TUKWILLA, Wash.–To effectively cross sell a new member at signup, the front-line team must consistently follow five steps.
That is the stance of BECU, which adopted a consultative cross-sales approach four years ago that today the front-line team uses with a great deal of success.
Skott Pope, senior member solutions manager, said the approach is called "The Member Advantage," a product of the Phoenix-based Integrity Solutions. "We use what is called the 'AID
INC' process," said Pope. "We interview the new members and try to identify–and get agreement from them–what their wants and needs are. We know these people are coming to us because
they don’t want to pay the $5 at BofA, so they are value-driven. It is up to us to figure out what else they might need that they may not even be thinking about."
The five steps are: approach, interview, demonstrate, validate, and close. "The approach step gains trust and rapport," said Pope. "Interview gets to members' needs, and that is the biggest part of the process. Demonstrate lets us show members how we can meet their needs. Validate reinforces people's trust and belief in you–here is where we check to make sure the member
understands what we have told them."
The negotiation step is where the credit union addresses problems or objections, and then the member consultant closes. "If you have done everything right, the close is pretty much finishing
up the paperwork and making sure that when people leave they understand the value they are receiving. We summarize and say, 'This is what you accomplished today–you have avoided the $5 debit fee and you are also saving $88 a month on your car payment.'"
Pope said BECU chose the Member Advantage because the sales approach allows the credit union to not only conduct a consultative cross-sell but to explain the value of credit unions. "We have to help members understand how the credit union works. We can explain that bringing deposits here allow them to get other great services, like loans, and how the profits from loans go
back to the members."
