If you have read any of the articles we have had published over the last three years, and I hope you have, you know that I am a sales champion for the credit union industry. My goal is to provide competent, credit union-specific sales training in an effort to help credit unions emerge out of the “Order-Taker” age and into the new era of competition and focus on member expectations.
In response to this new era, credit unions have invested heavily in new core systems, beefed up indirect lending platforms, implemented clever CRM systems that integrate seamlessly with their core, launched new marketing platforms, improved online and mobile interfaces, and even introduced loss leader checking and credit card products. While these upgrades serve many purposes for the credit union, they simply do not replace the member-facing salesperson. And despite the new systems and promises from the vendor that sales will increase, sadly credit union leaders find that even after these improvements the order-taker mentality and passive sale approach still pervades.
Sales in the credit union industry is a perpetual struggle. There is almost an “anti-culture,” if you will. Admirably, credit unions care deeply about their members, however, this care has somehow translated into the belief that selling to them will damage their relationship with their members. The reality is that members expect their credit unions to sell to them. They appreciate it and when a credit union approaches selling in the right way, with the right motivations, people flock to them. But credit unions do not become great at selling without training, coaching, and meaningful accountability.
To support your credit union and help you start providing competent, credit union-specific sales training to your employees during this opportunity time, we will be conducting 5 FREE sales training webinars that your employees and leaders can attend. Simply CLICK HERE for more information and to register your team.
Why are we doing this? Well, right now may be an ideal time when branch foot traffic is low due to COVID-19, and there are more bodies to cover the phones. But more importantly, we feel this is the best time to train your employees with effective sales skills and processes, so when we do get back to business as usual, those will be equipped with the tools and confidence to sell.
When we do get back to business, we know that there is going to be an economic impact. In fact, you may be concerned about how this impact is going to affect credit union growth and revenue. By providing these free webinars we hope to empower your team to engage members in deeper conversations, identify more need and opportunity, and capture it through sales at a time when new business may be at a premium.
So, what will these free sales training webinars do?
- Give your employees a place to start – an understanding of how to approach sales in a natural, value-adding way.
- Deliver specific sales skills and processes your employees can use to start selling and that leaders can coach to.
- Help your employees see selling in a completely different light.
- Resolve employees’ fears and concerns that are currently holding them back from simply opening their mouths and offering options and solutions.
I encourage you to take advantage of this rare opportunity while your team has time on their hands. We in the industry need to be proactive and address the new reality that awaits us. Join us next week for these free credit union sales training webinars. What have you got to lose? Click here for more details and to sign up for the webinars.
Thank you. Stay safe and healthy.
