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“The
way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to
appear.”
Socrates |
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Celebrating
Here and There
By:
Jack Hubbard,
Chief Experience Officer, St. Meyer & Hubbard, Inc.
| When
we are out with clients, at industry conferences or just via e-mail
and phone conversations, bankers often ask; “why don’t
you talk more about your company in this newsletter?” I guess
one reason is that there are plenty of e-zines out there that provide
a one or two paragraph |
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article and
then shove page after page of marketing down the reader’s throat.
That won’t ever happen with this publication. There are times, however,
when it is appropriate to pause and celebrate when a colleague achieves
a major accomplishment in their career. Such is the case this month with
Margi Miller, Executive Vice President.
Margi
has been with us for about two years. During that short tenure she has
whipped our operations into shape. We schedule better, we have more data
to draw on, our contracts and other documents are crisper and more client
focused ever since Margi came on board. In general, Margi does all the
“nothing falls through the cracks” that Bob St. Meyer and
I desperately needed in our business lives.
Margi
recently completed her course of study and earned her Masters Certificate
in Project Management from The George Washington University School of
Business and Public Management. While Margi is “hard wired”
to be process oriented, organized, and a whiz at analyzing and synthesizing
information, she found great value in the diverse coursework she engaged
in throughout the program of study. “Project Management is far more
than identifying tasks and placing them in an effective and efficient
order to accomplish a stated outcome, indicates Margi.
It
requires the knowledge and ability to set goals tied directly to stakeholder
needs, negotiate contracts, assess and take steps to mitigate risk, allocate
resources effectively, and lead team members in a manner that elicits
the best each has to offer. I appreciate the opportunity to apply what
I’ve learned in ways that help both our clients and my SM&H
colleagues.” Great job, Margi. It is true that everyone inside SM&H
and every client benefits from your knowledge, expertise and true care
for the client every day.
Congratulations
to Dave Ulferts Too
Dave
Ulferts has never met a stranger. His enthusiasm is contagious. Dave has
worked for nearly 15 years with First National Bank of Omaha. Dave has
lots of passions in his life; his family, Nebraska football and
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sales
conversations. He has made a huge difference in the Consumer Bank
of FNBO, most recently as the number two person in the bank’s
retail division. Dave has recently been promoted to become head
of the Residential Mortgage Division at First National. With the
many challenges in this rising rate |
environment,
Dave is the right person at the right time to step into this position.
His new associates will benefit from Dave’s natural leadership style,
his unwavering approach to great customer experiences and a high sense
of integrity and purpose that always has shareholder value attached to
it. All the best in your new position, Dave. |
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Thank
You with Value and PLMI
On
October 1, 2005 only 63 sales conversation days remain in the year. That
is, if you opt to go to your office the day after Thanksgiving and you
don’t take too many days off during the Christmas holidays. And,
like the Chicago Cubs do every year, most sales people have one foot in
2005 but the rest of their body is leaning into 2006. It is good to look
forward, to plan strategies and to set goals for the next 12 months. Too
often, though, we look yonder and forget about what is right in front
of us. Case in point.
Recently
I made a joint call with a banker. While she has great expertise in lending
and operations she is somewhat new to sales. She did a nice job on the
two calls we were on – they were well planned and executed at a
level that would certainly get her back in the door for a second “date.”
When I asked her what plans she had for the “thank you” part,
she was stymied. “I guess a Thank You note would be good,”
she indicated. That is certainly one option. The two options I posed were
somewhat foreign to her.
Without
trying to sound like Andy Rooney, I don’t like Thank You notes.
Think about the ones you send or receive. They are nice, perhaps have
a modicum of feeling and even might capture some of what happened on the
call. But let’s be honest. Do you really like doing them? And, what
value (other than a brief warm and fuzzy) do you feel when you receive
one? Do you send notes out right away after the call is completed –
given all the things you have to do on a daily basis? Or, does it take
you several days, or even a week before the note/letter gets to the postal
service? Finally, do they really serve to move your sales process along
to any great extent?
The
fact is, most Thank You letters are canned, with paragraphs copied and
pasted from other notes we have in a word file somewhere. They are read
quickly (if at all) and most times there is no PLMI by the recipient.
That stands for Positive Lasting Mental Impression. Now before everyone
reads into this that a nice Thank You isn’t in the SM&H value
set, let me explain. I’m talking about Thank You with value. There
are several really good ways to accomplish this. |
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Dashboard
Thank You
It’s the end
of your sales day. You have made three calls. Before you go home, simply
write the direct telephone number of the three people you have had conversations
with on a post it note. Then, on the way home (or better yet later in
the evening since the voice mails of these business people are time
stamped) send your Thank You note via voice mail.
Good
evening, Elaine. This is Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld National Bank. Many
banks send Thank You messages through the mail but that takes time.
We like to add immediacy to ours so here is your thank you note. I appreciated
learning more about your Van Dalay Industries today. It sounds like
you have some exciting growth opportunities on the horizon and we are
eager to learn if there is a fit between your firm and our bank. As
promised, I’ll follow up with you on the 23rd to discuss next
steps.
This 20-25 second
message is immediate, different. It sets you and your bank apart from
others that are calling on the prospect – even the company’s
current bank. This approach also helps to create share of mind and anytime
you can get inside the gray matter of the prospect you have accomplished
something. The concept can certainly be used with current clients and
centers of influence too.
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Conversation
Recap
If
you still want to send a Thank You note, why not put a unique “value
spin” on the thing. The Conversation Recap is a one or two page
document that reviews what happened on the call. It is likely you take
notes on the call anyway but how many bankers actually provide a synopsis
of those notes. It’s about the client so why shouldn’t the
client see what was discussed?
When the RM and I debriefed the joint calls we were on, we crafted the
following Conversation Recap. This is only a portion of what was sent
to the prospect. There were actually 3-4 other bullet points. This gives
you the concept, however and how it is executed.
A few things of note. First, you will notice no banking products mentioned
anywhere in the document. The focus is the prospect, his issues and the
needs of the company. Also conspicuous at the top of the document is the
mission statement of the prospect. This is their report
not something generic. We know where the company gets its “best
practices.” We know this person is an avid reader of sales books.)
So, the RM purchased a new sales book for Chris and delivered it on Monday
with her card attached.) Finally, you will notice it is quite easy to
create. This is a word template and all the RM and I had to do was to
go over her notes. |
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One
other idea is for the bank to put its logo in the upper right corner of
the Conversation Recap and the prospect’s logo in the upper left.
This shows a partnership in the making and clearly adds a level of customization
that most banks won’t go to the trouble to do.
As the sales process unfolds the Conversation Recap can be expanded to
add calls 2 through X until the business is closed. Then the Onboarding
process begins. We’ll cover that in another newsletter.
The
Conversation Recap is a true differentiator. There are very few bankers
around our nation that are willing to invest the time to complete this
important loop in the sales process. Those that do, however, reap the
rewards of share of mind, intrinsic value delivered and a potentially
shortened sales cycle that leads to bottom line results. |
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We’ll
be there
We are privileged
to make presentations at the nation’s most prestigious banking
schools and financial services conferences. Below is a listing of programs
we will be engaged in between now and the end of 2005. We look forward
to seeing you at these programs. If you have questions about them, contact
Linda Benjamin, Executive Vice President at 847-215-6091.
Jack Hubbard Presentations
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October
4, 2005, RMA Western Michigan Chapter
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October
11, 2005, RMA Philadelphia Chapter
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October
12, 2005, RMA East Central Pennsylvania Chapter
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October
13, 2005, RMA Southern New Jersey Chapter
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October
18, 2005, RMA Eastern Michigan Chapter
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October
26-27, 2005, ABA National Commercial Lending School
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October
28, 2005, Crains New York Business Small Business Expo
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November
3, 2005, RMA Arizona Chapter
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November
4, 2005, RMA Fresno California Chapter
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November
15, 2005, Virginia Bankers Association, Commercial Conference
Mike Dillon Presentations
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October 17-18, 2005 Bank Insurance and Securities Association,
Sales Management Workshop, Chicago, IL
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December
5-6, 2005 Bank Insurance and Securities Association, Sales
Management Workshop, Los Angeles, CA
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