Introductory Guide to Credit Union Sales Training Excellence Unveiled: 10 Necessary Principles to Create a Successful Credit Union Sales Culture
Manage HR Magazine | Friday, January 12, 2024
Salt Lake City, Utah, – In an effort to help credit unions who see a need to build and improve their sales and service culture and improve sales performance, SalesCU is releasing an introductory guide with 10 sales training best practices. This invaluable guide aims to help credit union leaders and trainers build effective sales training programs that will result in a sustainable sales culture.
1. Credit Union Specific: Tailoring sales training to the unique needs and culture of credit unions ensures relevance and applicability to the financial industry, addressing challenges specific to credit union environments.
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The sales training should focus on the empowering sales mindset, effective sales processes, and critical sales skills. To teach these principles, the credit union should use examples and scenarios their team members will be familiar with, and that support the activities and behaviors they want team members to espouse.
When sales training is specific to the team member who will be applying it, they will quickly see how they can apply the principle, and they will also identify challenges and concerns that they will likely face. This allows for great conversation and even more specific guidance and direction.
Credit union specific sales training allows credit union leaders to direct the activities of their team. As mentioned above, scenarios and examples can be built to direct where team members should focus their attention and efforts, and to manage the sales challenges they will face. This direction can help leaders communicate expectations and reinforce them with goals and objectives, while empowering their team with training to accomplish them.
2. Process-Based: A structured approach emphasizes the importance of defined processes, enabling credit union professionals to navigate sales scenarios systematically and efficiently, and sales coaches to assess individual performance levels and developmental needs.
Process-based sales training helps team members quickly understand how to apply the sales processes and skills. More importantly, they can break down the process into individual steps and work on perfecting one step at a time, systematically improving their success rate.
Process-based selling enables individual salespeople to follow the process, but also infuse their own personality and style to the service they are providing. The core processes of selling are universally effective, but the application of those processes can be as diverse as a rainbow.
For sales leaders and coaches, processes help them see where a team member is struggling and clearly identify where training, coaching, and practice may be best applied. It makes it easy to build and apply individual development plans for all team members and stay organized as they coach and develop each individual.
Lastly, processes make it possible to establish service standards that can be replicated by each employee in each of the credit union's branches, and across the entire organization. This ensures that all leaders are coaching to the same process standards, and the members receive a branded experience across the entire branch network, online, and over the phone.
3. Supported with Examples: Ample real-life examples, member stories and behavior modeling scenarios are integral to effective sales training, enabling trainees to grasp key concepts through practical applications.
4. Specific in Answering the 6 W’s: Sales training should address the fundamental questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Providing specific answers to these questions enriches understanding and enhances learning outcomes.
5. Aligned with Sales and Member Service Expectations: Aligning training initiatives with both sales and member service expectations ensures a cohesive approach, enhancing member satisfaction and loyalty.
6. Integrated into Operational Training: Integrating sales training into operational training programs enhances the overall skill set of credit union employees, fostering a holistic understanding of their roles, and ensuring a value-creating member service experience.
7. Followed up with Application Exercises: Effective sales training extends beyond theory. Follow-up exercises promote application, allowing trainees to reinforce their learning and develop practical skills.
8. Backed by Developmental Coaching: Developmental coaching provides ongoing support, helping employees hone their skills and address challenges, ultimately boosting confidence and performance.
9. Meaningfully Tied to Accountability: Establishing clear accountability measures ensures that employees are motivated to apply their training, fostering a culture of responsibility and continuous improvement.
10. Celebrated When Applied Successfully: Acknowledging and celebrating successes creates a positive reinforcement loop, motivating employees and fostering a culture of achievement and recognition.
" Selling in the credit union way is selling that looks and feels like exceptional service. And that is the goal. If a credit union isn’t selling, they really are not creating value for their members," said Nick brown, CEO and President at SalesCU. By following these guidelines, credit unions can empower their teams with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in the competitive financial landscape.
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