20 CU Sales Myths Debunked {Part 1}.
As I travel the country to provide training to salespeople and their leaders, I encounter many myths about selling. While some are quite funny and easily cleared up, most of these myths are deeply engrained in the cultures of the various credit unions and the minds of those employed there. When these myths become deeply engrained, they can drive resistance to selling and impact the success of the credit union.
As we consider the culture in which we live, it is easy to understand how these myths came into existence. First, not only do we see selling portrayed poorly in entertainment and in the news, we have also all had personal experiences with salespeople who sell very poorly, and it invariably leaves a bad taste in our mouth for selling. Secondly, there are always those exceptional examples of selling by individuals and credit unions that make sales excellence seem completely unattainable. Each of these experiences shape our beliefs and attitudes towards selling and ultimately become myths that are passed on as truth. These myths then cause employees to resist sales expectations and discourage credit unions from addressing their poor sales cultures.
So, what are these sales myths plaguing credit unions, and what is the reality behind them? In this two-part article, we will debunk the top ten sales myths impacting individual sales performance and the top ten sales myths to which credit unions often fall prey.
INDIVIDUAL
- Selling to members bothers them.
Granted, there are different forms of selling and some are simply not appropriate in the credit union industry. But selling is and should always be part of the service experience being delivered to your members.
When a credit union salesperson sells properly, it creates the highest form of service for the member because she is constantly looking for ways to improve his financial situation by helping him save time, save money, make more money, and generally make managing his finances more convenient. This form of selling creates value, and when she is creating value for her members, they will respond positively.
2. Selling is pushing the product of the month.
Pushing the product of the month means that a salesperson is trying to sell the same product to every member he sees, regardless of the member’s needs. We see this approach when sales expectations have been sent down to the front lines without providing proper sales process training.
This approach to selling has little success and often leaves the member with a bad impression of the credit union. Selling is a process that first identifies a need, then presents options customized to that need, and finally helps the member move forward with the next steps because it makes sense to her. The product-of-the-month approach skips this process and goes straight to “asking for the business.”
When the product pushing approach is being applied, salespeople will generally complain about a lot of sales objections and become frustrated with selling altogether.
3. Members don’t want to be called at home or work.
A few years ago, I published an article about making outbound sales calls during the holidays. In the article I proposed that credit unions reach out to their members proactively to discuss ways they could help members during this financially demanding time of year. As I often do, I received a few comments in response to this article. I was shocked, however, by one particular comment that I received on this article from a chief marketing officer of a medium sized credit union. She said, “Give your members a break from the selling, and don’t bother them during the holidays.” Clearly this credit union leader is confused about the roll of selling, and the value it can and does create in the lives of her members.
After personally calling over 10,000....-->
As I travel the country to provide training to salespeople and their leaders, I encounter many myths about selling. While some are quite funny and easily cleared up, most of these myths are deeply engrained in the cultures of the various credit unions and the minds of those employed there. When these myths become de...