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Four ingredients that turn any client interaction into an opportunity for exceeding expected results while simultaneously building trust. For more, click here.

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

Ask any sales or non-sales executives (consultants, small business owners, etc.) what part of business they most dislike and they will almost universally answer with two words: business development (in other words, prospecting). No matter the overall business experience or training or overall capabilities, business development or thereof is typically abhorred. Not only is it difficult, but many of the processes hurt the business (and the individual’s efforts) as they are typically:

Short term focused

Utilizing techniques that are uncomfortable to both the prospects and the sales people

Product focused (and not client focused)

Over automated and under personalized

..only to cause dissatisfaction with the client in the short and long term- which subjects you to losing their business.

Disliked

This distaste reflects (or perhaps causes) one of the most troubling and intractable problems in business: despite spending time, effort and money encouraging, supporting and demanding that salespeople maintain a decent pipeline, these efforts produce low returns and poor morale.

We also observe that non-sales executives are typically experts in other areas such as consulting, engineering or marketing and are just not geared up for filling up the pipeline.

After all, who likes making (and receiving!) “cold calls.” That includes the client, who is typically annoyed with an overly automated under personalized script or technique that turns them off from the start.

What is an easier route?

There is no easy route. But there is an easier one. Everyone agrees that it is easier to get business from your current client base than chase new clients, and you should proceed along this path. If you have built a trusted relationship with your client base, you can capitalize on referrals.

But what happens when your business sees a big drought and dries up? Who can afford this scenario when things are uncertain? Nobody can.

Rewarding and Fun… What?

Here is a solution…

Business development does not need to be woeful. In fact, it can be rewarding and fun with the right attitude and approach.

One means to do this is through trust and the models that establish trustworthiness. When you understand and utilize the models of trust, you can see the power of it; it actually eases the stress and elevates the confidence in both you and your client, so that you can become more confident, comfortable and aligned with prospects.

Trust does take some time to establish, but the beauty of it all is you can start establishing trust through the structure of your dialogue (engage and listen) with your prospects right now. And, if you understand the Trust Equation, it only takes a little bit to build trustworthiness by heightening your credibility, reliability, intimacy and by lowering your self-orientation. Put these efforts in effect now and the results will endure.

Trust is ever so important in business commerce today and it is believed that trust-based business relationships are the single best route to corporate and personal success. And this different approach works for business development, too.

What could be better in times when clients or prospects are dissatisfied with the “quick turnaround” and “smile and dial” techniques that are often used today?

Results

When you develop business by initiating with trust (and therefore building trustworthiness), you get an engagement that is more personable and client focused, which allows for:

Less stress in your interactions and therefore more productivity

Faster results

Less “second guessing”

Less competitive bids

More referrals

After all , if the client trusts you, you get immediate credibility.

High impact results with low impact techniques.

Take the following  Trust Quiz and think about how the 4 areas of the Trust Equation can help your immediate business development and long term relationship development.

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

The following is an article from the Singapore Business Times, January 13, 2010, written by the Managing Director and Head of Private Banking Southeast Asia and Australasia for Credit Suisse, Dr. Francois Monnett.

He gets it, but do they really “walk the talk?”

Retaining clients, rebuilding trust

The sustainability of the private banking business model comes under scrutiny in the wake of the massive industry shake-up. In the aftermath of the massive industry shake-up which has taken place over the last 18 months, we are confronted with a very different operating landscape in private banking. Together with a significant loss of trust and confidence in the markets and industry, clients are also expecting higher standards of service and advice, as well as greater transparency and disclosure over products and services. There is also a shift towards safer, simpler and more liquid investment solutions.

One major implication is the critical question of the sustainability of the private banking business model. During the boom period, many institutions built their private banking model primarily based on the assumption of continued growth and perhaps a certain belief in its immunity to economic cyclicality. The infrastructure that many private banks have put in place to deliver value to clients and the fact that much growth has been built through expensive acquisition of bankers have also resulted in a costly model.

Revenue generation in private banking, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, has been very much volume-driven with a heavy reliance on a sales culture. With slowing revenue generation and increasing cost-income ratios in the past 18 months, the sustainability of this business model has been seriously tested. Much of the pressure is also coming from outside, namely from regulators and clients, that will propel the industry towards more radical and dramatic changes to the business model.

In the rapidly changing regulatory environment, investment suitability is here to stay and investor protection will become an even more important dimension in this business. There is also a lot of discussion on offshore banking, capital requirement and bankers’ compensation.

But the most important driver for change is the disillusioned clients. There has been a significant loss of investors’ trust and confidence in the markets, in regulators, in the financial institutions as well as their advisers. We have also observed among clients a flight to safety and quality, a shift from risk aversion to loss aversion, and a back-to-basic type of appeal for more direct and liquid investment vehicles.

Very importantly, there is a much greater need for transparency and disclosure. This is not just about the products, but also the service levels that clients pay for, fee structures, performance of their investments, as well as transparency regarding business partners and counterparty risk.

Client segmentation

For private banks to reclaim and reaffirm their critical status as trusted advisers, we need to enhance our value proposition on a few levels. First and foremost, we need to focus on client segmentation and differentiation to significantly lift service levels.

To put the client at the centre of a segmentation strategy is the only way to avoid the ‘one size fits all’ approach, which doesn’t work to lift service levels. This requires a disciplined, systematic and structured approach to defining client segmentation that goes well beyond assets under management. It has to consider the source of the client’s wealth – is it inherited or built? It has to consider the investor’s behaviour – is he or she a delegator, a participator or self-directed?

We also need to understand better the investor’s knowledge, experience, sophistication as well as domicile. Once these dimensions are clearly mapped out, the resulting value proposition has to deliver a tiered service offering in a disciplined and consistent way that will define different access to product specialist or management as well as the depth and breadth of the service offering.

Eventually, we will be measured as well in terms of the level of transparency and interaction we achieve with our clients. Risk management has to be an integral part of the advisory process and an investment suitability framework is the ultimate transparent guide to portfolio construction.

This involves the profiling of clients – the detailed and structured assessment of their knowledge and experience vis-Ã -vis the complexity of the portfolio solution, and their risk and loss tolerance. This profile is used to build a portfolio which is simulated in terms of asset allocation and is fully disclosed to the client.

Consistent client experience

The private banking business is all about execution. We need to deliver on the promise of being a trusted adviser in a consistent way. A major pre-requisite for a consistent client experience lies in the bank’s IT-based processes. From the relationship manager (RM) accessing an open architecture platform with thousands of solutions for the client, implementing a common advisory process, to utilising portfolio construction tools that build asset allocation against the client’s profile and analyses of risk scenarios – this level of consistency can only be achieved through a control process.

The re-engineering of processes is critical not so much for productivity gains, but has enormous impact on how much time the RM is able to spend with clients and the quality of the client experience. A recent study shows that RMs spend as much of their time marketing services to new clients as solving and dealing with administrative matters. If we are not able to free RMs from the loss in valuable client-interacting time, we will not live up to the promise of being a trusted adviser.

From a client perspective, there is also a constant request for better, more consolidated and comprehensive client reporting. They also want more direct access to almost real time data through client portals.

As private banking continues to grow in the Asia-Pacific, automation, IT systems and the re-engineering of processes will increasingly become the backbone of the business. How good a bank’s infrastructure is will be the cornerstone in delivering quality client experience. It will optimise relationship management time with clients and ensure a culture of consistency throughout the firm.

Re-skilling of RMs

If we want to differentiate ourselves in terms of providing an advice-centric operating model to clients, we will also have to consider the extent to which we need to re-skill our RMs. The permanent education of RMs is of paramount importance. Particularly in Asia-Pacific where the industry is still young and fast-growing, there is an immediate need to make sure that the culture of a firm is being consistently instilled into the new joiners that all bankers interact with their clients through a consistent and structured advisory process.

Eventually, as front organisations continue to expand, we also need to enable RMs to grow in their roles over time, from a junior level adviser, to an expert RM or a manager and leader. This requires a long-term, modular and state-of-the-art training curriculum and development model that captures the career cycle of each RM. It is also important to align reward systems with the clients’ satisfaction. When we measure performance, we need to focus not only on ‘What financial performance did you achieve?’ but also the ‘How did you achieve it?’ metric. This softer side of performance measurement has to be benchmarked against the values of the bank and how it wants its RMs to run the business, and against the client’s satisfaction. This will involve tracking the degree of adherence to the sales and advisory process, risk management tools and control standards, as well as client satisfaction surveys.

This greater alignment is a condition for regaining and earning more trust with our clients in the new landscape, acknowledging the new landscape, refining and sharpening the value position and eventually delivering on a bank’s brand promise.

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

Tough times require resiliency, especially in a cut-throat business like insurance. Your company’s branding, name and reputation, products won’t do it. It’s all about your people.

With pressure from the economic downturn, a large Singapore based insurance company needed their financial planners to deliver every time.  However, the financial planners were not getting the right support they needed from their direct management. Read how Egyii’s Andrew Sidwell helped turn the situation around. Coaching for sales performance

Andrew Sidwell, Team Egyii, Singapore

“It’s all about long-term professional relation building. Leverage & greed were the cause of the financial crisis.” JP Cuoni, CEO EFG Bank

Jean Pierre Cuoni, Co-Founder & Chairman of Swiss based EFG bank, saw the light early on in the private banking industry.

Mr. Cuoni retired in 1994 from Coutts as the CEO, and held numerous senior positions at Handelsbank NatWest and Citibank.

In 1995 he and Mr. Lonnie Howell set up EFG bank.

Mr. Cuoni, in the business since 1960, realised that little had changed in private banking. He said (and still says) that banking is personal and all about relationships, relationships that lead to trust and confidence in the bank relationship manager and the bank itself.

However, in the 1990’s, he started to see things fall apart in the banks’ operations. The banks were changing the way they operated. “Hedge funds, structured products, funds of funds, alternative investments… All these are new products that only started in the 1990s.”

The business was becoming less personalized and was lacking the proper client focus.

So, in response to the shock of this, EFG was born.

EFG is very unique in the way it operates. EFG woos older, experienced bankers who are looking to be on their own, however, would like an infrastructure to support them. They use their skills to become “private bank entrepreneurs”- running their own business off of EFG’s physical platforms.

This, combined with a caring philosophy and approach to clients and relationships, has lead to a huge success. Although business is down, as we all expect, EFG continues to flourish ahead of many of the “fallen” banks who focused purely on the bank’s motives (vs the client’s motives).

On a local level, I have met Mr. Kees Stoute, Managing Director of EFG Singapore. Mr. Stoute worked his way up in the  banking business from roles in IT and as the COO and MD in other banks before joining EFG. Why did he make the change to EFG? He saw EFG was following  the core beliefs and principles that make a bank successful.

I had a conversation with Mr. Stoute on trust, an integral part of both his and EFG’s business philosophy. The following is an excerpt from that conversation:

“Trust is not a soft skill. It makes the difference in the business. Trust is the core of business,” said Mr. Stoute.

EFG is and should be the model bank of the future.

For more information on EFG Bank, click here. You will be greeted with the following important message:

“What is the essence of private banking?

Relationships, and the conditions for them to flourish. A nurturing environment, that enables our people to excel at crafting solutions for you.

To us, the fundamental building blocks are people.

Professionals of the highest calibre, free to act in their clients’ best interests. Who strive to eradicate life’s inconveniences; who simplify complexity.

Welcome to EFG Bank, truly a private bank unlike any other.”

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

Sales professionals often need the proper support and feedback of management to be successful. Sales managers want to support their team members; however, the methods used by the managers can at times be more harmful than helpful.

Why is that?

Often there is a lack of clarity and focus between the manager and the sales professional on the behavioural expectations

Coaches often don’t understand the behavioural change process and therefore cannot gain the commitment of their staff to want to take action

Managers don’t observe their performers ‘in the game’ enough to know how to identify and target key behavioural development opportunities

The typical approach to coaching someone is to “tell” the salesperson what to do vs. asking effective questions to help lead the salesperson to improved performance

What to do about it?

Managers need to be equipped with the right sales coaching skills by understanding how to be an effective coach. They need to  learn skills on how to conduct coaching sessions that develop the key skills and that help change the behaviour of others.

How is this accomplished?

Managers need to:

Build their attributes of an effective sales coach required to create a positive coaching experience

Recognise individual differences in approaches to learning and adapt the coaching discussion to suit the needs of the individual

Identify exactly what skills and behaviours managers expect from their sales professionals in order to achieve the desirable outcomes

Enhance observation skills for assessing and identifying key behaviours, client engagement skills and sales activity at critical stages of the sales process

To provide positive and corrective performance feedback that builds and maintains self esteem

Enhance coaching communication skills (asking and listening) in order to  increase personal commitment to individual development opportunities

Demonstrate competence in the delivery of a  coaching model

Be able to set and monitor personal development plans to reinforce behavioural change after the coaching session

For more information, see maximising sales performance and skills

Andrew Sidwell, Team Egyii, Singapore

Welcome, Andrew, to Team Egyii.

In a nutshell, Andrew brings to clients years of hands on experience in the call centre space and in the learning and development arena, working with major banks, insurance and technology companies, to name a few.

Andrew helps clients with the effective sales conversation and the reinforcement behind it. His focus is on solutions for front line service, sales teams and management:

Frontline sales and acquisition

Frontline customer experience

Leadership and coaching development

For more on Andrew, see Andrew Sidwell and for more on the programmes he has delivered to banking, finance and the tech sector, see the following.

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

Trust. Everyone is talking about it.

This is Part 2 in the second of a series of interviews and Podcasts with the leaders in Trust, in anticipation of our late August announcement on our new programme on Trust.

In this series we interview Nick Morgan, President of Public Words Inc and author of Give Your Speech, Change the World, Working the Room and Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma. He started his career in writing political speaches and  is a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy Center and former editor of the Harvard Management Communication Letter.

In this interview we discuss the differences between audience vs. face to face delivery, executives’ rights and wrongs for speeches, trust, the importance of passion and a few stories from his past experiences.

Link to Nick’s Podcast

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

There is a lot of talk on trust today.

But let me ask one simple question. Where is the action?

The following are quotes from financial websites and financial leaders. Can you see the common theme?

“Trusted relationships. Advanced thinking. Our private bankers offer clients a genuinely different service. Our proposition is led by solutions rather than by selling clients our latest product. We will do nothing to jeopardise the integrity of the long-term relationships that we enjoy with our clients.“ Schroders Private Banking Website.

“Company leaders must foster a culture that focuses on integrity, strong execution, quality products, long-term value creation and doing the right thing.” Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorgan Chase, reportedly saying that financial institutions need to clean up their act and earn back public trust.

“No matter how sophisticated, no matter how complex, ours is an industry that is underpinned by the fundamental building blocks of confidence, integrity and trust. These are basic principles in running a bank – principles which may have been forgotten along the way.”  United Overseas Bank Ltd. Chief Executive Wee Ee Cheong. 

“There is a certain level of disappointment and a need to re-build trust.” Francois Monnet, Credit Suisse MD and Head Private Banking, Southeast Asia/Australasia.

“The client is the driving force behind what we do: Develop and maintain long-term relationships by actively listening to client feedback in order to build trust and loyalty.” from The Merrill Lynch Principles: Defining Our Shared Values.

“If you look at the financial crisis the world is experiencing, it is a crisis of trust. The main currency we need to restore is trust between businesses and customers, as well as employers and employees.” Alain Rohaut, EVP HR, AXA Insurance.

Can you see anything different about the following?

“Those banks that caused our problems need to step aside. It’s time to go beyond a return to old-fashioned banking. It’s time to restore trust between banks and the customers we serve.” Gerard P. Cuddy, President and Chief Executive, Beneficial Bank, July 16, 2009.

Gerard Cuddy gets it. What about the others? All talk? All marketing? No action?

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

According to a recent study published by Dow Jones titled “Wealth Management After the Crunch,” the following numbers on banks’ performance were presented: 74% of the banks in Asia thought they over-performed through the crisis whereas 91% of the US banks were under the illusion that they performed well.

But, the reality is just 29% of the clients concurred with this.

The author, Bruce Weatherill, a former PWC consultant and now representing his own firm Bruce Weatherill Executive Consulting, states: “Clients are saying they look for service from life to death to the next generation. Wealth managers are delivering that by changing advisers very frequently moving in and out of markets. They don’t understand to be successful, wealth managers need to provide security, a long term vision and not just transactions.”

As for trust, Mr. Weatherill states that 65% of the wealth managers in Asian banks think their clients see them as “trusted advisors.” 

But, again the clients have a different perspective on this. Only 32% agree with this.

Mr. Weatherill states in the report that “Wealth managers underestimate the loss of trust that has resulted from the credit crunch. They need to recognise the damage and work rapidly to repair it.

There are other statistics around low numbers of loyalty between clients and the wealth managers, disagreements on the clients’ view of performance Vs the banks, Etc.

All of this leads to dissatisfied clients and all in all it is not positive (to say the least).

So much so that many of the clients are switching to other institutions and private wealth management firms.

We all don’t need to have these numbers to recognise that there are levels of denial and a lack of real client focus.

When will the banks and other financial institutions realise that it is time for a change?

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore