Something Missing in Sales Support?

• Author: Kimsey-Sward, Karen

Without state-of-the-art software designed or re-engineered specifically to support consultative customer conversations, frontline personnel are at a disadvantage.

Today, desktop tools are available that can revolutionize customer relations and the management of information. In many financial institutions, however, there are two missing links that prevent banks from experiencing the rewards and benefits of such new software tools as sales automation, customer relationship management and others--from data mining to CIFs. These missing links, when added, would allow the bank's frontline users to create more accurate, meaningful and enjoyable interactions between bank personnel and customers.

One missing link is the lack of commitment to acquire or redesign existing software to enhance interactions with customers. The other is the lack of an effective training strategy to enable users to sell more effectively with the new technology. Let's look at each of these issues in more detail:

Lack of commitment to acquire software to enhance interactions: Without state-of-the-art software designed or re-engineered specifically to support consultative customer conversations, frontline personnel are at a disadvantage. The software needs to present information in an intuitive manner. Vital information about the customer's profile, banking history, personal preferences, family data, and the products and services to offer must all come together to prompt, guide and assist the banker in conducting customer conversations. Without such re-engineered software, bank personnel will be unable to go beyond sketchy and impersonal conversations and interactions with customers. They will not be able to take advantages of the opportunities at hand.

Lack of an effective training strategy that teaches users how to sell more effectively using technology: Simply having quality software is not enough to ensure proper use. To help staff maximize the value of the technology, a training program is needed that is structured, ongoing, practical and through.

"Unfortunately, the banking industry has lagged behind other service institutions in the way in which customers need servicing and in helping customers through the sometimes complex processes of financial transactions," says Roger Lippross of NYM Inc., an information technology consultant. "Seeing frontline staff as part of ongoing sales support should be as natural as breathing." Recently, in California thousands of customers were lost in a major merger in no small part because frontline staff felt inadequate to deal with the questions that came in from frustrated customers.

Here is where the mesh between well-trained sales support staff and specifically designed electronic dialogues begins to reap the rich dividend of better customer relations. Years ago service industries, mailing houses and nonprofit corporations saw the benefit in composing standardized form letters to answer specific questions. Today banks now recognize software can perform these standardized and more consistent applications for them, too.

Roger Lippross is adamant. "Banks that don't use these up-to-date procedures will fade out eventually. Banks that do will find themselves on a level playing field as the financial services industry...