WATERFORD, Mich. — When BestSource Credit Union here made the switch to a community charter several years ago, it had its work cut out for it.
Originally designed to serve employees at department stores Macy's, Marshall Fields and Dayton's locations across the upper Midwest, the $130-million institution had no presence outside those retail stores. So President John Normandeau enlisted the help of builder Ralph LaMacchia, head of the Milwaukee-based LaMacchia Group, to tackle its branch expansion plans.
That move would pay huge dividends after LaMacchia contacted Joe Schmitz, president of Banking on Sales, Inc. to help Normandeau change the CU's entire sales culture.
Schmitz immediately went to work moving the credit union to a "help" environment through customized workshops that emphasized goal-setting and white board measurement, as well as skill and coaching development.
"They are not really off the shelf," Schmitz said of his seminars. "They don't have videos or a PowerPoint. I try to focus (staff) on how they can help the member out. If I can take the word 'sell' out of the equation…I can change the thinking on the front line from, 'I'm afraid to sell' to 'I want to help.'"
One of the main problems with most sales training courses is that while they demonstrate the benefits and features of a good cross-selling system, they don't train tellers, lenders and other staffers how to actually develop those relationships. The keys, Schmitz argued, are to train employees to be consultants that can pick up on cues, make good conversational transitions, make it plain that they are there to help the members save and grow their money.
"If you don't think how you are going to help the guy out, it is going to come out like a product push," he said. "If you do what is right for the member the sale happens from your sincere intention to help that member out… (and) I make sure people practice the heck out of what they do so when they get to a cue recognition they know how to act on it."
Schmitz encourages management to copy his teaching approach, one that is interactive instead of directive, when developing a new sales culture. By becoming good coaches, management is able to better reinforce the way front line staff should be working with members. Instead of simply presenting product options for members to pick and choose, employees are trained to ask a number of probing questions and make a recommendation; just like management is trained to probe staffers so they can arrive to conclusions on how they can improve their cross-selling by themselves. The conversation between staff and member has been taken to "a whole different level," Normandeau said.
Because its branch expansion project will take some time to complete, BestSource is ensuring it can maintain contact with members, especially new ones, as often as possible through its "2x2x2" follow-up program.
"When a member opens an account we send them a note in two days, we'll call them in two weeks to ensure quality review, and two months later they'll call up on their credit reports and tell them how they can help them save some money," Normandeau explained.
The results of this sales culture transformation have been demonstrable as membership, checking accounts, credit cards and auto loans rose dramatically year over year in the first five months of 2009. In fact, auto loans rose 190% in that time frame. Direct member response to the change has been anecdotal, and while volume is up at its first non-Macy's location, one need not look any further than the membership growth and sales numbers to see what return the culture change is delivering.
"Our members are voting with their feet in terms of doing more business with us," said Normandeau.
Best Practices CUJ 2009
CU: BestSource
Best Practice: Sales Culture
Vendor: LaMacchia Group, Banking on Sales
