Banks and Selling: Clueless
Executive Summary: Despite enormous investments of time and money, commercial banks continue to be woefully inadequate at selling. Quick fixes fail time and time again. Management needs to be willing…
Nothing is New in Sales Management
Executive Summary: The fundamentals of successful sales management have not changed in many years. However, despite all the sales “rules,” sales success continues to be elusive. Why? Managers fail to…
Service for Sales
Executive summary: Providing quality customer service to businesses is not an end in itself. Rather, bank management should view service as a tool for retention and cross-sell, and demand that…
SME Banking: A Global Market
Executive summary. FIC’s small business related work around the world indicates that banks, no matter their location, face similar issues; success factors with SMEs are also largely the same. In…
Restoring Your Reputation
Executive Summary: The banking industry faces increasingly vitriolic attacks from the media and industry analysts, with “good” players being lumped in with the “bad.” “Good” bank managements need to take…
It’s 2008. What Now?
Executive Summary: 2008 will be a very difficult year for U.S. bankers operating in the SME and retail spaces. However, rather than bemoaning the fact, management should consider several near-term…
Back to Basics: The Branch, Part Three
Executive Summary: While implementing the branch sales transformation process described in the previous two newsletters can result in improved branch performance, few banks follow anything like this approach. Why? Management…
Back to Basics: The Branch, Part Two
Executive summary. Banks continue to struggle with how to actively engage branches in selling to small businesses. Typically, management focuses on one or two discrete areas (for example, training and…
Back to Basics: The Branch, Part One
Executive Summary: Most banks have had limited success in transforming their branches into sales offices. One reason: management focuses on limited initiatives that usually prove inadequate to drive long-term change….
Back to Basics: Credit and Risk
Executive Summary: Credit quality is beginning to emerge as a more significant issue at many lenders to the small business and lower middle market segments in the United States. While…