……..more on Teller Sales Training
Today I spent a very enjoyable morning at a branch with two experienced tellers, leading an updated sales training session. They were struggling a bit with making referrals, so I was called in to see if we could work it out. I usually begin sessions by asking if the tellers are comfortable with selling, and if they like to sell. Not surprisingly, the answer is usually “no.” However, when asked if they feel good when they help a customer by recommending a beneficial product, they always respond “yes”. So, the “feeling good” part is what we focused on.
Selling banking products shouldn’t feel like “selling” in the traditional sense, and if it does, something is wrong. Once a teller realizes that people care about the benefits of a product, not the product itself, and that pointing out benefits isn’t considered “pushy”, it becomes a light bulb moment for the teller! It doesn’t feel like selling, it feels like helping. When they are guided through a careful script editing process which talks about benefits and not products, and understand that people want to know about things that make their lives easier, they feel good about making a referral, and will experience fewer rejections, the biggest reason tellers don’t make referrals.
One teller said that the training and scripting today was the best we’ve done – that the scripts have gotten better and better. The other teller who seemed on the verge of terrified about making referrals said that the new scripts feel better, and that she is over her fear of rejection.
Only time will tell, but these tellers made my day!
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