In analyzing those bankers who are successful year after year, we find significant consistencies in prospecting behavior and practice management. These top sales producers adhere to the fact that prospecting is an "A" priority.
Successful lenders and relationship managers service accounts just like everyone else. They also have fires to put out and meetings to attend, but nothing gets in the way of consistent outreach to build new relationships.
Four Best Practices for Building Relationships
1. Schedule a time each day to make phone calls and stick to the schedule.
First thing in the morning works well. The longer you procrastinate, the better chance there is of something getting in the way of this critical activity. You don't have to like prospecting; you just have to do it. Every day. The more of this activity you do, the more proficient you will become.
2. Don't look, act or sound like every other banker.
Create a unique approach and put yourself in your prospect's place. Would you take your phone call and be responsive? If not, work on your strategy and script. For example, when you get your prospect on the phone, say “Hello Tom.” and wait for the prospect to respond. They will typically say something like “Hi, what can I do for you?” They have engaged.
Buyers are conditioned to hear, “Hello. This is Joe from ABC Company and I am calling you to …” Prospects hear this, immediately recognize a sales pitch, and quickly disconnect.
How do you make your opening call unique and compelling? Do your homework on the company, their industry, trends and challenges, using tools like IBISWorld. Your opening positioning statement could refer to one of those areas to quickly demonstrate that you’re knowledgeable in the subject and understand their industry. A reference to a problem you’ve solved for a similar client is also a strong point of credibility.
3. Successful bankers understand that the purpose of a call is to set an appointment with a qualified candidate.
Stop selling on the phone. Stop seeing just anyone who will see you. Make sure the prospect qualifies or has a potential reason to do business with you. On the phone call, identify that the prospect has a problem and ask them to invite you to come and talk about it.
The quality of the phone call determines the quality of the appointment. At this point, your goal is to identify if your prospect has a problem that you can solve. Ask questions like, “Can you tell me about the problems you’re experiencing?”
Ask the question, “Why is this problem a problem?” so that the prospect reinforces in their own mind that this is something they need to address. If they can’t answer this question, chances are the problem isn’t big enough for them to spend time and money on it.
Ask the question “How much is this problem costing you?” Asking this will make the potential prospect put dollars to the problem. If the money involved is more than, or equal to the price of your product, they will be more willing to invite you to visit. Establish that they would like to fix the problem. At this stage, you are trying to see if they have enough information and “pain” to justify a meeting.
Keep the following questions handy when you are on prospecting calls. They will help you discover if a prospect is really a prospect.
- Tell me about your current problems. For example, “Tell me about your problems in your cash management system?”
- How long has this been a problem?
- What have you done to fix it?
- When you spoke with your current banker, what did they say?
- What have they done to make this problem go away?
- What happens if you don’t fix this?
- How much is it costing you?
- Is that a problem?
- Do you want to fix it?
4. Understand that business owners want to meet professionals through introductions, not cold calls.
Always ask for introductions as your first prospecting strategy. Ask your best client advocates the simple question “If you were doing what I do, who would you talk to?” Then, ask them if they would be willing to make a call on your behalf. You can find more information on How to Get Introductions here.
We all know that prospecting is essential to finding and building relationships. And you know that you can't consistently grow your business unless you consistently prospect. You can't count on market conditions or new products or low rates to create opportunities. You must find prospects that fit your profile, call them and see if they qualify to do business with you.
So ask yourself, which of the above might help you most today? Implement this change for the next 30 days, until it comes naturally. Commit yourself to changing one prospecting behavior or business practice that will dramatically impact your business.
Tony Cole started Anthony Cole Training in 1993 by training and consulting with sales teams at Merrill Lynch and Acordia Rauh. Upon starting Anthony Cole Training, he authored and delivered his proprietary materials and customized sales training curriculums to insurance companies.
Since 2002, Tony has been adding to his team of sales development experts to help educate all types of corporations, banks and professional service providers. Today, Anthony Cole Training Group continues to grow. It is now woman-owned and WBENC-certified with offices located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Learn more at anthonycoletraining.com
