Course Outcomes

This relationship management skills course for bankers will:

  • Explore how banking has changed over the last 15 years.
  • Suggest ideas for finding contact opportunities in an environment where customers are doing more online and less face to face.
  • Provide participants with language for starting conversations about products and services.

Course Overview

In the not-so-distant past, a bank teller regularly performed dozens of routine transactions during each and every shift. With the advent of online banking, gradually consumers realized they could do much of the work themselves and perform a range of simple tasks without having to darken the doors of their local branch.

With branch traffic down and costs increasing, banks and credit unions soon had to do more with fewer people. From this need, the idea of the universal banker was born. These multifunctional employees were envisioned as living and breathing Swiss Army Knives.®

The people in this new role would perform routine teller tasks and a host of other activities to enhance the customer experience. The challenge? Change can be tough! Not everyone is a natural-born seller, relationship builder, or quick-change superstar. This program aims to ease the transition. The course addresses change, relationship-building skills, and outreach ideas for connecting with people when face-to-face interactions are few and far between.

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Explain how banking is evolving and the role of the universal banker.
  • Anticipate and prepare for change.
  • Articulate how they want their customers to feel about them and their institution.
  • Describe how actions, attitude, and appearance reinforce or detract from a brand.
  • Plan for systematic contacts.
  • Comfortably open conversations to uncover customer needs.
  • Position questions in such a way that customers are comfortable revealing details about their banking needs and habits.
  • Perform such outreach activities as making phone calls, working booths and community events, and writing notes.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

How Banking Has Evolved: Embracing Change

This program begins with a discussion about how banking has changed over the last 20 years. Working in teams, the group will then complete a change challenge. That exercise will highlight the various ways people feel and react in the face of transition. Following that activity, we will discuss coping strategies for managing change in the workplace.

Establishing a Target: Choosing a Focus

In this second part of the workshop, we will look at the feelings customers can have about their financial institutions. Working through a series of exercises, we will identify targets and discuss the actions, attitudes, and appearances that support those goals.

Customer Segments: Engaged Customers Buy More

Brand evangelists love a brand and sell it to others. This component of the class examines the idea of engagement and how buy-in can generate business. Working in teams, participants will consider systematic actions they can take to build connections at various points during the customer relationship. We will look at the cadence of communication, the order of communication, and other elements that should be part of a customer communication plan.

A Holistic Approach: Finding Well-Rounded Solutions

Strong bankers bank an entire customer, not just one or two aspects of his or her life. This portion of the program looks at the importance of gathering information, confirming that data, and making customer-centric recommendations that ultimately grow the relationship.

Relationships Selling: Understanding Needs

Once an idea of what should be done or a contact map is established, it should be followed. This seminar segment looks at how to execute a contact plan. We’ll discuss relationship selling and the importance of building rapport and establishing trust with customers – especially when discussing money. During this part of the workshop, we will focus on language and specific steps for opening a dialog. We will also explore questions that uncover needs and how to ask them in such a way as to not appear pushy or aggressive.

Constant Contact: Planning Interactions

Gone are the days of “build it and they will come.” Foot traffic is down, so the creative banker needs to find new avenues to make contact. This portion of the program offers an introduction to innovative thinking and suggest additional opportunities to contact customers for the purpose of strengthening the bond between them and the bank or credit union.

By the conclusion of this program, participants should feel more comfortable in the universal banker’s role and have an idea of what they should do to grow relationships and how to execute that plan.