The Key To Scoring More Goals
Over the past 3 years I have been sharing valuable advice from my successful 28 year career in Banking at a number of conferences across the US and Australia.
I love presenting my “Top 10 Tips For Greater Success” and inspiring Bankers and Salespeople to create a winning mindset and focus on specific sales skills/activities.
But recently a young banker in Nebraska asked me:
“What is the BEST advice I can give?”
I immediately reflected upon the recent amazing victory by the US Women’s Soccer Team at the World Cup in France.
I reflected upon the ONE THING that they needed to do to achieve this amazing victory …. and of course all the typical responses came to mind:
- Believe in themselves
- Aggressively attack the opponent’s goal
- Defend well
- ???
But the ONE THING they need to do REALLY well in order to achieve great success is ….. KICK A BALL .
And clearly these elite athletes absolutely know how to kick a ball ….. yet day after day, week after week, and year after year they develop their skills to kick that ball better and better.
They receive regular coaching and commit to the training so they can kick the ball better and win more games.
So what is the ONE THING that Bankers and Salespeople need to do really well in order to achieve greater success?
- Believe in themselves
- Proactively outsmart their competition
- Handle problems well
- ???
In fact, the ONE THING we REALLY need to do well in order to achieve greater success as a Banker or Salesperson is …..
BUILD GENUINE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS.
That’s right …. we need to know how to engage customers, conduct highly effective customer meetings and genuinely satisfy our customer’s needs.
But how much training do we undertake to perfect this important skill?
How much coaching do we invest in?
The sad reality is ….. very little.
Why is it that we rarely train to develop the MOST IMPORTANT skill required to perform our jobs well, earn greater rewards and achieve extraordinary success?
We incorrectly assume that as Bankers and Salespeople we should know how to interact with customers. We receive lots of product and process training but invest little time in developing BETTER customer relationship skills …. despite this being the KEY to greater success and living a better quality of life.
What is the real victory you are striving to achieve?
What is your “World Cup” aspiration?
Now how hard are you going to train to achieve it?
To achieve your goals and live the best quality of life you can it is IMPORTANT that you regularly develop the skills, behaviors and beliefs to build genuine customer relationships.
And frankly, it doesn’t matter how experienced you are. Regular coaching will fine tune your skills and help you win MORE business …. MORE easily.
I have enjoyed a highly successful Banking career over the past 28 years, but the secret to my success has been constant learning and practice. Today I still invest 4 – 5 hours a week in developing my skills and have two coaches I work with every month.
If the highly skilled US Women’s Soccer Team can practice kicking a ball EVERY DAY, then Bankers and Salespeople can leverage their weekly team meetings to share best practices and learn better ways of building genuine customer relationships.
So the BEST advice I can give for achieving greater success is to invest in regular coaching.
Read articles and books. Watch webinars. Participate in online groups.
If you’re part of a Team then insist on regular coaching.
If you are a Bank or Sales Leader, I strongly encourage you to coach your Team and create a regular coaching cadence.
You need to invest in a coaching culture BEFORE you can develop a more dynamic sales culture.
No excuses. No complaints. No competing priorities.
Remember the ultimate training mantra: “No Pain – No Gain.”
We ALL agree that building genuine customer relationships is the key to greater growth in Banking and Sales …. BUT how often are you training to perfect this skill and achieve more victories?
_________________________________________
Article written by Joe Micallef – Sales Strategist & Coach – Grow UP Sales. For more advice on how to implement a regular coaching cadence please email joe@growupsales.com or visit the webpage www.growupsales.com
If you found the content valuable then please feel free to share this article with your broader network. Let’s help more bankers and salespeople achieve a better quality of life.
