Listening for dollars: A powerful new paradigm for maximizing service and sales

Many credit union contact centers miss key opportunities to start sales conversations with their members because they fear that making specific product recommendations might come across negatively as “dialing for dollars.”  Yet member surveys tell us time and again that carefully crafted onboarding and cross-selling strategies are the keys to growing deeper and more satisfying member relationships over time.

So how can your credit union find that sweet spot that maximizes your contact center’s potential to reach out to just the right member at the just right time with just the right recommendation?  Here at Advisors Plus, we believe that the answer is exquisitely simple:  Let your members tell you what they want and need.  Then tune in to those needs by “listening for dollars.”

The Listening for Dollars Opportunity

Listening for dollars is a mindset that truly registers what your members are saying and empowers your contact center agents to make problem-solving connections.  The agents use empathy, knowledge and skill to bridge from issues to individualized product and service solutions.

And the process clearly represents a win-win for both members and your credit union.  That’s because a typical contact center interacts with up to 30% of your membership each month, making it your credit union’s highest volume direct member contact point.  As the table below shows, with volumes like these, cross-selling represents a major opportunity.  In the example shown, simply by closing the sale on 10% of your annual call volume and increasing the subsequent per member revenue by 15%, a typical credit union can improve its income by over $1 million annually.

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How Can Your Credit Union Start Listening for Dollars?

What does a listening for dollars strategy look like?  It is definitely not a hard core sales approach.  Rather, it is training agents to listen for openings in conversation that lead to follow-up questions and that are perceived as outstanding, value-added member service.

When my Contact Center Optimization consulting team works with a credit union, it starts with in-depth mystery shopping to gauge agent effectiveness at recognizing key opportunities and acting on them.  Surprisingly, easy prospects are overlooked even at credit unions that are sales focused.  For example, in response to inquiries about CD interest rates, agents will readily provide APYs but fail to ask the amount being deposited, thus bypassing a possible investment referral and a potentially rewarding, high value member.

On the loan side, standard questions about interest rates often lead to accurate answers on current loan products but the agents never ask for the application. They simply provide the information, say thank you and move on to the next call. Talk about a missed opportunity to build rapport!  By asking a few questions about the potential car or boat being purchased, agents can set themselves and their credit unions apart.  After all, who doesn’t like talking about the new car or boat they’re looking to purchase?

Training Your Agents to Turn Listening into Sales

The two examples above are very basic, but we see them repeated over and over.  In most cases, agents either don’t know how to move the conversation in the proper direction or they don’t catch the key words that can open the sales doors.

The process of identifying sales openings is not innate.  It needs to be taught and reinforced on a regular basis.  The very best credit unions relentlessly focus on this process through call monitoring and review, role playing and continual training.  And most important, senior management prioritizes it by tying cross-selling efforts to strategic goals and openly recognizing contact center sales successes.

At credit unions both large and small, Advisors Plus has partnered with management to help formulate strategies that work, incorporating key incentive plan components that drive sales, training that creates bottom line value and mystery shopping that highlights the strengths and weaknesses in call handling.  By focusing on member needs through a listening for dollars approach, your credit union’s management team can propel your contact center to the next level of both member service and revenue generation.

Frank A. Kovach

Frank A. Kovach

Frank A. Kovach is Director of Contact Center & Operations Consulting for Advisors Plus, where his group works with credit unions to identify cost savings and improve operational efficiencies through ... Web: www.advisorsplus.com Details