Bank Sales Corner

Have Business Bankers Lost Their Mojo?

  

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Are too many of your colleagues whining about the soft economy? Are they blaming your bank’s more stringent credit requirements for their inability to close new business?  Have you heard them making comments about “when things get back to normal”?

A lot of bankers I know have lost their swagger in the last 24 months.  It’s not that surprising. Things are rougher than they’ve ever been in many parts of the country. Deteriorating credits have kept many lenders busier with problem loan reports than with taking care of healthy customers. Prospecting has ground to a halt. 

As Frank, a seasoned commercial lender from the West Coast, remarked recently, “It’s not a lot of fun being a banker any more.”

Nojo—the term Marshall Goldsmith uses to describe the opposite of mojo or “the positive spirit toward what we are doing that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside”—takes many forms among today’s bankers:

• A cynicism about new business development: “We don’t know what we want.” “The only people who are interested in changing banks are people we wouldn’t want to do business with anyway.”
• Moaning about the increased scrutiny they are getting from the Credit and Compliance areas of the bank.
• Too many “If only…” statements: “If only they knew how short-sighted their new policies are…” or “If only we were prepared to lower our pricing x basis points…”
• More talk than action: Lou Holtz was right when he observed that “When all is said and done, more is said than done.” Some bankers are just going through the motions, talking a good game for sure, but not working to make things happen.

What risk does this malaise pose to banks? Well, for starters, here’s a partial list:

1. The possible loss of key customer relationships. A recent article in CFO Magazine suggested that compared to two years ago 46% of CFOs are more likely to actively explore changing some or all of their banking partners.
2.  Difficulty restarting any prospecting effort when the economy rebounds. Many Relationship Managers are clearly out of shape when it comes to prospecting. Their lack of activity has made them too tentative.
3. Conflicting messages to important COIs in the community.  If you’re open for business, that message needs to get communicated consistently to CPAs, attorneys and other influential members of the business community. If bankers are MIA, that speaks louder than what your Marketing Department is putting on billboards and in ads. 
4. Defections of high-performing bankers. Headhunters in many areas are working overtime to lure the best talent away. Executive Management can’t assume that top RMs won’t be seduced if they’re unhappy with the current climate in your organization.

So what’s a banker battling nojo to do? If you’re in a leadership position, you can do a lot in your team meetings and one on one coaching sessions to counter any lingering negativity. Talk about what’s important in retaining the loyalty of your customers. Make the case for being proactive in business development. Go on more calls yourself. Stay upbeat. 

If you’re a banker who has lost your mojo, step back. Think about what you enjoy about banking. Strike a balance between handling the internal and external items on your to do list.  Take care of your customers. Expand your prospect list. Show it to the customers who love you. Let your COIs know that you’re looking for new business.

If you’re still having a hard time rebounding from the last two years, schedule time to talk to somebody you trust about it—a colleague, your boss, a friend, etc. You’ll benefit from another perspective.

Email me your comments at nmiller@mzbierlyconsulting.com.

How do your prospecting behaviors measure up? What are you doing well? Are there any areas you need to focus on to bring in more new business? To download a prospecting skills assessment go to http://www.mzbierlyconsulting.com/tips-for-bank-sales-teams.