- You’re not delegating enough of the gruntwork.
- You’re not clear who you’re going after (translation: Your prospect list isn’t something you really own.)
- You can’t differentiate yourself from your competition—you’re another boring banker.
- You lack product knowledge in key areas outside your specialty.
- You’re a mass generalist not an expert specialist – you try to be all things to all people. (Zig Ziglar said it best: “You cannot make it as a wandering generality. You must become a meaningful specific.”)
- You don’t develop alliances with others in your network, both inside and outside your organization.
- You’re not connecting with prospects on their most relevant and important strategic issues. (Question: Do you know what their 5 year strategy is for their business?)
- You don’t have a defined sales process and find yourself winging it more often than not.
- You’re still waiting for the phone to ring in the age of social selling.
- You’re relying too much on one approach (networking events, CPA referrals, , etc.).
- You underestimate the amount of time it will take to grow your book of business successfully. Prospecting is a long term proposition.
What do you think? What can bankers do to improve their success in prospecting? Please share your advice, insights, and experiences in the COMMENTS section below.
Looking for more tools to help you with prospecting? Check out the following resources:
How to Qualify Prospects Quickly
Leveraging Your Network in Prospecting
Keys to an Effective First Call on a Prospect
Go to http://mzbierlyconsulting.webex.com for a complete list of our recorded webinars on prospecting.
Free Webinar: Alternative Lending and Banks with Charles Wendel
Alternative lending companies continue to focus on the business banking space. Increasingly, banks are evaluating how to cooperate with these players since they offer streamlined processes and enhanced risk management, both of which can turn small business lending into a profitable opportunity for banks.
This webinar will summarize the current state of alternative lending, the different lending approaches, the major players and how they work with banks as well as developing trends. It will also discuss the key criteria that banks need to consider when they evaluate whether and how to work with these new lenders.
Date: Friday, August 14, 2015
Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)
If you liked this post share it with others on LinkedIn, Twitter and by email.
