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.

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.

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.

But the real question is how do we find another 100 just like these?

Well, they have the same psychographics, and firmographics, and so we must study very carefully the psychographics and demographics of our current customers, and then find people who have things in common with them and know how to quickly disqualify.

By putting them in the right top 100 list and creating a warming situation so we build reputational equity with them, they start to fall in love with us and it’s then and only then that they’ll be open to taking the call from you to set up an appointment, once reputational equity has been created.

But you better know what you’re doing because you’ve got one chance when you’re working with the affluent. If you don’t add massive value, they will kick you to the curb and they’re not letting anybody from your organization back in again, for another 10 or 15 years. Why? Because they just saw somebody waste their time. And yet, we have organizations who have officer call programs, and they have people who don’t know how to add value, who have briefcases, who go up and down the street calling on businesses, kind of like they are out of control. Every time they walk in, you may as well put a sign across their forehead that says “vendor”, because they haven’t selected the right person. And they don’t know how to embark on that conversation. And here’s the thing, it’s not their fault.    

When I first started as a lender, I was an agricultural lender and then a commercial one. That’s what I did. Why? Because that’s what all the guys did before me. I was the first female to do what I was doing, so I did what the guys did.  They had a briefcase, I got a briefcase. They got in the car and drove out to the businesses, I got in the car and drove out to the businesses.  I had the same conversations that always brought it back to rate. Having those conversations that bring it back to rate is kind of like putting your face in front of their foot and saying don’t kick me. Of course, they’re going to bring up rate, why because I’m a vendor, and I came in here in a position of weakness.   

So we have to identify the right people, but then we have to position ourselves as bringing so much value that they’re pushing the button to their assistant saying, “Cancel my afternoon, I need to have this conversation because it’s time to switch our banking relationship.”

Do your people know how to have them at hello? That’s the game. And so first of all, we need to identify them. And then we need to build a process that has them at hello. That’s the game of those who perform in the top 5%. And those who are committed to getting there need to get in the right game, because it’s hard to be a top 5% performer when you’re not playing by the right playbook.

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

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

The post Finding Top 100 Customers [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

He told me that they had hired a firm, spent several hundred thousand dollars, and been in meetings for five months to figure out how to find their next most profitable customers. I was thinking, “are you kidding me”? I said, “Well, how’s it working?” He said, “Well, we’re not done yet. We haven’t identified them.” So, what they should have done is identify them in a couple of hours by following a clean process of psychographics and demographics, and then got busy bringing them in. That is the point, isn’t it?   

He came up to me, and he was just distraught. And yet, I get it. I’ve been a part of those organizations where you get it and you see what needs to be done, but nobody else does. But what do you do when you know everybody around you is going the wrong direction?   

Here’s what happens when that person works for a bank that’s destined to become a top 5% performing bank, they become a puppy dog with a sock in their mouth, they don’t let go. They just keep asking questions like “Shouldn’t we have figured this out already”? “Shouldn’t we be calling them”? “What is our process for calling on them”? “Do we know we have the right thing”? “What’s our process for organizing this”?   

Those who are Top Five Percenters™ don’t watch the crazy going on around them except it and say “that’s just how things are around here. It’s just me, how will I ever move this mountain?” Every great organization that’s become a Top Five Percenter has had somebody who grew a backbone and decided to be a stand for “if somebody can do it, we can do it, and we’re going to do it, so get the heck out of my way. I will just annoyingly keep asking questions until we get this right, because I will not accept working for a mediocre organization. “ 

When was the last time you ever called home and you said to your significant other “Honey, today, I performed average.” That doesn’t happen. We called home and we kick some back end and took some names and we made something happen. And that’s how our Top Five Percenter thinks. They are unstoppable in getting what they want when they know that there’s a better way of getting things done. And they are never going to sleep until they find the best way because success leaves clues. And as my mentor taught me years ago, only study with those who have their information in order and have done it repeatedly. 

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

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

The post What is the Most Effective Way to Choose the Right Next Best Customer [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

Yeah, I know you think you’re doing team selling because you put Josie and Molly together and you put Tom and Joe together- that’s not team selling. An optimized team selling experience requires an incredible amount of skill sets, and different team members going out the first time than the second time, along with being customized to who’s in front of them; in other words, who is the audience for that particular piece.  Team selling done correctly should, on the loan side, generate at least 150 to 200 basis points more than what your competitors are willing to accept the deal in it. And it should get the entire relationship because the process is worked.   

Here’s why team selling is really important.  

Harvard Business Review had an article years ago and talked about how team selling was rocking it compared to individual sales. But it’s not just that they’re going out in teams, it’s that they know how to pass the baton. Because if you’re like me, whenever I’m in front of the biggest deal I’ve ever worked on before, my tongue just starts getting tied up in a knot and you’d think I was a complete and total idiot. So things that came easily to me before suddenly they’re lost.

So, does the team know how to pass the baton? Do they know exactly what steps, stages, questions, how they’re listening, and how to move that through? And do they hold each other accountable to exactness of the process?  

Whenever my dear colleague of many years, Terry Slattery, the legend of IBM, would go into our banks, people would say, “Oh, he’s the legend of IBM,” well, of course he is. He’s a master and what he talked about is that so many bankers have imperfect practice. Imperfect practice basically means they’re doing stuff, but they’re not doing it with precision. Going out and getting a deal that’s going to bring in extra 6,7,8 thousand to $12,000 to the bottom line on a monthly basis, is going to take some precision, especially to get it in a two-meeting close.

We have some Top 5 Percent performers right now, and one of the things they have in common is a 90 to 100% close-rate. We have one bank that’s gone 18 months not having lost a deal where they went after somebody’s best customer who wasn’t looking for a different bank, they totally loved their current bank, and yet, within two steps and two weeks, they closed at 100% close rate at premium pricing with the entire relationship.

Don’t tell me it can’t be done, because I can point you to people who are doing it. And they are the ones where their numbers are taking off; their net interest margin, well of over five, their ROA well over two. These are the banks that will be able to keep their names on the doors because they have de-commoditized. They have got their team members proficient, and they know how to get big deals at premium pricing through a team selling process. They hold their team to the expectation of mastery. 

To your continued success, 

Roxanne Emmerich 

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

The post Mastering Team Selling [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

In this episode, I’m going to show you how the right sales system can help your people get excited about and effective at pulling in the very best customers…without PRICE even being brought up. You’ll get the respect of getting paid what you’re worth.

If you’re the kind of person:

• Who is frustrated that your people fall into the trap of thinking they’ll lose a deal unless they match the rate…you’re going to love this.
• Or if you’re the person who has some superstars who can get great pricing…but it’s not consistent in your bank…you’re going to love this.
• Or maybe you’re the one who has tried sales training but you still haven’t been able to consistently get the pricing you want…you’re going to love this.

You probably face three challenges:

• Your salespeople are not using the Level 4 USPs properly to break preoccupation with rate immediately in the process, so they get dragged into the price match and there is no way to reverse that.
• Maybe your people don’t have the belief that you are worth more.
• Or perhaps there is a wrong assumption (based on what they learned from well-meaning senior lenders) that the only way to get a higher price is when there is more risk.

EVERY bank is facing these issues. But you can make a change for the better.

I’m going to show you how you can get paid more in just three steps.
You’ll experience dramatically different results–as soon as your next sales call.

Step 1: UNLIKE most sales trainings, which are somewhat manipulative and “us against them,” you need to create a logical ROI analysis process in which the prospect tells YOU how much more you are worth to them BEFORE your people bring up pricing.

Step 2: It’s frustrating that salespeople don’t know the right order for the sales process, so they get dragged into the price conversation. Your people need to know which USPs to use and when, and how in the sales process they will use each of the USPs you’ve created based on that target market.

Step 3: It’s important that your people know how to get the prospect to share the financial impact of your USPs so it seems quite ridiculous for them to ask the price.

Here are those three steps again:

1) Logical sales process in the right order.
2) Know when and how to bring up your USPs.
3) Get the prospect to tell you the financial impact of USPs.

Do that and you as a leader and your people can have the confidence and pride knowing that you never have to match a commodity peddler ever again.

In the next episode, I’ll help you transform the engrained mindsets of those who believe they can only get 25 basis points more on a deal, or, worse yet, think they have to match the rate.  I’m going to show you how to instill the confidence they need to go after premium pricing with every prospect.

– Roxanne Emmerich

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

The post Do Your Salespeople Know When to Talk USPs? [VIDEO] appeared first on The Emmerich Group.

Well, here’s the problem with that. Any bank that can only command 25 basis points of premium pricing will probably not have its name on the front door five years from now.

Our industry is now in a significantly disrupted environment. Just because your bank has been in business for 120 years doesn’t mean that you will still be standing five years from now.

If you’re not paranoid, you’re not paying attention to how quickly the disruptors are becoming sophisticated and are about to target your best customers.

Implementing a proven sales culture system is the only way to lift yourself above your competitors to be the only bank that a prospect would consider. Your customers should be telling you: “This is worth a million to me, and that is worth $500,000 to me, and you’re only charging an extra $10,000—it’s a no brainer.”

If your people don’t know how to get that, and if you don’t give them the differentiation to do that, you send them out set up to lose.

You can’t expect to fix this by asking them to make more calls. We’ve all been there. We’ve all called on people when we didn’t really have anything unique and different to offer, and our good looks and charm just weren’t enough. So they sent us packing.

Every time we have another loss, our self-esteem goes down, so the next time we go out, we anticipate rejection: “Yeah, you’re probably going to say no, but would it be okay if we talked for five minutes anyway before you throw me out?”

When would be a good time to figure out that extreme differentiation?

When I talk about unique selling propositions—those differentiators that help you get paid more—I don’t mean getting one of those slogans that most branding companies will charge you half a million dollars for. I’m talking about having a plethora of differentiators that fit different industries. When you do your pre-call plans, your people will know: “I’m going to use these three because they will resonate with the prospect in front of me. And they’re going to tell me we’re worth at least half a million dollars of financial impact here and $200,000 there. So, when I say to them, “we’re $10,000 more,” they’re going to say, ‘that’s a bargain!’—because it is!”

Mastering how to do that is a vital part of the equation, but most banks just don’t get the verbiage right. This is not a game where “close enough” wins. This is a game where getting it right wins.

It’s not rocket science. So why do banks still keep paying branding firms to solve this for them? And why do branding firms never deliver premium pricing opportunities when that is what they’re hired to do?

Set the intention that this is the year when you create extreme differentiation. But know that that’s not enough. You also have to figure out how to use it in your sales process, which means your team must know how to use it. They can’t just talk about their stuff like a traveling salesman opening his tattered suitcase. They have to know how to get the person to say what the financial value and impact is to them. That’s a game to be mastered, and that’s something where sales training has failed the banking industry miserably.

Most sales training feels icky. But when done correctly, differentiating yourself and knowing how to use that differentiation feels like the greatest gift you’re giving that prospect or customer in front of you. That’s a game-changer because, as a community banker, your job is to be a source of wisdom, honesty, integrity, and authenticity. That’s what relationships should be built on.

When we bring differentiation to that relationship, that changes everything. We bring significant financial impact to our customers.

As challenging times continue, we know one thing for sure: Whatever is happening on the outside, you can change your approach in response.

One of the best things you can do is to create differentiators that are extreme enough to stimulate your prospects to say: “Whoa, you’re playing a different game. Why don’t all banks do this? I don’t want anyone else.”

– Roxanne Emmerich

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

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