Beyond a Sales Culture

Since banks first started offering investment services in 1982, it was accepted gospel that investment services should be a key component of changing banks from a “service” to a “sales” culture. And to this day, you see consultants and many experts giving advice on the importance of a sales culture and how to maximize it. But these calls for an all-encompassing sales culture are dated. Today, survey after survey shows a wide decline in trust in virtually every institution. From banks, to universities, to government, (with the sole exception of the military), individuals’ trust of every institution is at, near, or below historic levels (see the Edelman Index of Trust https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer). So what does this mean? It means that people are suspicious of a sales culture. They suspect, and much of the press pushes, that “selling” is just a way for the FA/bank to make more money, and not necessarily with customer best interests foremost (remember Wells Fargo). Don’t misunderstand- selling a customer a product/service they need and helps them is a good thing! But they still don’t want you to sell them anything! They want you to understand their needs, consider their total situation and make professional recommendations and explain how these products and services help them meet their financial goals. What they want is a Relationship Culture- and so do you. A RC is built upon open, two-way communication while a sales culture is too often based just on referral goals and sales targets. A RC is about building rapport with customers at all levels of the organization. And to build rapport with customers, employees have to be motivated to help that customer- not necessarily sell them anything. Yes, getting a referral fee or a commission/fee is great, but it’s should be only one part of a reward system. We’ve all seen the research on longevity and profitability of bank relationships as a function of the total number of relationships/products a customer has at the bank. Doesn’t it make sense that the key is relationships and not just sales? A RC is independent of sales, and the sales will flow anyway- because, as you learn about your customers (and their families, whose business you want too) and gain their trust. You’ll find they all have needs, goals and need professional advice. It’s time bank investment programs evolved to make relationships the key metric.