Banks Are ‘Under-repped’

In the often controlling bank environment, it is easy to fall into the trap of passively accepting the resources provided for your use without looking to develop additional ones on your own. This article briefly outlines four key areas/sources of resources and provides an outstanding example of a program where an individual rep put all of them to use in a very successful program. With a bit of "creative extrapolation," one can see how many of the fundamental concepts discussed below might be applied in other types of organizations.

1. Organizational Resources.
Your financial institution provides a wealth of resources. The key is to effectively access and leverage these resources. The use of databases and lists have to a great extent, been institutionalized, and programs/processes to use these are usually well established. Most marketing budgets and programs, including incentive plans, are generally set at an institutional level as well.

But step back and take another look at your entire institution. How much of the total bank (thrift or credit union) are you really using? Think about how you can individually and personally touch key integration points such as:

• Branches
• Customer (information) files/databases
• Business/commercial bankers
• Mortgage lenders
• Consumer lenders
• Private bankers
• Trust officers

Help your team work on individual, one-on-one efforts to build and leverage relationships that go beyond institutionalized programs.

Second, examine your broker dealer or insurance agency. What unique skills or capabilities are present? How can you and your team members use them? One successful approach is to look at each individual rep’s or agent’s efforts/activities. When you find individual (best) practices that are successful, help others on your team adopt them as well.

2. Community Resources.
Valuable, accessible community resources are often overlooked. One example is educational institutions. These provide an opportunity for reps/agents to reach the community by teaching a course or serving as a "guest expert." This may be at a local college/university or through a community adult education program. In addition, professors and administrators at colleges and universities can be a great source of outside expertise on any number of topics (educational costs, health care costs, economic trends, societal issues, etc.) which are relevant for your ownclient/prospect meetings.

3. Industry Resources.
There are many industry resources directly available to sales managers and their reps/agents. The key is to seek them out, determine what can help you/your team, and effectively use them. Examples include:

• Associations. The BISA (among others) provides many resources from publications, to current news alerts, to industry (benchmark) data, to workshops and conferences where you can meet and learn from peers from across the industry. Go to the website (www.BISAnet.org) to see the many opportunities presented by the BISA. And note that the way to get the most out of any association is active participation. Take advantage of opportunities to work with and discuss specific issues with others who have dealt with the same problems you are facing.
• Most product providers have a wealth of support material/programs. Often this is delivered on an individual basis by their wholesalers. You must learn what each of your product partners has to offer, then select what best supports your goals and manage its use. The key question to ask every product provider is: "What is the best product neutral service or idea you have available to make my sales team more effective?"
• Third party marketers (TPM’s) and clearing firms again provide a wide range of support services. Learn what they are, select the ones that fit your needs, and be sure you are optimally using them.
• Industry consultants and seminar providers can also be a significant resource. They generally see a wide range of programs and can look at your particular situation/issues from a broad, independent perspective. They can be detached from internal "agendas" and do not have the potential bias of someone responsible for selling a particular product.

4. Personal Resources
Look inside! What are my unique attributes and skills? How can I best apply them to help myself and my team? How do I effectively manage my time to best take advantage of these attributes? Some ideas to consider include:

• Begin with your values and goals.
• Find an organization/time management system that works for you and use it.
• Separate appointments from tasks and reserve time for each.
• Understand the difference between important and urgent and learn how to deal with both.
• Block your time. Consider using "power hours."
• Begin each day with a plan. Be realistic; plan forward. If you find you are carrying over too many items, you are not planning and/or working effectively.
• Finally, "Swallow your frogs early." You will have a more productive day.

Pulling it all together.
While she was a million dollar producer at Citizens Bank and Trust in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Regina Byrd developed the "Diaper Derby" college planning seminar. This highly successful program epitomizes how one individual can access, coordinate and leverage a wide variety of resources from many different sources.

The Diaper Derby college planning seminar is designed to bring together parents of young children, educate them about the benefits and cost of a college education for their children, and let them know you have tools to help them achieve this goal. The Diaper Derby provides an enjoyable, positive atmosphere to attract many different constituencies. In short, the program started with a series of baby "races" and other events focused on toddlers. After the toddler events, the children were cared for while their parents saw a presentation that included the impact of a college education on earnings potential and job satisfaction, the current and projected cost of a college education, and how one might go about saving for their children’s education. Resources utilized included:

Organizational Resources
Tapping bank employees to help promote the program, recruit likely attendees, and staff the event. This meant that parents could be comfortable that people they knew were interacting with their children. Obviously the bank’s customer base was another institutional resource used.

Community Resources

• Representatives from local colleges/universities provided the information on benefits and costs of higher education.
• Local retail outlets supplied gifts and prizes for the children.
• Local papers and radio covered the event and provided public awareness.

Industry Resources
Product partners provided seminar materials and "calculators."

Personal Resources
Time management mastery and community connectivity were leveraged as well as relationships with employees throughout the bank.

Now with Hilliard & Lyons, a PNC subsidiary, Regina reports that she is looking forward to bringing back the Diaper Derby college planning seminar next year.

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