Sales Realities that “Can Be True at the Same Time”
A few days ago, I came across a post on a friend’s social media page. The title was, “Things that Can Be True at the Same Time.” It then listed a handful of realities we each experience in our lives that seem to conflict with each other but can co-exist and be true at the same time, such as:
You’re terrified to take the next step AND you know it’s the right thing to do.
and
You’re afraid to fail AND you believe in yourself.
As I finished reading through these seemingly conflicting realities, my mind instantly went to credit union sales. Surprising, right? Seriously though, I thought about my own sales journey, and the many journeys of those with whom we have worked here at SalesCU. I thought of the false beliefs, fears, and other situations that have seemed to stand in the way of achieving sales success for so many, but that have been overcome to provide greater value to their members through sales.
As I thought of this, I considered four common obstacles or conflicts that generally hinder credit union teams from selling and thought I’d present them to you here. So, here is my list of credit union sales situations that “can be true at the same time.”
- Our branch is super busy AND we make time to sell.
When working to help credit unions incorporate selling as a consistent part of member service, one of the most common things I hear is, “Our branch (or call center) is so busy, we just don’t have time to sell.” This is a reality for many branches, call centers, and all other member-facing departments in the credit union. It’s great to be busy. Nothing helps the day pass faster than when we are busy. But being busy doesn’t justify skipping the opportunity to offer a product or service that will save a member time or money, help him make more money, or generally make his financial life more convenient.
In a recent conversation with a lending center manager, she told me how her team places the member on the phone above anything else, even those in the phone queue. Her team does this because they realize that rushing through a conversation, an application, or a problem devalues the relationship and hurts both the member and the credit union.
Of course, I asked how this has impacted hold times for members waiting in the queue? She told me that at first the hold times got very long, which was also a concern. They even saw an increase in their drop rates. But she discovered that adding the sales discussions in the call wasn’t the problem. It wasn’t that they were taking more time to have better sales conversations; the problem was that they needed to be more efficient in their conversations. By making the calls more efficient, they were able to add sales to their calls while only increasing the call-time marginally.
The first thing to go was discussions about the weather, sports, and other trivial topics meant to fill time. Her team replaced that fill-time with discussions about current needs and future plans, which helped move the application along faster and position discussions about additional products and services.
Second, she said her team worked on the cadence of their conversations. This meant that her team was able to ask better questions and have a specific plan for the pace of their conversations that systematically moved the calls forward faster.
Lastly, they worked to eliminate parts of the conversation that were important for helping the member, but not necessary for moving the call along. With each of these changes, her team members were able to incorporate deeper discussions with their members about their current and future needs and have sales conversations that led to higher penetration of assurance products (GAP and Debt Protection), loan recapture, and credit card sales while only marginally extending the call times.
2. Selling is about creating revenue and growth for the credit union AND it is the best thing we can do....-->
A few days ago, I came across a post on a friend’s social media page. The title was, “Things that Can Be True at the Same Time.” It then listed a handful of realities we each experience in our lives that seem to conflict with each other but can co-exist and be true at the same time, such as: You’re terrified to take the next step AND you know it’s the right thing to do. and You’re afraid to fail AND you belie...