Again, three steps:

  • Start with building the right Level 4 USPs.
  • Then target Top 100 in a way that you close at least half every year so that you dramatically increase your franchise value and recurring revenue while lowering your risks.
  • Lastly, use the right team approach so the right people are properly grouped together, and they know how they each must do the job, especially when it comes to passing the baton so that no “dropping of the ball” happens.

By doing this, you can get the profit per employee involved in sales too often quadruple within 6–9 months—which does some great things for your efficiency ratio and your bottom line.

Make sure you tune in next time where I’ll show you how you can transform the accountability of the team assigned to loan growth so that you can get the very best customers at the very best pricing. Plus, you’ll win almost all those deals without ever having to match a rate again!

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