Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” teaches its audience about the power of good communication. According to the famed salesman and lecturer, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Conversation really can be a game changer in relationships of all kinds, so knowing where to start is a critical skill.
Teaching bankers the art of conversation
While financial institutions are adept at training workers in the nuances of banking products, they may not be as skilled when it comes to teaching intangible people skills. This can be particularly true for customer-facing roles that aren’t often directly linked with sales opportunities, like tellers and customer service representatives. Luckily, there are some well-known pathways to jog up casual conversation, and they each have easy acronyms to help remember the steps. Along the way, your team might even strengthen bonds with customers and build rapport in ways that open doors for every party involved.
Two ways to easily engage with customers
One key to engagement is knowing how to start a conversation. Here are two proven methods for opening casual conversations with customers — and they can work for any employee at your community financial institution (CFI):
1. FORD. The acronym stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams. The FORD method suggests you strike up a conversation around one of those subjects by asking open-ended questions. If a customer has become familiar and you feel comfortable talking about their family, then you might ask how their family is doing overall or about a specific person that you remember them mentioning. If you’re checking in with a known business customer, it’s obvious to ask how the business is going, but you can take it a step further by following up on the staff expansion they were hoping to do or the new product or service they have been developing.
To address recreation, you can ask about any upcoming travel plans or ask a question about pickleball or golf. Dreams may seem more difficult to navigate, but an easy transition is to ask what goals they have for the next few years.
Many businesses swear by the FORD method, and rather than feeling awkward, it can be very natural to simply check in with customers at key times such as holidays, weddings, graduations, birthdays, retirement, the arrival of grandchildren, etc. This acknowledgment of life events will show customers that you’re invested in their overall well-being.
In fact, the Credit Union of Southern California trains its staff using the FORD method. The credit union’s SVP of Retail Banking, Aaron Young, asserts that their representatives have become more like personal shoppers for financial services. According to marketing consultant company ReminderMedia, “When you ask people about their family, occupation, hobbies, and goals, you’re more likely to find out what it is that they truly value, as well as what they’re looking to achieve in life.” That knowledge is the ultimate window into what you can do to benefit both your customers and your business.
2. HEFE. The FORD method has its critics, who say that the topics (except recreation) may be too personal for a casual conversation. What if you ask about the family of a customer who happens to be going through a divorce or a loss? As an alternative to FORD, there is the HEFE method, which stands for Hobbies, Entertainment, Food, and Environment. "HEFE are low-stakes and immediately accessible everyday topics, so they make initiating a conversation feel less intimidating and awkward," says Jenny Woo, a cognitive science researcher and CEO of Mind Brain Emotion. "They don’t require much expertise, and they encourage sharing of opinions and perspectives to help people get to know each other better."
Questions can range from “What do you think of this weather?” (Environment) to “Have you seen any good movies lately?” (Entertainment) to “Are there any restaurants around here that you like?” (Food). Because the HEFE method is less personal, it can be especially helpful when your staff are talking to customers they don’t know well. Bringing up “safe” topics like favorite foods or films can also help reduce the pressure your staff might feel when asked to increase engagement and suggest products to customers.
FORD and HEFE both revolve around starting up a conversation, but there may be times when customers at branches are often in a hurry and may not want to slow down to engage in conversation. Be mindful of your customer’s time. You never want to come across as pestering them with trivial chitchat.
That said, customers are more likely to stay loyal and try new product offerings if they know, like, and trust your staff. The FORD and HEFE methods can provide a helpful framework for starting conversations that could ultimately lead to sales. Training your public-facing employees to get to know customers better and make astute and timely product recommendations benefits everyone involved.
