Articles
Get some fresh ideas. Introduce new concepts.
Articles contain timely and useful information for you to use to attract and keep more business for your financial institution. Fuel your growth.
Contact Karen Miller for more articles, or for a customized article for your institution: karen@sterlingmiller.com.
Yes, You’re a Salesperson
May 2008
“It’s Not About You”
by Karen Miller
Your members don’t care about you, or any of your products or services. Yes, that’s right, they don’t care! What they do care about is what you, and your products and services can do for them.
Yes, You’re a Salesperson
April 2008
“Perception, Relationships, and Sales”
by Karen Miller
Tellers, customer service representatives, and branch managers play a critical role in the bank’s ability to reach overall goals and objectives. how the customers perceive the entire organization, its overall image, is most often based on te personal experiences they have at the branch, good or bad.
Yes, You’re a Salesperson
March 2008
“Educate, Create a Need, Make a Sale”
by Karen Miller
There are many sales training programs and articles that give advice on winning the prospect and the sale, by “selling the customer what they want”, or “identifying needs”. That concept works fine if you’re selling televisions or washing machines, but what if you”re selling banking services, and the prospect doesn”t even know what the products are, let alone that they “want” it or “need” it.
“The Secret to Growing Core Deposits”
December 2007
by Karen Miller
Most community-oriented fi-nancial institutions are chart-ing a frightening downward slide in core deposits, the raw mate-rial they need to create profits by making loans, that threatens their very survival. The thought of having to pay to borrow money from the market to lend to its customers sends a shiver down the spine of many a…
“The Power of Personal”
June 2006
by Karen Miller
Picture this: you’re sitting in your living room watching TV and the phone rings. It’s your bank calling you to thank you for being a customer, asking you how their service has been lately, and if there is anything you can suggest to make your relationship better.
Can You Afford to Be Absent?
“Taking a hiatus from marketing translates to lost future profits”
by Karen Miller
With rumors abounding about the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate move, the market seems to think that the upward rate adjustments might ease for awhile. That’s great new of course, however, it also means the flat yield curve will also remain with us for awhile.
“Can You Afford to Be Absent?”
by Karen Miller
Today’s thin profit margins require many community- oriented financial institutions to re-think their marketing expenditures. Many have cut the marketing budget entirely, while the reginal giants gear up their marketing.
Is Your Pipline a Pipedream?
“Look inward to get the loans flowing again”
by Karen Miller
The current interest rate environment is causing some bankers to scratch their heads, wondering when things will get back to normal, and smart bankers to take control. If your current marketing efforts to attract loans are not working, or worse, if you’ve abandoned your marketing efforts altogether to save money while you wait around
for something to change, it’s time for you to change.
