REWARDING FOR SALES

One question that comes up often in our travels is - what do we think of using sales rewards to help turn banks into better selling organizations? Our take is that such rewards don't do much to push already strong employees to perform better. These people already have the passion and the drive to succeed, so they are seeking recognition. If you have a high performing sales culture at your bank, where customer service and sales go hand and hand, then you need to make sure you have the right type of people in your organization to carry out your desires. If you do, these overachievers are naturally going to push themselves hard, due to both a sense of purpose and for compensation. What matters to motivated professionals is the desire to feel successful. We quickly point out that feeling successful isn't the same as achievement. Feeling successful is an intangible thing that comes from a combination of being treated fairly, making a difference, doing the right thing and achieving a goal. Achievement, on the other hand, is often a contrived process that runs the risk of being gamed, minimized in the eyes of others or delayed as to its bestowment. It has been our experience that more personal and impromptu recognition can be very effective. A handwritten note from the CEO or being singled out in front of peers for something that was done "right" often means more than the manufactured "best BDO of the year award." This is not to say formal sales rewards don't work, but only that there are more important things involved in the sales process. One of the biggest issues that we have with sales rewards is that while it is good for growth, the award may come at the expense of culture. Mentoring, hiring, building infrastructure and creating a memorable customer experience are important, as they create lasting bank value. These very attributes could get sacrificed with a formal sales reward program, so bankers have to be careful. The best advice we have garnered from banks with strong selling cultures is to create meaning over money, in a structure that fosters teamwork and fun. The most important driver behind the motivation of the sales reward is that it clearly lays down expectations for achievement. This is important and may go beyond just compensation, but it doesn't need to take the form of a reward. One structure that seems to work in top performing sales-oriented banks is a public profitability ranking that tracks both retention and growth. Another that works well is a periodic "CEO Commendation" that recognizes people throughout the organization who deliver results. Finally, we suggest a series of smaller rewards, like dinner, $100 bills, event tickets, etc. that recognize monthly goals, the most sales calls made, the best data input into the CRM system or other items that keep motivation up over the long haul and reward for components of success. These more frequent and smaller rewards can be spread around when executives catch staff doing things right. Culture is significant at a bank, particularly its customer-facing sales force. Creating an atmosphere of expectations, fairness, inclusion, recognition and excitement are ways to emotionally connect players to the team. Awards are great, but everything else you do is what gives a trophy meaning for your employees.