DEVELOPING A
HIGH-PERFORMINGSALES CULTURE
BEST PRACTICES FOR BANK LEADERSHIP

WHITE PAPER

Haven’t all banks adopted cross-selling as a business imperative?
Of course. You’d be hard-pressed to find a bank that hasn’t targeted cross-selling as
pivotal to its success. It’s well established that acquiring new customers costs much
more than retaining and deepening relationships with existing ones, and that themore products and services customers use, the less likely they are to leave. Banks
have capitalized on this information by requiring employees to cross-sell during theirinteractions with customers and prospects.
In fact, banks often tout their product per customer ratios as evidence of theircross-sellling success. Many have exceeded the six products per household range.
With that kind of success, why re-examine cross-selling, especially when there areother exciting initiatives to pursue – like enhancing the mobile experience, exploring
blockchain technology, or employing predictive analytics?
Because it’s unclear whether bankers are selling effectively – specifically, whether
they’re selling products that are both valuable to the customer and profitable forthe bank.
“In our experience, bankers often focus on the metrics – they’re goal-oriented andwant to succeed. But ultimately, in order for the bank to succeed, the customer has
to succeed, and that means the banker has to understand the customer’s needs andidentify solutions the customer will truly value. The more the customer values thesolution, the greater willingness they’ll have to deepen the relationship,” says Andrea
Binkley, senior learning partner at Moody’s Analytics.
The potential for happier customers and a healthier bottom line make it critical tocontinually re-evaluate your commitment to cross-selling.

Some important questions to ask:
• Do your cross-sell ratios reflect true relationship building?
• Do your customers feel they’re getting a sales pitch . . . or dothey feel their best interests are being considered?

Developing a High-Performing Sales Culture|1Shifting the focus to relationship building
Customer-facing
employees should
continually ask
themselves, “HaveI done everything
I can to contributeto this customer’s
financial success?”

Customer-facing employees should continually ask themselves, “Have I done
everything I can to contribute to this customer’s financial success?”
Of course, you cannot answer that question unless you’re familiar with the customer’ssituation and needs – and you can only obtain that information from a meaningfulconversation with the customer.
Suppose that future loyalty resides not at the product level but at the relationshiplevel. Ignore the cross-sell numbers for a moment and look at your customer retention,customer satisfaction, and profitability data.
•

Have there been any customer complaints about sales tactics?

•

Are customers closing accounts shortly after opening them?

•	Are bankers selling only the “product of the month”?
•	How has selling impacted employee retention? Does the stress of selling resultin burnout?
•

Does everyone know who the bank’s best customers are?

What do you see when you look beyond the ratios? Bank leaders must be confident
that the organization’s sales activities are based on integrity, credibility, understanding,and needs identification – the key elements that foster true relationship building.
As you assess your organization’s cross-selling efforts, you can benefit from the following
best practices.

FIVE BEST PRACTICES

1Communicate the importance of sales.

2 Incorporate sales into job descriptions.
3 Train managers to have effective sales conversations.
4 Develop the staff’s conversational skills.
5 Change behavior through formal coaching and accountability.

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COMMUNICATETHE IMPORTANCE
OF SALES
It’s critical that senior managers deliver the sales message and explain how
selling impacts the bank, the customer, and the employee.
Bankers often think sales goals exist in a vacuum. “Sell X number of checking
accounts, generate X number of loan referrals, and schedule X number
of appointments with financial advisors” may be the only message that
registers. Bankers may have little understanding of the benefits that thoseaccounts, referrals, and appointments can provide to customers. They may
not understand how deepening the relationship can improve customer
satisfaction, loyalty, and overall profitability.

Bankers must
understand that
their role is tohelp customers byidentifying needs
and finding solutions.

Bankers must understand that their role is to help customers by identifying
needs and finding solutions. They should receive regular communications
from senior management about how meaningful sales are to the overall
growth and stability of the bank.

TAKE ACTION• Communicate with bankers in person or virtually to introduce
sales goals.
Employees feel empowered when they are included in meetings with senior
management. Your staff needs to know that the sales message – and the support
for it – originates at the top.

• Include the rationale for sales goals and objectives.
Bankers sometimes think they are being asked to sell products and services that
customers don’t really want or need. Many households, however, have dozens offinancial products, including mortgages, auto loans, checking and savings accounts,
credit cards, and investment and retirement accounts. It’s not that customers don’t
want or need these products, it’s just that they’re often spread across a variety
of financial entities. If you enlist employees in an effort to consolidate customers’
financial services at one bank, you will provide employees with a goal they
can adopt.

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TAKE ACTION (continued)• Explain which products are most profitable and why.
Investment and insurance products can greatly increase a customer’s allegianceto your bank, and investment customers typically have much higher balances than
average bank customers. When your employees realize this, it will encourage themto make referrals to your bank’s financial advisors.

• Assure employees that they will be equipped to achievesales objectives.
Bankers want assurance that they will have the technology, training, and coaching
to do what is being asked of them. Reassure them that selling is a team effort,
bolstered by concrete plans that will ensure their sales development.

• Provide insight into employee incentive plans.
While the banker’s immediate manager can handle compensation details, meetings
with senior management should include a broad message about how the banker
will benefit from building relationships. Focus on rewarding not just short-term
product numbers, but long-term customer relationships and their correlating lifetime
value. Compensation plans should reflect the benefits that sales bring to all threeparticipants – customer, employee, and bank.

• Provide frequent, consistent feedback on achievements
and challenges.
The banker’s immediate manager is not the only one who should be discussing
sales successes and challenges with them. Ongoing conversations with senior
management should include regular discussion of what’s going well and where
improvement is required throughout the enterprise.

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INCORPORATESALES INTO JOBDESCRIPTIONSConsider the universal banker position. As it becomes the norm in financial
centers, new-hire interviews will focus as much on sales skills as functionaland operational skills. Even if your bank is not moving in that direction, yourfocus on sales has to be conveyed to new hires in all positions.
Note the following (adapted from an actual job description), which could
easily serve as a guideline for every customer-facing role, from banker andbranch manager to relationship manager and credit officer.

TAKE ACTION
Incorporate the following requirements (or their equivalent) in job
descriptions for all customer-facing positions. Leave no doubt that
employees are expected to perform these activities on a daily basis.
•		Ask questions to analyze needs and identify solutions for customers.
•		Make sales referrals to specialized areas of the bank, based on customer needs.
•		Proactively seek out current and potential customers for sales and customer
service opportunities through calling activities and the use of marketing resources.
• Work with banking office team members to achieve individual and branch sales
goals by opening new accounts, taking loan applications, and/or closing loans.

No one should be exempt from these requirements, so including them in job
descriptions and performance reviews should be a best practice at every
financial organization.

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When managers
demonstrate customer
engagement skills,
their employees
emulate thesebehaviors.

TRAIN MANAGERS
IN EFFECTIVE SALESCONVERSATIONSManagers must be personally committed to sales. The best way to convey
their commitment is through modeling and performance. Managers
must exhibit the same questioning skills, needs identification expertise,and product knowledge they want to see in their staff. When managers
demonstrate customer engagement skills, their employees emulate thesebehaviors – and by practicing these skills over time, they evolve into
relationship builders who drive your brand.

TAKE ACTION• Provide managers with the same training opportunities that theirdirect reports will receive.
Managers know the technical aspect of their jobs, but they are frequently expected
to coach their employees in sales without any actual knowledge of selling.
Aggressive goals make it imperative for everyone to contribute, so it is important for
employees to observe their managers in action, modeling the skills that employees
are expected to develop.
Direct reports are often apprehensive about the level of engagement required intraining. Knowing their managers are also required to complete practices, simulations,and activities will reduce employees’ anxiety and promote buy-in.

• Hold managers accountable for following your organization’ssales model.
Financial organizations are looking for a return on their training investments.
Developing sales talent requires managers to step up and apply new skills,
regardless of past approaches. Bankers will be watching to see whether what they
hear is consistent with what they see. They will be motivated only if they see their
managers applying the same sales methods they’re asked to use, particularly withregard to questioning and needs identification.

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TAKE ACTION (continued)• Ask managers to practice sales conversations withdirect reports.
Questioning skills must be practiced and refined; otherwise, conversations can become
interrogations. In team meetings and impromptu gatherings, managers should give
employees opportunities to practice these skills in a non-threatening environment.
Record practices and use them to educate others on exemplary approaches.

• Refresh learning with job aids and templates.
Planning for outside calls and appointments is the best way to position yourself togain a clear understanding of customer needs. Require bankers to use questioning
guides, pre-call templates, and other materials that will keep them focused during
their conversations.

Managers mustfully commit todeveloping theirown skills to set
an example for
their teams.

Managers must fully commit to developing their own skills to set an example
for their teams. Simply observing training sessions, rather than participatingin them, is insufficient. These shared training experiences can also serve
as valuable team-building exercises that promote an enterprise-widesales culture.

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DEVELOP THE STAFF’SCONVERSATIONALSKILLSIn addition to developing your customer-facing staff’s operational andtechnical skills, you must also develop their conversational skills. Bankers
cannot be expected to rally around selling if they can’t make the connection
between what your bank offers and what customers need – and thatconnection can only be made by having an effective conversation withthe customer.

TAKE ACTION• Make your employees “students of your business.”
Organizations need to reiterate that effective customer interactions help them prosper
and expand. The perfect opportunity to deliver this message is at the “kickoff” fortraining. This is the ideal venue for senior managers to express their commitment todeveloping a sales culture – and to explain how each department and individual willcontribute to its success.

• Provide a conversation model that instills confidence.

Confidence is crucial
in business interactions,and having a model
to follow empowers
customer-facing staff.

Customer conversations should not be scripted, but they should follow a logical path.
Confidence is crucial in business interactions, and having a model to follow empowers
customer-facing staff. Sales models often feature graphics and acronyms that guidethe user through all components of a successful conversation. Such models specificallyallow for logical transitions and ample questioning – ensuring that the customer does
most of the talking.

• Deliver training in a variety of ways.
Not all individuals learn in the same way; a variety of methodologies is required toensure retention. Online training affords self-paced learning, while in-person sessions
allow learners to apply what they have learned, giving them ample opportunities
for practice and peer collaboration. Immersing bankers in scenarios that replicate
customer interactions provides a safe practice environment: the best way to ensuretransfer to the workplace.

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8TAKE ACTION (continued)• Encourage the use of job aids.
It is ideal to have a series of open-ended questions at hand to stimulate
conversations. Over time, staff will learn to prep for calls and appointments byasking the questions that yield the most beneficial information. Practicing with a
job aid will help staff to verbalize effective questions so that they sound natural andunrehearsed.

In selling, reluctance is best overcome with confidence – and nothing builds
confidence better than training and practice. For most bankers, knowing how
to sell is knowing where to start: many find beginning the conversation moredifficult than closing the sale. The key is knowing which questions to ask.
Training enables bankers to see themselves as good conversationalists withexcellent listening skills. From then on, it’s all reinforcement and practice.

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CHANGE BEHAVIOR
THROUGH FORMAL
COACHING AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
Coaching has been a part of athletics for millenia, which is why mostcoaching references are sports-related. Businesses began to use coachingas a management tool in the 1940s, primarily in the form of developmental
counseling for struggling managers. Coaching to specific skills became
popular in the 1980s and 1990s, as talent development came to represent alarger part of the budget for employers committed to best practices. Morerecently, coaching emerged as a means of guaranteeing a return on the
training investment.

The most
comprehensive
training will not
fully transfer to theworkplace if it is
not reinforced.

With its decades of expertise in financial services training, Moody’s Analytics
is often asked how we make training “stick.” This is an important question,
considering the organization’s investment of time and money – but when we
say coaching is the answer, we’re often met with resistance.
Why? Some people think it takes too much time. Others think it’s a soft skill,unlikely to achieve business results. And some don’t take it seriously because
their past coaching efforts haven’t been successful. The truth, though, is thatlearners will not transfer even the most innovative, comprehensive, and spot-on
training to the workplace if it is not reinforced. In our experience, clients that
adopt coaching as a part of training, not an add-on, achieve the best results.

TAKE ACTION• Create a coaching culture.
Coaching should be scheduled, consistent, specific, and developmental.
Employees should look forward to having their manager’s undivided attention in aconversation about what they’ve done well and what they can do to improve.
Insist that everyone in the organization – even the executive officers who receive
their coaching from outside sources – be coached.

• Train managers to coach.
Coaching is a skill that must be learned and practiced; it is not inherent ineveryone promoted to a managerial role. In order to effectively model customer
conversations, managers should complete the same sales training as their direct
reports. They can then observe their employees in action, assess their skills, anddiscuss successes and areas for development.

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TAKE ACTION (continued)• Employ a definitive coaching model.
Like sales conversations, coaching conversations should not be scripted. They
should, however, follow a consistent process that fosters a positive exchange
between the coach and the direct report.
• Typically, the conversation begins with a brief review of the coachingsession agenda.
• The banker then self-identifies their successes, whether quantitative or
qualitative. The coach should be able to supplement these comments withspecific observations of their own.
• The coach can then transition to areas of development. Once again, the banker’s
self-assessment should be followed by the coach’s observations.

• Establish an action plan.
Without an action
plan, coaching is justa friendly chat, not a
catalyst for change.

This is the most important of the coaching best practices. Without an action plan,coaching is just a friendly chat, not a catalyst for change.
Once the manager and banker agree on successes and areas of development,
they need to make a concrete plan for sustainment and growth. The “what” hasbeen identified. Now, both parties must focus on the “how” – being specific about
the steps to be taken, the time frame, and the help and support to be provided. A
follow-up is then scheduled to review progress.

• Coach the coach.
Training shouldn’t stop once a manager learns to coach. Coaching expertisedevelops with practice. Using a model and following a process can become easierwith each coaching session, but how can an organization be sure that progress
is indeed occurring? Someone needs to coach the coach. Managers, or coaching
trainers, can observe coaching sessions (in person or by phone) and then apply thesame method: self-assessment of successes and areas for development, followed bydevelopment of an action plan.

• Schedule coaching sessions.
Experience has shown that unless coaching is scheduled, it doesn’t occur. Even
if it’s on the calendar, it’s possible that something will pre-empt it. However, as
bankers begin to depend on feedback, they themselves will be eager to reschedule.
Managers will also want to be perceived as true to their word, so the schedule hassignificant weight in ensuring that coaching takes place.

It’s critical that organizations give coaching a chance. It’s also okay to ease
into it. The important thing is to begin the process and commit to sustaining
it. Based on our clients’ experiences, managers who coach their bankers
regularly see growth in the bottom line as well.

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11CONCLUSION
Effective customer conversations are the key to cross-selling success. To that
end, we have evolved our training approaches to ensure that bankers learn
and apply essential skills that will differentiate their organization from its
competitors. Beyond that, we have suggested the cultural changes that will
support training and provide the greatest opportunity for long-term success.
The five best practices for effective cross-selling fall into two categories:
internal conversations and external conversations (with customers andprospects). If a bank is to succeed in its cross-selling initiatives, it must be
successful at both. Even if your bank has a long-standing strategy in thisarena, you should periodically review its effectiveness. Then, you can explore
how your internal and external conversations are impacting your results.

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12THE MOODY'S ANALYTICS DIFFERENCE
Moody's Analytics is a trusted credit and sales training partner, offeringhigh-impact training solutions to banks, credit unions, wealth management
firms, and non-bank financial institutions worldwide. Using proven andtime-tested strategies, Moody's Analytics helps financial institutions of all
sizes develop and sustain a strong credit culture, make savvy credit and risk
management decisions, create profitable loan portfolios, and enhance theirvalue proposition in a fiercely competitive marketplace.

Get in touch for more information about our learning solutions.