Bank Sales Corner

Are Quarterly 1 on 1 Reviews Micromanagement?

  

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Your team is behind budget. Pipelines aren’t exactly where you think they should be. The economy isn’t making things easier.  So what do you?

While I’ll never discourage prayer—12 years of Catholic school taught me that “Hail Mary’s” occasionally work miracles—let me propose something else.  Regular quarterly reviews give Sales Managers a chance to determine what mid-course corrections are needed. They are another opportunity to drive home the important message that top- line revenue growth is critical to the bank’s success. They encourage team members to discuss their game plan for the next six to twelve months.  And, if you do them right, you will not be found guilty of micromanaging!

To get the most out of these meetings you need to do some homework. For each of your sales people, spend about 30 minutes before the meeting reviewing the following information for the last quarter:

• Closed business report: Where is the individual versus plan? Where did the business come from? Is it mostly existing customers or do you see some new names? How familiar are you with the customers? Are there any additional opportunities that you should be pursuing?
• Lost business: Why did we lose the deals? Do you see any patterns?
• Current pipeline: Over or under target? Is the probability the RM is assigning to closing the business realistic? Do you like the mix of business in the pipeline? Ask yourself again about the sources of business.
• Calling activity: This is not just about the number of calls made. You should be looking for patterns: Is the individual getting in front of the right customers, prospects and COIs? Is the mix right?

Ask the RMs to come to the meeting prepared to discuss their pipelines and their plans for the next six to twelve months. In addition, ask them to bring their lists of key and high potential customers, COIs and prospects along with any account plans they have done.  This is a coaching session, not a performance review. The focus should be on the future, and what the sales person plans to do going forward to generate more quality leads, close business and build long-term relationships.

Obviously, each one-on-one will be different. The approach you take with a high-performing 20-year veteran will be different from how you handle a bottom quartile rookie. In each case, though, your goal is to reach agreement on three things:

(1)  What specific areas the sales person needs to focus on;

(2)   What concrete things the Sales Manager can do to help the RM meet his objectives; and

(3)  What you both need to monitor/ measure going forward in terms of activities and results.

For example, if you agree that the sales person needs to devote more time to prospecting, you could propose the following next steps:

• Meet to review the sales person’s prospect list.
• Select five prospects that the RM hasn’t contacted yet.
• In your upcoming bi-weekly one-on-one coaching sessions, discuss the sales strategy for each prospect including the game plan for getting the first appointment and plans for the first and second calls.
• Have the RM schedule a minimum of one prospect call each week for the next month.
• Debrief each prospect call and review the account plan within 48 hours of the call.

Is this level of detail and follow-up necessary? High performing Sales Leaders break the sales process down into manageable steps. And they definitely follow-through on their plans to help their teams get to the next level.

So get those one-on-ones scheduled. Your team’s success in the last quarter of the year—not to mention next year—depends on it.

Here are some recent blog posts on sales leadership that you might have missed:

• Pipeline Targets for Relationship Managers: Tips for Sales Leaders
• Bank Sales Leaders: What Stage Are You In?
• Coaching the Core
• Are You Adding Enough Value as a Sales Leader?
• Advice for Sales Leaders: Simplify the Message on Prospecting

To read these articles—and others on sales leadership-- go to http://www.mzbierlyconsulting.com/bank-sales-corner-blog/?Tag=sales+leaders.

If you’re looking for a speaker for a bank sales conference, call Ned Miller at 610-296-4772 or email him at nmiller@mzbierlyconsulting.com.