June 2004 Volume1.2

Picture This

Question of the Month

Register for Signposts

to execution. This month’s feature article outlines how to help prospects “see themselves” as part of your portfolio through early sales cycle Touch Points, Telephone Conversations, and Added Value.

Touch Points

The Letter

Some business bankers like to get the train moving down the prospecting track by sending a letter. Too often, however, it turns into a biographical short story – one that focuses on the bank, the number of branches it has, how experienced the RM is and how many great products the bank offers. While the marketing department loves the prose and the letter has passed the legal department’s “sniff test” this piece (or

multiple pieces) of paper more times than not ends up in the circular file, unread. The image: “Your bank is just like the one I use now.”

Try this. Make the letter short – no more than three succinct paragraphs. Use boldface to draw the eye to specific words or phrases that you want the prospect to see. Target the letter away from the bank and toward the prospect or certainly the issues their industry is facing. Personalize it as much as you can. Use a PS at the end (oh I know they told you not to do that in English class but it’s OK) that tells the business owner the action you plan to take as a next step. Place the letter in a bank envelope, hand address it and put a stamp on it. Bankers that have used this approach increase the likelihood of getting a first appointment by 50% or more.

Articles, Hyperlinks and Sales Books

Lots of bankers write letters. Few do anything further to put the prospect in a position to say “yes” to that first appointment. If you send your letter on a Monday, it will arrive on the prospect’s desk no later than Wednesday. That’s touch number one and if you are fortunate enough for the business owner to open and read the letter, you will have made a unique impression. Why not build on that momentum by sending an e-mail or fax on Friday before you make your telephone appointment the following week?

Think about what industry association the prospect may belong to and find a trade publication from that industry. There are always great articles to choose from that you can copy and paste into an e-mail, send it via fax or even in an overnight letter. Sure the prospect may have seen the article already. So what! You’ve just differentiated yourself from all the other bankers in the marketplace including their own. Don’t send your economic update or anything about the bank. There’s time to do that later. Keep that powder dry for a bit.

Don’t have time to research and send a particular article of interest? If you are really in a time crunch, simply copy and paste a hyperlink to a great website that might be of value to the prospect. We personally like www.hr.com or www.bizwomen.com just to name two.

Another alternative is to send information about a current sales or sales management book. Nearly 85% of the people you are prospecting to have built their business by being good at sales and they are always looking for a new skill to help take their business to a next level. Books like “Selling to VITO,” and “Selling With Integrity,” are two good ones. Also, “Good To Great” continues to be a best seller.

Conversations

The Telephone Appointment

The moment of truth has arrived. Your prospect has seen your correspondence and an e-mail. Your next objective is to generate an initial appointment. First, you will call at the unique time the PS in your letter suggested. That might be 7:47 am or 5:17 pm – a time that makes you stand out compared to other bankers that call at 9:00, 10:00 or 11:00 am.

The prospect answers the phone. At this point you can do what famed author Anthony Parinello says and “retain your EBS – Equal Business Status,” or you can become the Computer Associates sales person – the one that slides under the office door and asks “How much software do you want to buy?” Remember, the prospect has experienced two unique

Don't ruin it now by starting the telephone appointment conversation by saying "I'm following up on my..."

“Good morning, Jim. This is Mary Smith from National Bank. Thank you for taking my call. Is this a bad time to talk? Great, one of my key responsibilities as a Client Relationship Manager is to put buyers and sellers together. If I can get a flavor of your business and what it does, I can potentially refer you to my associates in the community. What’s your availability next Tuesday at 10:00 am so I can begin to learn what you do and what a prospect for your business might look like?”

This is certainly not the only approach that will accomplish your appointment goal. It might make the prospect curious, however – just inquisitive enough to see you. You may have another way that works but the following will certainly not foster a prospect’s positive imaging:

• Talking about yourself and the bank
• Talking about products and services
• Suggesting that you can save the prospect money

Business owners are inundated with sales calls. The better the business, the more calls it receives. The two minutes you have on the phone, therefore must be crisp, well rehearsed, to the point and link what the prospect has seen in the letter and the e-mail to what they are hearing from you vocally.

Value Adds

First Research

We’ll delve into the initial prospect call in a future issue. For now let’s focus the activities that do or don’t take place after the initial call. I recently presented a program for a state banking association’s annual marketing conference. One thing that became clear is that many bankers are still using promotional items as post call leave behinds. Will the prospect image himself or herself as part of your portfolio because you leave pens, coffee mugs or an annual report behind? Doubtful.

What business owners are seeking from relationships is value. So, instead of giving golf balls why not provide something of significance?

Instead of giving golfballs why not provide something of significance?

Find another article, results of some type of business related survey, something that can further help their imaging process.

One company we like in this regard is First Research, www.firstresearch.com. This company profiles more than 300 industries and updates them every quarter. When a bank subscribes to the service, it receives industry overviews, trends, critical issues and even hyperlinks that allow the banker to reach the website of trade associations and publications. Subscribers can print these industry reports and leave them at the end of the call. This will allow the business owner the opportunity to compare their practices to best practices in their own industry. That’s value, real value.

Finally, how do you get potential influencers in the prospect firm to see themselves banking with you? This is a longer conversation for another time but suffice it to say that when you stop at the desk of the gatekeeper when the call is over, thank him or her for their help and leave them a business card. How can that hurt?

Dwight Lampley, our Executive Vice President, tells a story about a sales manager and a sales associate standing by a lake with a group of horses. “I’m frustrated,” says the sales person, “that I can’t get these horses to drink.” “Your job,” says the sales manager, “is not to make them drink. Your job is to make them thirsty.” That, in a nutshell is imaging.

The June 2004 Sales Question

“What is the best way to deal with resistance on the telephone when you are attempting to get an appointment?”

First, image the four or five things the business owner could say that you view as concerns. Issues such as; “I’m happy with my present bank,” “I just switched recently,” “I’ve had a bad experience with your bank” or others.

Next, instead of attempting to solve the concerns by saying something, ask questions. Here are some:

“I appreciate that you are happy. Which bank is making you happy?”
“Who is the banker that is making you happy?”
“What is it about a relationship with a bank that causes you to be happy?”
“What does your bank do to keep you abreast of trends and best practices in your industry?”

The goal of course is to make the prospect curious enough to say, “What do you do to make your clients happy?” “What will you do to keep us informed about trends?” Your very next comment is, “I’d like to show you how we do that. Can you share XX minutes with me next Thursday to explore that issue?”

Your sales and sales management questions are welcome. To be featured in next months issue, simply e-mail jhubbard@stmeyerandhubbard.com and we’ll attempt to provide an answer as space permits.

How to Register for Conversation Signposts

You can register for thousands of e-newsletters. We started this one because it was requested by bankers, is targeted to bankers and will be written, in some cases, by bankers. Conversation Signposts is a monthly publication.

As a friend of St. Meyer & Hubbard, you'll automatically receive Conversation Signposts. You can unsubscribe to Conversation Signposts at anytime by clicking on the link that is included at the bottom of every newsletter, or by sending us an e-mail at remove@stmeyerandhubbard.com.

If someone else at your bank wishes to receive Conversation Signposts forward them this edition and they can then click on the hyperlink below and follow the instructions.

http://www.stmeyerandhubbard.com/signup.html

Thanks for encouraging us to create this important communications tool. We are always seeking feedback, guidance and help so that Conversation Signposts is of benefit to every reader.

Bob St. Meyer - President bstmeyer@stmeyerandhubbard.com

1-847-717-4322