Pat’s Blog

“People determine the performance capacity of an organization. — Peter Drucker

Many large financial institutions invest untold millions advertising their company brands. While publicizing a company logo and tagline tells prospects something about your company, what really defines a brand for customers is the quality of their interaction with the sales person.

Every encounter a sales person has with a prospect or customer is an extension of your brand. The quality of this individual connection can make all the difference between having a transaction-based customer or one who is truly loyal to your company.

What is the quality of your sales staff saying about your company’s brand? Do you have the sales talent onboard to create customers for life?

“What matters in any system is the performance of the whole.” — Peter Drucker

Every financial firm wants to improve sales but not every company has the necessary components in place to do so. In my experience, there are three fundamental elements needed for better sales results.

First, sales professionals must possess good character. Customers want to do business with people and companies who are credible and trustworthy.

Second, sales professionals must be knowledgeable about products and have consultative selling talent. Customers are more informed than ever and demand sales professionals who are not only well-versed but can make the process enjoyable.

Finally, sales professionals need good managers to help them reach the next level of success. Ongoing improvement requires the individual to receive coaching and feedback which is the primary role of the manager.

Does your company have all three components in place? If not, which area needs improvement?

“The spirit of an organization is created from the top.” — Peter Drucker

In the past few weeks, I have visited some large mortgage banking firms and it strikes me how many senior management teams have lost their enthusiasm for the business. While it is understandable that the industry has been in a major correction that is going on its third year, it does make me wonder: If the executives are less than enthusiastic, how do their employees feel and act when dealing with customers?

It is important to remember that everything a manager does or says makes an impression on the sales team — for better or worse. What kind of message are you sending to your team?

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

“Continuous improvements in any area eventually transform the operation.” — Peter Drucker

Let’s face it. No matter how well you run your sales organization, sometimes problems seem to come out of the blue: Your top producer decides to quit or retire, the market dips, underwriting standards change and the list goes on. When problems arise, it is important to look at how they get identified, analyzed and resolved. All too often, it seems that managers don’t know what the real cause is and as a result, they choose one of the usual fixes. You’ve heard these before: “Let’s change the compensation plan, let’s have a contest,” and my personal favorite, “Let’s hire some super producers from the competitors.” Regardless of the problem, what works is having a systematic approach to improvement. This requires management to define sales activities and the corresponding results. Problems can then be more easily identified — and corrected — when they are tied to specific activities.