'Time to ban bank staff commission to stop mis-selling?'

Former_MSE_Helen

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's "Time to ban bank staff commission to stop mis-selling? " Blog.

Please click 'post reply' to discuss below.

CKhalvashi

My local HSBC and Lloyds do as they're told now. I popped into a Lloyds last week to pay in 2 personal cheques to have 'oh you go on holiday regularly, are you covered for x, y and z?, when's your car/home insurance due?', offering me a bank account for £25 a month :eek:

It's generally at that point I whip out an HSBC Private Banking card at them!

CK

KTM_Gordo

The issue of inappropriate sales spurred on by commission is not confined to the banking industry. How many of us have been sold a TV or double glazing by a salesman on commission who is encouraged to sell particular brands or models to make more commission – I know: I’ve been there, didn’t like it, so left.

Always ask the person selling you something if they’re on commission – if they are, make sure you’re really getting what you want/need.

irrelevant

My niece used to work front line for one of the high street banks. The entire place was target led, and if you didn't ask the customers about extra products, you were reprimanded. I don't think there was much commission involved, but there were penalties if you didn't try to sell! It seems that the entire point of banks providing counter staff is to try to flog you things, not to actually service your needs.

She quit in the end, leaving banking completely, and is now very happily working for a medical company doing proper customer service, and actually helping people!

jgriggle

KTM_Gordo wrote: »

The issue of inappropriate sales spurred on by commission is not confined to the banking industry. How many of us have been sold a TV or double glazing by a salesman on commission who is encouraged to sell particular brands or models to make more commission – I know: I’ve been there, didn’t like it, so left.

Always ask the person selling you something if they’re on commission – if they are, make sure you’re really getting what you want/need.

As a general rule, if you're left alone to shop (supermarkets, DIY sheds etc.) the staff are not on commission. In the sort of place where you might expect to ask for advice or are approached by staff (electrical shops, some clothes/shoe shops, mobile phone shops, furniture/kitchen/bathrooms shops etc.) the staff are usually on commission.

I personally work on commission, and if asked will always say yes. In my case it's quite simple, the more I sell the more I get paid. I'm not incentivised to sell particular products.

There's no point in me trying to sell the customer something they neither want nor need as they'll just return it the next day and I lose the commission anyway. They'll also tell their friends not to buy from me or from the company I work for.

Contrary to what many people think, you'll often get better service from a commissioned sales person. If something goes wrong, it's in my interest to help the customer the best I can - otherwise I lose out personally, both immediately and in the long term as the reputation of the business can suffer.

A sixteen year old temp on minimum wage who gets paid the same whether you buy or not generally isn't going to care as much.

KTM_Gordo

jgriggle wrote: »

Contrary to what many people think, you'll often get better service from a commissioned sales person. If something goes wrong, it's in my interest to help the customer the best I can - otherwise I lose out personally, both immediately and in the long term as the reputation of the business can suffer.

A sixteen year old temp on minimum wage who gets paid the same whether you buy or not generally isn't going to care as much.

A lot is down to training. For example John Lewis is renowned for its service, yet none of the staff are on commission.

I remember going in to a branch of Dixons to buy a new TV and the sales assistant just read out the display card to me and knew nothing more - yet he was on commission.

As with so many things though, there's no simple solution. If whatever that's being sold is complicated, like a financial product, it's vital that the salesperson has a thorough knowledge of the it and all the pros and cons, and whether it meets the needs of the person buying it.

The person buying the product has to place a lot of trust in the salesperson, and inappropriate incentives may tempt a salesperson to be economical with the negative points as the chances of the purchaser finding out there's a problem in the short term is limited.

Macca83_2

This whole theory is naive and doesn't get to the root cause of the problem. Sales commission is not the issue. The problem lies with the banks attitude to the sale of products. If sale based commission was removed the banks would still resort to putting pressure on their staff to sell their products but without the incentive of a reward. Its the carrot or the stick. Sale targets need to removed completely and the focus brought back to service