Can Your Clients Live Without You?

Have you ever thought about changing banks? I’m guessing most of us have. Either because of a poor experience, or relocating, or because of better rates and lower fees at another bank. If you are like me, you quickly realized what an incredible and daunting task that would be. Auto drafts, direct deposits, checking accounts, savings accounts, home equity lines, home mortgages and the list goes on and on. So, what did you do? You stayed put. Well, I did anyway. I couldn’t bear the time and the energy it would take and the fear of forgetting to transfer something like my electricity bill (aka my internet bill).

I wonder how often our clients think about us like this. Do they see us as the bank? Not because of a bad experience or a frustrating experience, but a partner they can’t live without? One they have to have because of the relationship we have with them or how we drive such fabulous results that they stay with us no matter what.

So, how do we become the bank to our clients?

• Have such a deep understanding of their business that they try to hire you away and give you referrals without you having to ask. Few salespeople take the time and energy required to really understand a business. When you do, you immediately make yourself invaluable.
• Continually evaluate your own work. Are you doing the best you can do for each client? When you're responsible for a lot of accounts, it's easy to let things slip away from you. By purposefully setting aside some time to evaluate your work with each account and make sure you're providing value, you won't let things fall through the cracks.
• Regularly meet to demonstrate your results and make sure you know what's next for the client. Are you delivering on the results that the two of you agreed upon? The client cares about their goals. When you demonstrate that you consistently make signficant progress toward those goals and reach them, the client will stay happy.

In short, be a bank with amazing customer service. Be the salesperson that clients value and look forward to meeting with.