What My Cabinet Sees for 2018: Part One

I am just out of a cabinet meeting about what 2018 might bring from a sales perspective. A little more than one year ago I asked a great group of professionals to use their incredible skills and expertise to Make Banking Great Again. Based on this meeting here are several key items each brought to the table from a 2017 yearend viewpoint. They all got out and polished up their crystal balls too, and made some predictions for this year.

In case you missed it, here’s my take on the State of Our Sales Union.

Charles Green, Vice President of Trust.

If sales and relationship development is going to get above Congress in the minds of customers, trust is the key. Charlie has written or co-written three books about this critical subject – the most recognized being The Trusted Advisor.

As to where I see sales going, the one key thing that's been on my mind is the following:

The biggest trend, smack in our faces, is the CONTINUED and if anything, even more accelerating trend toward digitization, in a thousand forms: social media, cloud, CRM-in-its-latest-configurations, AI and sales enablement. But – everyone is missing the pearl in the oyster, the key meaning of it all.

The main point is not that sales is getting digitized, or that X% of the sales process now happens before a meeting, or that we have new metrics.... The main point is that – at least in B2B sales, at least in sales of $10K or more – buyers STILL make their decision with an emotional 'click' of the heart/mind/feeling – through contact with another human being. And because the need for that human click STILL exists, and all the extraneous activity that used to be conducted in person is getting stripped away, the RELATIVE IMPACT of that click moment is getting exponentially LARGER, not smaller. Put starkly: the LESS human connection between buyer and seller, the MORE importance and impact the buyer attaches to that connection.

The human part of sales is getting MORE important, not LESS. We are blinded to this simple fact because of our obsession with metrics and efficiency; we have forgotten what drives effectiveness. The need for an emotional connection arises out of our protein-based, eons-evolved nature as biological entities, hard-wired to connect to others on matters of importance.

A few decades of silicon-based evolution have not erased the eons of evolution as humans. So, this is the trend I see; I'm not predicting it will get recognized, I actually think most of the sales world will continue to obsess with the importance of digital stuff. But those who do recognize the increased relative importance of the human will garner an increasing strategic leverage in their markets.

You can reach Charlie at www.trusedadvisor.com. He publishes a great blog, Trust Matters, and his new video series builds on his reputation as the godfather of trust. Follow Charlie on LinkedIn and Twitter @charleshgreen.

Mary Beth Sullivan, Secretary of Strategy.

If someone calls the Sales White House and asks about strategic planning issues, I immediately refer them over to Mary Beth. Her firm, Capital Performance Group is one of the most respected in banking. Mary Beth opines:

In 2017, we saw a renewed focus on planning around new client acquisition and on-boarding: value propositions, sales and marketing practices, and channel strategies aligned to grow new relationships.

This will remain a focus in 2018, with more banks working to engineer sales and marketing activities across both physical and digital channels to create a better experience for new customers that drives higher levels of engagement and deeper relationships. This engineering should be mindful that what is good for Millennials is generally good for all: simple, easy, fast, and highly mobile.

Here are some other issues in the forefront for 2018:

• BRAND DISTINCTION: 30% fewer banks and credit unions than just 10 years ago but more competition than ever before. What makes your company different and a distinct alternative in the market?
• VALUE PROPOSITIONS: why is your customer or member better off doing business with you? Ask this question constantly and engineer products/service/delivery solutions that pay off.
• PAYMENTS SOLUTIONS: the battle for payment primacy is well underway. How will your payment solutions become or remain the primary choice?
• BALANCE SHEET FORTIFICATION: asset mix, credit risk, core funding. How fortified is your balance sheet to weather downturns in the economy, rising interest rates, and changing demand levels that weaken certain business sectors?
• BUSINESS MODEL TRANSFORMATION: open architecture, Fintech partnerships, process simplification, and digital capabilities will continue to transform the business models in financial services. How far down the transformation path is your company? How adept is it at managing change?
• ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES: consumers want to interact and engage with their financial providers, not just hear from them. When’s the last time you conversed, co-created, and prompted input by being just a little provocative?
• SMART MARKETING: automation now enables much more targeted, customized, and relevant marketing offers and communications. Is your company up to speed?
• CULTURE: your customers and members want a better experience, including how they experience the people/team at your organization. Are people empowered to do what is best for customers and members? Financial services companies need talent – the best talent – to tackle the challenges facing them. Does your culture help you attract and retain top talent?
• OUTSOURCING: why build or buy it when you can borrow it? Take a page from the sharing economy – you don’t have to own it to use it. Outsourcing won’t work for everything, but it will work for a lot of things, including when you need project management talent just to get things done. Focus your limited human resources on those activities that add direct value for customers and members and look to outsource (or even discontinue) other, non-value add activities.
• ACQUISITIONS: the consolidation of the bank and credit unions sectors continues. Winners will not only grow organically but will take out competitors, acquire new capabilities via acquisition, and be adept at integration to maintain business momentum. Is your organization taking the steps necessary to be a preferred partner and able to integrate effectively?

Mary Beth Sullivan can be reached at www.capitalperform.com. Founded in 2001, Capital Performance Group, provides advisory, planning, analytic, and project management services to the financial services industry. Connect with Mary Beth and her great team on LinkedIn and watch her thoughtful tweets @mbsullivanusa.

Mike Kunkle, Secretary of Strategy.

Whenever I need to find something about sales management and coaching or if I need to meet someone who knows lots about sales, I turn to Mike. He is a true connector. Mike says:

In 2017, I saw:

A continued slow-but-accelerating migration to virtual and mobile learning platforms.

An explosion of sales enablement apps designed to improve learning (sales readiness, sales onboarding, retention), sales efficiency, or sales effectiveness.

Too much emphasis on trendy concepts in L&D, very few of which I have actually seen improve top or bottom-line sales performance (admittedly with some exceptions), including things like social learning, micro-learning, gamification, adaptive learning, interactive videos, pseudo neuroscience, learning styles (still won’t die) and more.

A lot of talk about how AI and Machine Learning will impact the sales profession.

Millennial overload (not the people themselves, but all the non-stop talk about the generation).

 In 2018, I believe (or hope) we’ll see:

A renewal of Performance Consulting and HPT principles – learning as a tool in improving performance outcomes through behavior change:

A growing focus on improving sales conversations to co-create and communicate value.

A rise in credentialing, somewhat empowered by xAPI, but primarily due to the need to validate competencies and encourage skill mastery

In general, an increased focus on learning transfer, behavior change, and skill mastery, through flipped classroom, role play practice with feedback loops, virtual coaching and virtual role plays, sales call/meeting recording and “game film” reviews and data analysis, and digital performance support (such as sales enablement software, digital sales playbooks, electronic performance support systems, and/or workflow performance support tools).

Progress with virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and other simulations, which will eventually support the above.

An increasing importance of data analytics and evidence-based approaches.

Mike Kunkle has enjoyed a 24-year career as a corporate leader or consultant, helping companies drive dramatic revenue growth through best-in-class learning strategies and his proven-effective sales transformation methodologies. Today, Mike is the VP of Sales Transformation Services for Digital Transformation Inc. (a division of Fast Lane Consulting & Education Services) and founder of Transforming Sales Results, LLC. He consults, advises, writes, speaks, leads webinars, designs sales learning systems that get results, and guides clients through all aspects of their sales transformation.

Follow and connect with Mike on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter at @Mike_Kunkle.

Nick Miller and Ned Miller (not the Miller brothers), Council of Competition.

There are competitors and there are cooperators. Nick, Ned and I are Co-Opetors. If there is a bank that is not a fit for our business model or if we are too busy to be of service, I never hesitate to refer the organization to Nick or Ned. Sure, we compete. After several decades, we also recognize that we live in a world of abundance and helping one bank lifts the entire industry. Here is what they see going forward.

Nick says:

Due to continuing soft C&I loan demand and a critically strong need to attract deposits, banks large and small are, at last, moving away from “looking for loans” to “developing full relationships” with deposits and cash management services at the front. 

Going forward, as digital channels and service delivery become more robust, business banking sales leaders’ issues in 2018 include:

What’s the role of an independent, generalist sales force calling on small and medium enterprises – how many people do we need, who do we hire, who do they call on, how do we pay them?

How do we develop and sustain worthwhile differentiation? This includes questions like: What value do we generate for our clients?  Do we develop specialties? Do we offer products tailored to specialty segments? Do we work only in footprint or do we develop a ‘national’ or ‘regional’ practice?

What’s the role of branch staff and centralized (call center) teams in serving our business clients? How can we deliver our value proposition and achieve a more consistent, more meaningful client experience across our footprint? 

Ned says:

In 2018 I see:

More focus on removing organizational impediments that rob Relationship Managers of time with customers

Increased behavioral coaching for front-line sales managers on how to develop the skills of their team members

Closer collaboration between marketing and sales to create and curate more leads

More use of sales-specific assessments to identify skill gaps

Every Sales Manager figuring out how to integrate CRM into their coaching routines

Many more bankers leveraging LinkedIn in prospecting

Greater emphasis on accelerating the development of junior RMs through focused sales training, mentoring and coaching

Great insights here. For more ideas about banking sales and sales management, reach out to Nick Miller at www.clarityadvantage.com. Nick publishes a weekly blog and tweets @nickatclarity. Ned can be found at www.mzbierlyconsulting.com. Ned is great at posting and sharing articles on the many LinkedIn Groups he is a part of. He tweets @nedatmzbierly. Thanks co-opeters.

Whew! That’s a ton to take in. Wait, there’s more. Watch for part three where cabinet members Brynne Tillman, Tom Carline, Jim Dickie and others share their knowledge and become Notradomous for a day.

When Jack Hubbard isn’t playing the role of President of the United States of Sales, he serves as Chief Experience Officer of St. Meyer & Hubbard, a boutique sales training and sales coaching firm that serves the financial services industry since 2000. A prolific speaker, writer and opinon-haver, Jack’s posts can be seen on LinkedIn (follow him and connect too) and @saleshubbs on Twitter.