I have been approached by so many bankers in recent times who are concerned about their ability to compete in a rising interest rate environment.
“It will be harder to win business”
“Our competitors are offering ridiculous rates”
“We are sacrificing margin so we don’t lose customers”
“These rates are unsustainable”
“We haven’t had to compete on rate for awhile”
Rate. Rate. Rate.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
I have asked those same bankers to describe what makes them great.
And the answers I get are usually generic and mediocre at best.
Warren Buffett famously said “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get”. In the absence of value, there is only price (rate).
So INCREASE your focus on what makes you so valuable to a customer.
INCREASE the GREAT way you interact with customers.
INCREASE the GREAT advice you offer.
INCREASE your GREAT customer attention and responsiveness.
INCREASE your GREAT customer service skills, behaviors and beliefs.
INCREASE customer awareness about the GREAT value you provide.
Now THAT sounds like a better use of your time and energy.
Here are a few more tips to help you increase your “GREAT”:
1. Identify Customer Challenges
To be seen as great in the eyes of your customer, it is important that you identify what are their greatest challenges when it comes to daily banking, applying for a loan, developing a financial plan etc.
Super heroes are considered GREAT because they save people.
What specific financial challenges, anxieties and problems can you save customers from that will make them think you’re great?
2. Highlight Specific Solutions
Ask a banker what makes them great and they will give you some generic response about their customer service, or their personal approach to customers, or their attention to detail, etc.
Sound familiar? Those things don’t make you sound great. They make you sound like everyone else.
The best way to describe what makes you great is to be more specific about your solutions (to the problems you identified earlier).
Read the two responses below and consider which one sounds greater:
“I offer great customer service and I am always attentive to my customer’s needs”
or
“I show my customers simple ways to make their daily banking easier and protect them from the high cost of fraud”
3. Tell Compelling Stories
If you are too shy and humble to articulate what makes you great, then simply try telling a great story about how you recently helped a customer.
Everyone loves a great story and customers can relate to stories.
Check this example out:
“Last week one of our mortgage customers almost didn’t close on their new home purchase because of a document issue, but we worked closely with the local realtor and lawyer to make sure it happened and they got their keys. That’s the value of dealing with us, because we know all the local parties that can help you get what you want.”
4. Get Customer Testimonials
The best way to increase your “GREAT” is to get other people to do it for you. Ask existing customers to describe the GREAT value they have experienced.
Ask for a written or video testimonial that highlights a specific challenge the customer had which you provided a great solution for.
Gain permission to publish the testimonial on your website, social media and other marketing collateral. Use the testimonials for all new customer proposals.
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You know you provide GREAT value to your customers. You simply need to develop better ways to increase awareness about how great you are.
And when you do, you will stop worrying about rate and simply focus on being GREAT.
Click the image below to watch my latest video about how to handle customer objections to price.
Stop fearing objections and simply consider them as a suggestion for more information.
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Article written by Joe Micallef – Sales Strategist & Coach – Grow UP Sales. For more advice on how to overcome objections please email joe@growupsales.com or visit the webpage www.growupsales.com
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