20 NAILBA Magazine

Develop a High PerformingMarketing Machine

Article 1 of a 4 Part Series

Barbara Sanfilippo, CSP, CPAEBob Romano, PresidentHigh Definition Banking®

“We’ve provided sales training, implemented a sales tracking system and an incentive program. However, our marketing staff is only going for

the quick sale with producers and notdeveloping the long-term relationship.”

All too often we hear the above commentfrom BGAs voicing frustration at theirefforts to get their staff to be more con-

sultative and develop deeper relationships withproducers. What undermines many BGAsefforts is thinking you can simply run market-ing staff through training, give them a productmanual, add a few other ingredients like track-ing and, of course, some “incentives,” and indue time the results will suddenly materialize.

What BGAs need to realize is the process ofaccelerating their marketing culture and creat-ing a marketing mindset includes many addi-tional components that fall into three criticalareas: skills, infrastructure and organizationaldevelopment. Skills include training in prod-uct knowledge, sales and sales management.Infrastructure refers to the systems andprocesses that reinforce use of skills learned intraining classes. These include: sales goals,service standards, service measurement, salestracking, performance management, recogni-tion and more. Organizational Developmentrefers to tools and practices that help a compa-ny gain buy-in and commitment from theirstaff to do what it takes to reach a higher per-formance level. Some OD componentsinclude communication, implementation

teams, employee climate surveys and more. Insummary, a company culture is dynamic andmultifaceted. Changing that culture requires amultifaceted approach.

Consider that all these components are only

pieces of the process — pieces that, whenimplemented alone, are not likely to generatelong-term results. Creating a marketing cul-ture requires you consider your organization tobe more than just a collection of its parts. Anyefforts to impact the culture need to take intoconsideration action steps that impact resultsbeyond training alone. At the base of thewhole effort must be strong organizationalstructure, management practices and leader-ship. The “total approach” yields the bestresults: a clear strategic direction, organization-al goals, individual accountability and involve-ment by all departments and employees.

As you may have surmised from reading sofar, to impact results you can take a quick-fixapproach (with short term results) or one thatis a little more holistic (for long term results).In the next four articles we will be outliningsteps in creating a marketing culture taking themore comprehensive approach. We willaddress these areas above and outline keystrategies to improve sales and service perform-ance by getting your marketing staff to bemore consultative and by creating a sense ofurgency among all your staff.

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENTBefore you start training staff to be more

consultative, your efforts will be best served bybuilding a solid foundation of support frommanagers and employees. If they do not buyinto the new behaviors that will be expected, ifjust one manager pays “lip service” to thisprocess, that indifference may infect some staffattitudes and results will be diminished.Following are some practical ideas to demon-strate your commitment as a CEO and buildbuy-in and commitment from your staff:• Make enhancing your marketing culture

a strategic initiative – To become a reality,the development of a marketing culturemust be part of the CEO’s vision. Makesure your strategic plan identifies “buildinga marketing culture” as an objective and ahigh priority to be accomplished in three tofive years. Then develop a well thought outtactical plan for achieving this goal over thatperiod of time. Caution: having just one ortwo statements such as “offer sales and

Figure 1. Developing a marketing culture requires morethan just training.

SKILLS

INFRASTRUCTURE ORGANIZATIONDEVELOPMENT

21March 2006

product knowledge training” only high-lights some tactical steps. These steps arefine but need to be within the context of alarger plan that includes the other broaderareas in the triangle in figure 1. Ask your-self, “If we had a true marketing culture,what would that look like?” Then write astatement that encompasses your vision.

• Let staff rate your existing marketing cul-ture – The attitudes of your employees tellyou a lot about your business and the level oftheir morale and satisfaction. Any companythat intends to implement any kind of aninitiative, big or small, would be well advisedto do an employee survey first. Gettingemployees to change their behavioral insome way requires trust and managers cannever be sure how well they are doing in thisarea. Asking your employees how they feelabout specific issues opens dialogue andbuilds trust between management and staff.Plus, a survey demonstrates you value theiropinion and are listening to their needs.Conducting a more targeted survey thatfocuses on factors that impact your market-ing culture will give you a benchmark tostart from and helps your company gaugethe success of your efforts to improve salesand service from the employees’ point ofview. It can also identify potential obstaclesbefore you start any action steps.You can create and conduct your own sur-vey but if employees feel confidentialitywill be compromised in any way, staff arenot usually as forthcoming in theirresponses especially with written com-ments. Romano & Sanfilippo has recentlyadded twenty questions to our survey togauge how engaged staff are in their jobsand how loyal staff are to our client compa-nies. Engaged staff are committed,involved, participating and available toother employers. Disengaged staff havementally checked out and are emotionallydivorced from your company.

• Hold an off-site retreat with your man-agement and staff – If you are either justgetting started in this area or simply wantto formalize your company’s past efforts,hold an off-site retreat with your employees

to discuss your sales and service philosophyand to strategize ways to impact your mar-keting culture. A retreat helps to uniteeveryone in a common vision and obtaintheir commitment. That vision must thenbe clearly articulated and inspiring enoughfor employees to want to be a part of it.An off-site retreat is an excellent way toaccomplish this. You want your employees to walk awayfrom the retreat feeling valued having beenasked to participate. This is exemplified bytwo comments from a recent retreat con-ducted by Romano & Sanfilippo:

• “The retreat was valuable because I am con-sidered part of the team and they count on mycontribution to the success of the organization.My opinion is counted and respected.”

• “At first I did not think I would get anythingout of it and it was required for us to be here,but if management will embrace this trainingit will be a better place to work. I wouldknow I have a value to make this a betterplace to work and make a difference.”We consider sharing the vision and getting

employee buy-in are key initial steps to get offto a good start. In the next three articles we willdiscuss how to train your marketing staff to bemore consultative with producers and pre-callplan effectively; how to conduct sales meetingsthat educate and motivate; how to monitor andcoach for performance; how to reward and rec-ognize performance and how to insure youremployees are fully engaged in their jobs.Have a successful and prosperous 2006!

We suggest you ask people to write their comments and to agree or disagree on a sliding scale with statements such as:

• I have achieved a high level of proficiencyin the skills needed to sell our productsand services.

• Mediocre or substandard performanceis not tolerated in this organization.

• I am clear on what’s expected of meand how I am evaluated.

• I am free to “bend the rules” in order toprovide the best service possible.

• In my company, when people perform well,they are rewarded accordingly.

The value of an off-site retreat includes:

• Creating a sense of urgency to instilla marketing culture.

• Uniting your team, including all administra-tive and support areas, in a common visionand obtaining their commitment.

• Increasing understanding of thecommitment of time and resources needed.

• Achieving increased enthusiasm formoving forward.

• Improving internal service and teamworkby involving all departments in theplanning process.

Barbara Sanfilippo delivered a highly-rated session at NAILBA’S Annual Conference and will be the opening keynote speaker at the FOCUS Meeting. She is an award-winning speaker, retreat facilitator, consultant, and author of Dream Big! What’s The Best That Can Happen and contributing author of The Service Path: Your Road Map for Building Strong Customer Loyalty.

Barb and Bob Romano are the co-founders of High Definition Banking®, a national consulting, training and motivational firm that partners with banks and credit unions to increase sales, deepen customer and member relationships, turn them into loyaladvocates and maximize client's investment in CRM.

For more information visitHighDefintionBanking.com and www.HighDefPeople.com.