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Keeping the Front Line running

Building a Bank to be proud

"When I visit our branches now our people are talking numbers and are really keen on cross selling: over 80% of them want more sales team training"

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Issue

Three small traditional Iberian Banks serving immigrant workers in France had merged six months ago - bringing the net total of retail branches to 60. New sales focused front desk systems were due to be implemented within four months. This was necessary to support three main goals:

• Each Branch must be able to understand whether and why it is profit or loss making and what they are doing together to turn the situation round.


• Have both front and back office operations running professional credit operations


• Move from only the Manager to the whole team being sales focused and confident on using the new systems in both Portuguese and French

Morale was poor and 6 Trade Unions were more concerned with playing "Top Cat" than in working with management. Although FiServ had contracted to provide "5 days of systems training for managers and staff" there was nothing designed or planned that would in any way address achievement of these goals.

The CEO Joao Lopes Raimundo said: "We have to change completely the way we do business" so that staff and customers and even the Unions recognise that we are building a united bank: a bank to be proud".

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Solution

Phase One of crash training programme was entitled "La Banque Unie" and consisted of three parts.

1. Branch Managers were taught to manage their sales teams through daily, weekly and monthly activities and active results measurement.


2. Assistant Branch Managers were taught to facilitate staff mastery of the new front desk systems and creating a positive customer experience. Standing Operating Procedures were documented as Fiserv finalised the systems.


3. Each staff member was provided with a "Pilot's Log Book" that led them through the learning sequence. Each branch was equipped with an additional PC fitted with special databases for training purposes. Every day each staff member had to master new exercises - gain fluency as well as technical expertise and satisfy the ABM in a live customer transaction before moving on to the next exercise. The branches stayed open to customers throughout and by July 2002 this phase was complete.

Phase Two focused on learning more Sales Management and Sales Team skills and was run early the following year.

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Result

In June of that year we sat down with Joao Lopes to review progress. He told us:

• "I am really delighted with results to date"


• There has been a real improvement in the sales focus of the French retail network.


• When I visit branches people are talking numbers and now they are really keen on cross selling


• In spite of tough competition we are achieving the ambitious growth plans agreed for the year


• Year on year insurance sales are up over 80%: every time we sell a mortgage staff sell house, contents life and fire insurances as well.


• Competition are offering cut throat rates but customers still come to us because, they say, our staff are so good!

What a change in just over one year.

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