Natwest - Pushy 'representative'

noh

Andystriker wrote: »

"Mr Craig, Do you want a credit Card

No thanks.

It will help you get a mortgage

No thanks

You should have this ISA

No thanks

But our ISA is great

No thanks.

You should have this savings account

No thanks

It's a great savings account paying 0.000001%

No thanks.

Now I'll have the account I came in for".




Thats how you do it Craig.

"Mr Craig, Do you want a credit Card?

No, Goodbye"

Is more like it.

opinions4u

Bank: "Hi Mr Craig, tell me what you're looking for today."

Mr C: "I'm looking to sort out my current account."

Bank: "Ok, tell me a little bit about what you want your current account to do for you."

Mr C: "Pay money in, take money out, cash machines, debit card, standing orders and the like."

Bank: "Right. I'm sure we'll have something that suits. Tell me what sort of bills you have and what type of places you expect to use the debit card at."

Mr C: "The main bills are things like car insurance, mobile phone, petrol, food, holiday etc."

Bank: "What are your plans for the future? Are you likely to change jobs, move house, anything like that?"

Mr C: "No. I'll carry on renting where I am for some time I think."

Bank: "Ok. If I could save you a little bit of money each month how would that sound?"

Mr C: "Interesting"

<interject> Notice the bank hasn't attempted to sell a single product at this stage - just 30 seconds of chat.

Bank: "Well, what I'm going to suggest is a couple of things. If you think it will work for you, just let me know. How much do you pay for things like breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance, holiday insurance?"

Mr C: "I pay the AA £110 a year, £6 a month for the phone cover and I think it was £70 for travel cover last year".

Bank: "Right. I'm pretty sure I can save you a bit then. This Mercury Plus account costs a tenner a month. Well, £9.99 actually. It gives you breakdown cover, holiday cover and phone cover. There's also a few other discounts on insurance too. A quick sum says it should save you over £100 a year. What I'd also recommend is a credit card. Although you don't have to have it, by doing your normal shopping on the credit card, popping the funds in to a savings account and then paying the bill in full when it comes you'll earn interest on your spending. It won't change your life, but it will give you a little bit more than you get now. The credit card can also be handy when you go on holiday although make sure you pay it off in full to make sure it costs you nothing in interest. What do you think?"

At this point the customer, 90 seconds in to the conversation, can answer:

a) I don't want anything to do with your bank.
b) Just give me a bog standard current account please.
c) That seems like a great idea, let's do it.
d) I'm going home now to research it all online and see what other providers do. Please can you let me have details of the insurances so that I can check out the levels of cover and ensure I'm not taking out an inferior policy. Thanks.

(After I've signed them up I'd then have a cheeky crack at contents insurance using the discount that comes with the Mercury Plus account)!!

A conversation like that is a fair and reasonable way to establish the things that can benefit a customer, even if the customer didn't initially have anything in mind beyond a bog standard current account. There are ways and means of doing it. Throwing questions like "do you want a credit card?" and "why not have a savings account?" doesn't mean anything to a customer and irritates.

Listening to how the customer lives their life (financially) and working out how your products may benefit them is a much simpler way of ensuring the customer leaves the bank in a better financial position than when they walked through the door ... and hitting any sales targets that you have.

izools

CLAPTON wrote: »

well actually, a credit card used properly is very good at building up a good credit history which will be useful when applying for a mortgage

just use it for 'normal' spending and pay in full each and every month and that will show on your credit records as some-one that handles credit well.

I completely agree, 100%.

However to tell a customer "you have no chance of getting a mortgage" without one, is a bare faced lie.

chambta

opinions4u wrote: »

Bank: "Hi Mr Craig, tell me what you're looking for today."

Mr C: "I'm looking to sort out my current account."

Bank: "Ok, tell me a little bit about what you want your current account to do for you."

Mr C: "Pay money in, take money out, cash machines, debit card, standing orders and the like."

Bank: "Right. I'm sure we'll have something that suits. Tell me what sort of bills you have and what type of places you expect to use the debit card at."

Mr C: "The main bills are things like car insurance, mobile phone, petrol, food, holiday etc."

Bank: "What are your plans for the future? Are you likely to change jobs, move house, anything like that?"

Mr C: "No. I'll carry on renting where I am for some time I think."

Bank: "Ok. If I could save you a little bit of money each month how would that sound?"

Mr C: "Interesting"

<interject> Notice the bank hasn't attempted to sell a single product at this stage - just 30 seconds of chat.

Bank: "Well, what I'm going to suggest is a couple of things. If you think it will work for you, just let me know. How much do you pay for things like breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance, holiday insurance?"

Mr C: "I pay the AA £110 a year, £6 a month for the phone cover and I think it was £70 for travel cover last year".

Bank: "Right. I'm pretty sure I can save you a bit then. This Mercury Plus account costs a tenner a month. Well, £9.99 actually. It gives you breakdown cover, holiday cover and phone cover. There's also a few other discounts on insurance too. A quick sum says it should save you over £100 a year. What I'd also recommend is a credit card. Although you don't have to have it, by doing your normal shopping on the credit card, popping the funds in to a savings account and then paying the bill in full when it comes you'll earn interest on your spending. It won't change your life, but it will give you a little bit more than you get now. The credit card can also be handy when you go on holiday although make sure you pay it off in full to make sure it costs you nothing in interest. What do you think?"

At this point the customer, 90 seconds in to the conversation, can answer:

a) I don't want anything to do with your bank.
b) Just give me a bog standard current account please.
c) That seems like a great idea, let's do it.
d) I'm going home now to research it all online and see what other providers do. Please can you let me have details of the insurances so that I can check out the levels of cover and ensure I'm not taking out an inferior policy. Thanks.

(After I've signed them up I'd then have a cheeky crack at contents insurance using the discount that comes with the Mercury Plus account)!!

A conversation like that is a fair and reasonable way to establish the things that can benefit a customer, even if the customer didn't initially have anything in mind beyond a bog standard current account. There are ways and means of doing it. Throwing questions like "do you want a credit card?" and "why not have a savings account?" doesn't mean anything to a customer and irritates.

Listening to how the customer lives their life (financially) and working out how your products may benefit them is a much simpler way of ensuring the customer leaves the bank in a better financial position than when they walked through the door ... and hitting any sales targets that you have.

Have you been listening to me and my customers? Seriously though you're absolutely right of course. People often leave me with things other than what they came in for. The reason? I listen to them and fit our products into their lifestyle - asking the extra question. And you know what? I've been in the branch tor years and the same people come back to me time after time and bring their friends and family too.

tattyuk75

Proper selling of bank products do involve exactly what opinions4u has posted. It should be all about FaB (Features and Benefits), which is basically that a feature of a product is only of benefit if it fits what the customer actually needs, which of course can only be ascertained through conversation and listening for potential needs.

However, as I was a personal banker for four years for a high street bank, I can tell you that the work is so incredibly sales-targeted (often with pee-poor products...), the pressure to get a sale even if you knew that the product wouldn't be that effective for a customer, was immense. Panic sets in when the realisation that you have to sell X amount of such and such a product by close of business, is being demanded of you and the only people you are talking to are after a balance, therefore; no flow of conversation to identify a need through, so you'd just stammer out a clumsy, possibly inappropriate attempt at a sale of something, just to say you tried.

It's really tough. But what will help, both customers and the bank staff, is if people complain in a formal manner about mis-selling and pressured, bully tactics. Even if it only results in individual training for the bank staff involved in that case, it would be something, and all complaints have to be logged and are reviewed. Everybody knows that banks like to say they only sell after identifying a need, but that's just not true.

So I would definitely complain, in writing and demand a response.

jambosans

@opinions4u: Spoken like a true ex-branch manager.

Although this system on principle seems to be of benefit to both staff and customers, I think the reality of this model is explained succinctly by tattyuk75. "Sales through service" softens the blow to customers, but often, in the background, staff are contending with multiple targets beyond sales which make the carefully orchestrated process of "building rapport" more challenging.

opinions4u

jambosans wrote: »

Although this system on principle seems to be of benefit to both staff and customers, I think the reality of this model is explained succinctly by tattyuk75. "Sales through service" softens the blow to customers, but often, in the background, staff are contending with multiple targets beyond sales which make the carefully orchestrated process of "building rapport" more challenging.

One of many reasons why I chose to become an ex-branch manager .

I will add that I don't have any problem with staff having targets. It's how they are managed towards achieving those targets that creates the potential for problems.