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Sales Process Execution: A Blast From the Past
Many articles have been written about the sales process and why it doesn't work in so many banks. The best one in my book remains an article written by Bob Baroni, who was a Market President at Roosevelt Bank in St. Louis 15 years ago. It's really a "Diary of a sales manager" article. The article is so good because (1) Baroni DID execute and had stellar numbers to show for it, and (2) He hits the nail on the head very crisply. I'd like to share it with you in its entirety.
Your branch managers have just completed their annual sales and marketing plans for the upcoming year. They understand what their production objectives are, and what impact those objectives have on the bank's earnings. By now, all sales unit staff members should clearly understand and agree to their individual production goals. Weekly sales meetings and conference calls are scheduled for the entire year. Seems like everything is in perfect order for a fantastic new year, right?
Hardly.
At this point, all you have is a plan. What the sales manage must do is to ensure the plan is executed. This article, written as a diary of a sales manager, describes how the sales manager affects the branch at the local level through continuous inspection and feedback.
- Friday night
- Examine the weekly sales cycle. This night, as on all others, each branch sales manager totals up the branch's production for the day before leaving, and reports the information between 4 and 6pm.
- Monday
- At 8:55am, the regional sales manager calls selected managers to get them to immediately email their daily action plans for review. Off the email goes, and the RSM has three minutes to finalize last-minute details to ensure the day is a sales success. Such details may include reinforcing with his staff the sales activities needed to maintain half the day's production and ensure performance.
- At 11:55am the RSM conducts his mid-day review. This process takes several minutes. Production is added up to determine if half the day's production objective has been achieved in three hours.
- Tuesday
- A sales conference call is scheduled for 8:15am. Each manager will be called upon to describe their No. 1 sales success and provide input on how to increase referrals by 50% for the week. The sales manager also remembers they must report the name of any sales person who achieved a "triple play", a "quad" product sale and a consumer loan application. Winners get their name added to a drawing for a dinner of two at a choice restaurant.
- At 8:45am the call must come to an end. Before the office opens at 9am, meeting notes and sales expectations are emailed to each branch, reinforcing what was discussed and agreed upon. After briefing the branch supervisor about the call, the branch sales manager reminds their staff that today is Super "Two's Day". Those who sell a product package and take a consumer loan application between 9-11am will receive regional recognition and a small reward.
- Wednesday
- Bright and early, the RSM emails a list of all the Super "Tow's Day" winners along with a summary of the previous day's production. This summary indicates who is on target to achieve and exceed the week's production goals as reflected on the weekly sales plans.
- But wait! Wednesday is a special day too. It's the day when each branch aims at doubling the average daily number of package sales. There is a last-minute fine-tuning of the daily sales plan, then in come the customers.
- Thursday
- At 10:45am the RSM picks up a sales tip or two from the debriefing for increasing the cross-sell ratio of each of their sales people and decides to implement them before noon. This is important because each Thursday the minimum expectation for the day is 2.4 sales for each sales session, and the employees with the highest ratios receive regional recognition and incentive.
- Friday
- Extended hours. It's a great opportunity to achieve the week's production objective before Saturday. A quick sales meeting at 8:30am lets the staff know exactly where the branch stands and what sales activities will put it over the top. If the sales manager is successful in clearly identifying the sale activities and behaviors necessary to get the job done, their staff can get a jump-start on Saturday to begin working on next week's goals.
This is where Baroni's article ends.
Sounds intense? Sales management is an intense process. Micro-managing? Not really, just maximizing every minute and every sales resource, and doing so while having fun (did I mention that a "small reward", as mentioned above, can be stale Easter candy or slightly used toothbrush?).
The bottom line is: the shorter the period between act and recognition, stimulus and response, the greater the sense of urgency instilled in the troops, and the results and fun that follow. I know you're nodding your head and saying, "This would feel so oppressive in my bank". Listen to Drill Sergeant Slaughter (Bob Baroni's "handle): this process works, and the troops will be better off for executing it as well.
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