THE EVOLUTION OF BANK SALES CULTURES: Top Trends to Watch.

• Author: Sucec, Jeff
• Position: Brief Article

When it comes to evolving a bank sales culture, one thing is for certain: Success is fleeting. Practices and processes that have worked wonders in the past will cease to be effective if they do not take these trends into consideration.

Sales leadership cultures are emerging. What differentiates a sales leadership culture from a sales culture can be summarized in three terms-urgency, prescribed behaviors and accountability. Sales leadership practices and processes focus on providing managers with productivity tools and templates to create a sense of urgency in the organization, ensuring that sales and sales management activities remain a number one priority every day. The process prescribes those activities and behaviors expected from each employee for sales success. Accountabilities cement the process. Everyone in the organization--from tellers to the CEO--has sales and referral accountabilities. They are responsible for their own actions and for the success of the sales leadership initiative.

Technology will be used to enable sales leaders and liberate them from paper-based management and measurement tools. Paper kills many promising sales cultures. Log books, productivity reports and sales recaps--our clients have struggled with paper-intensive trucking and measurement systems for years. We now have a fully automated solution that allows our clients to review sales performance, get behind the numbers, diagnose deficits, and improve performance -- without a single piece of paper. Whether you look to an outside resource or build your own solutions, use technology to make sales easier to manage at every level in the organization.

Technology will be used to build consistent sales leadership processes and practices throughout the organization. Technology provides tools and templates managers can use to guide day-today sales leadership activities. Electronic calendars and planning devices for coaching sessions; performance evaluation and enhancement discussions; and sales meetings, combined with templates that guide managers in conducting these activities, take the guesswork out of sales management and reinforce practices taught in training.

Technology will be used mare effectively...