Capture The Mass Affluent By Unlocking Sales Force Effectiveness

12 Pages·2015·0.48 MB·English

Capture The
Mass Affluent By
Unlocking Sales
Force Effectiveness
2
Introduction
Banks are leaving 15 percent or more
revenue on the table by not leveraging
leading sales practices
Squeezed by increased regulatory Banks also need to ensure that their
pressures, new competitors and an advisors have an in-depth understanding
uncertain economy, banks around of their clients’ needs. Recent Accenture
the world are increasingly looking to survey research, revealing that many
generate new revenues and drive growth financial advisors significantly
by catering to the mass affluent market. overestimate the investment savvy and
These consumers – with investable risk appetite of investors, indicates there
assets of $100,000 to $5,000,000 – is much work to do in this area. For
numbering millions of households example, our study showed that advisors
globally, represent a lucrative market. are three times more likely to describe
their clients as “very knowledgeable”
But there is a major impediment to
about investing than investors themselves
improving share of wallet with this (42 percent vs. 12 percent, respectively)1.
segment: banks’ own sales force. Too
often, many banks miss opportunities to
win investment assets from customers
and prospects because they haven’t
optimized around their sales force.
Consider some of the shortcomings
we’ve analyzed at financial institutions
in all corners of the globe:
• Key metrics such as lead generation,
book development and how sales
representatives are spending their time
are not tracked
• Compensation models don’t incentivize
the right client-facing and sales
activities
• An informal hiring structure, left to
sales leaders to determine the attributes
of who they should hire, and how to
pinpoint those attributes in candidates
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Getting the The need to get sales force basics right margins from low interest rates, will
is confirmed by Accenture’s 2012 Sales increasingly rely on sales representatives
Basics Right
Performance Optimization Study2. This to help drive more growth from the mass
benchmarking study tracked more than affluent while minimizing costs. In Hong
To stay competitive in the dynamic one hundred sales effectiveness metrics Kong and other Asian markets, hyper-
wealth management landscape, banks against 1,500 companies worldwide. Chief growth of the mass affluent customer
should improve the effectiveness of their sales officers told us that their highest base has strained the capacity of many
mass affluent sales force. That means objective was to increase sales force banks’ systems and infrastructures,
re-examining all aspects of the sales effectiveness. Other top priorities, also placing the burden on the mass affluent
function, including recruitment, training, linked to growth and effectiveness, were sales force to help capitalize on this
compensation, career advancement, increasing revenues and improving up- growth while limiting revenue leakage at
metrics tracking, sales support and selling and cross-selling. the same time. In Australia and Canada,
operations. a highly effective sales force can help
Of course, geographical context will drive
deliver a solid return-on-investment on
the decision on how to optimize the sales
banks’ large-scale multi-million dollar
force. Many North American and Western
customer relationship management (CRM)
European banks, facing an uncertain
transformations.
lending environment and compressed
One-Fifth of Sales Reps Generate Roughly Half of Mass Market Sales
100%
80%
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al 60%
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ag 40%
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20%
0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Cumulative Percentage of Financial Planners
© 2013 Accenture. All rights reserved
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Growth of Expand the Ranks of To help achieve better results, we first
identify high-impact sales activities,
15 Percent or More Top Performers
personality traits and behaviors that can
help drive success. Next we develop a set
Accenture’s experience indicates that, Accenture recently analyzed sales of interventions which can be replicated
regardless of geography, banks can forces across various banking and other throughout the mass affluent sales force
achieve fifteen percent or more growth industries worldwide. We consistently network to drive growth. Many of these
in mass affluent sales through targeted found that the top twenty percent of the behaviors and attributes already reside
sales force improvements that we call sales force generates one-half to four- among the top performer population – so
“interventions”. Importantly, this can be fifths of an organization’s revenue. Banks the challenge is to scale them. Some of
achieved primarily by leveraging existing should change this paradigm. We believe the most successful banks have used not
tools, technology and people. they can do so by studying, capturing and only a top-down training approach, but
industrializing the key attributes of these also social and crowdsourcing principles
Chief Sales Officers agree. According to
top performers so that others can join to improve adoption of these behaviors.
Accenture’s Optimization Study, CSOs
their ranks. Sales performance analytics
indicated that getting the basics right can play a key role in identifying top These interventions are primarily focused
can be achieved without a significant performers, as well as determining key on changing behavior and processes
information technology investment. The performance gaps of their average or low- by leveraging existing recruitment and
top sales initiatives they were planning, performing peers. training methods and lead generation
for example, included enhancing sales methods. Most banks already have many
team communications, revising their sales Improving the performance of the average of the tools in place already. Since these
process and modifying their compensation sales person through targeted, low- interventions can generate significant
program. investment interventions can shift the uplift without major capital investment,
sales curve. To illustrate this, below is a the potential ROI could be very strong.
typical curve for sales representatives in a
hypothetical retail bank which targets the
mass affluent market, selling primarily
mutual funds and some additional
banking products.
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Lifecycle: Generating high performance, however, • Match sales people to clients, based on
requires more than individual skills. mutual interests and personalities, to
Understanding your
Many banks pay equal attention to increase the likelihood of cementing a
key supporting roles, such as the sales loyal relationship
Sales Force
manager and sales support staff.
• Analyze how salesperson spend their
The specific interventions that drive
By viewing their sales force through time; compare “sales” time versus
improvements in sales effectiveness varies
a continuum or “lifecycle”, banks can “support” (non-client-facing time) to
by organization based on the maturity of
better assess the opportunities for identify ways to improve productivity
sales tools, compensation model, sales
making interventions. The four stages of
support model and other factors. • Leveraging sales analytics, identify
this lifecycle are:
personal gaps by sales person to help
• Generating high performance These interventions can help generate guide and tailor training sessions (e.g.
high performance: larger focus on products where a sales
• Retaining talent to sustain performance
person struggles to perform)
• Develop a “behavior catalogue”
• Recruiting and hiring
outlining sales behaviors displayed by
• Developing new sales representatives high performers for use as a training
tool for average performers
Our analysis will start with the bulk of
the sales force – those that are fully
proficient – and then review other groups Mass Affluent Sales Force Lifecycle
such as seasoned, top performing advisors
and inexperienced, new advisors. Each sales
representative follows the lifecycle stages,
and every sales force has representatives 3. Attract:
who are currently in each stage. Driving Identify Recruit and Hire the
improvements in each lifecycle area will Right Sales Reps
improve key efficiency performance
indicators, such as sales per FTE.
I. Improve: Generate
High Performance
2. Retain:
Banks should rigorously examine their
Sustain High Mass Affluence 4. Build:
sales process to understand the activities Performance Sales Force Develop New
and behaviors that help drive outstanding and Retain Sales Rep
Lifecycle
sales performance. Some attributes of the Talent
top twenty percent of a bank’s sales force,
of course, can’t be replicated – they are
genetic. However, the majority of these
attributes can be reproduced throughout
the sales force if properly captured. Based
on Accenture’s experience, they include: a
deep understanding of clients’ needs, the
1. Improve:
ability to match clients with appropriate Generate High Performance
products, highly effective communication
skills and network building knowledge.
© 2013 Accenture. All rights reserved
6
Examples Potential Benefit
• At a large North American bank, • Improve sales close rate
mass affluent sales representatives
• Shorten sales cycle
were generating only about one
net-new client on average per sales • Shift sales representative time to higher
representative annually. A sales value activities
force assessment revealed that sales
representatives viewed themselves as
“just” advisors, and not as sales people.
As a result, the bank revised net-new
client targets, changed its recruiting
profile and modified its compensation
model to encourage new client
development.
• A UK-based global bank paired its top
performing financial advisors with
clients having the greatest likelihood
of consolidating their holdings at the
bank, resulting in an average sales uplift
of twelve 12 percent per branch. Some
flagship branches enjoyed a sales uplift
of more than thirty percent.
• At a major European bank which
implemented a coaching program built
upon top performers’ leading practices,
eighty percent of participating branches
showed significant improvement within
one month. These leading practices
included: prioritizing leads, developing
a contact schedule for clients based on
their relative likelihood of buying more
products, asking for a client referral
at every client meeting, developing
relationships with colleagues within
the branch to drive referrals, designing
a client contact plan utilizing multiple
channels and asking for the “close”
earlier in meetings.
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II. Retain: Sustain High Example Potential Benefit
Performance and Retain
A European retail bank, working with • Increase client acquisition rate
Top Performers
Accenture, developed an innovative
• Increase share of wallet (percentage of
employee engagement model that
Once implemented, interventions client’s total assets held at the bank)
included a simulator enabling advisors
can’t simply be forgotten. Sustaining
to plan their careers, a talent map • Increase top sales representative
improvements and retaining top performers
that allows the bank to identify top retention rate
is critical. At the same time, sales
candidates for open positions, an • Increase average revenue per sales
managers’ ongoing role of monitoring,
enhanced performance assessment representative
mentoring, and ultimately driving desired
process and new work-life balance
behaviors and activities should remain a
options. As a result, the bank enhanced
priority, even with respect to the most
its competitiveness in the war for talent
proficient advisors. The growing trend of
and raised employee productivity,
internal social collaboration can empower
resulting in a significant contribution to
advisors to share best practices, encourage
the bottom line.
others and grow a sense of community.
It can also create simple and effective
communication channels between head
office, subject matter experts and advisors
to decrease advisor effort and frustration
Institutionalized
during issue resolution.
High Performance
Salesforce
These interventions can help sustain high Value at Stake
Effectiveness
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motivate desired behaviors, such as rf basis for mass
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attracting new clients to the bank s P affluencereps
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and growing share of wallet for al
S
existing clients
• Incent sales managers to sustain
Baseline Performance
improvements through personalized
coaching based on the individual
advisor’s learning style
• Deploy automation, straight-through- Time
processing and pre-filled forms to reduce
administrative burdens related to booking © 2013 Accenture. All rights reserved
and prepping for client meetings and
originating products
• Install a “career progression model” for
top sales representatives to increase
retention for those that are ready for the
next career step, such as moving into
private banking or becoming a
sales manager
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III. Attract: Identify, Recruit, Example Potential Benefit
and Hire Suitable Sales
Accenture conducted an analysis of the • Decrease time-to-proficiency
Representatives
attributes of a North American bank’s
• Improve new representative retention
mass affluent sales force to determine
Hiring the right candidates for sales
key differences between mid- and top- • Decrease recruiting costs
representative sets the stage for
tier performers (see chart).
addressing further efficiency gains in
other lifecycle stages. Understanding the
key attributes of high performers in the
context of your firm culture forms the
basis for identifying the right candidates. Attribute Analysis of Mid- and Top-Tier Performers
Once these attributes are identified
and centralized firm-wide, recruiting
policies and processes can be honed. Mid Performer Attributes Top Performer Attributes
Sales leadership should be represented
• Confident they will succeed in the
•More readily attribute chance or
in the development, roll-out and ongoing
tasks they undertake and have a
external circumstances as key
maintenance of the recruiting model.
strong drive to achieve
factors behind success or failures
This recruiting model relies less on the
particular recruiting skills of individual • More risk-taking
• Concerned with being perceived as
sales leaders and more on metrics.
likeable
• Believe effort, rather than luck,
will result in success
These interventions can help improve the • Unaware of performance
recruiting process: shortcomings and not interested in • More curious and interested in
improving
• Create a recruiting profile reflecting the learning about prospects; high
attributes of the top performers • More rigid, less personalized in energy, endurance and persistence
their approach
• Develop a strong pipeline of potential • Highly adaptive and enjoy the
candidates both within and outside unpredictable nature of each
the bank to supplement the role of customer
the human resources department in
recruiting new representatives
© 2013 Accenture. All rights reserved
• Include top performers in the
recruiting process
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IV. Build: Develop New Sales Examples Potential Benefit
Representatives
• Accenture helped a global bank • Decrease training costs by reducing
redesign its on-boarding and entry average number of training days per
After hiring a sales representative, many
level learning process, resulting in a salesperson
banks struggle with the next critical step:
significant improvement in time-to-
on-boarding and bringing the representative • Faster time-to-proficiency
proficiency, reduction of class room time
to proficiency. The difference in value to the
by three weeks and a two-thirds decline
bank of a new sales representative who is
in training costs for new hires. The
unfamiliar with sales tools and processes,
redesign included formalized training
compared with a proficient advisor can be
schedules, individualized learning based
millions of dollars in lost revenue annually.
on trainees’ backgrounds and practicing
Accenture research shows that average
newly learned skills.
time-to-proficiency can be up to one year,
with a new sales person generating only • At a global wealth provider, Accenture
about sixty percent of what an experienced revamped the development process,
representative brings in. Achieving a shorter facilitating wealth advisors to decrease
time-to-proficiency requires innovative time-to-proficiency and grow their
learning tools, reinforcement, hands- portfolios by creating effective contact
on coaching, formalized processes and plans. This effort leveraged a wide range
consistent support from sales managers. of learning tools beyond traditional
computer-based training (see chart
These interventions can help the
below), establishing top performers to
development of new sales representatives:
achieve new peak productivity levels and
• Create a sales force effectiveness earn higher average compensation.
department to act as a center
of excellence and drive ongoing
improvements
• Develop a centralized onboarding team Formal Informal
within the sales force effectiveness Learning Learning
department
• Provide customized, one-on-one coaching
by sales managers and supporting Education Ask an Podcasts/ Wiki /
management team through joint client expert Videos/ Collaboration
Simulations
sessions and real-time feedback
• Use multiple delivery methods to provide Job aids Instructor led Instructor led Expert’s
business games virtual learning directory
a rich, blended learning environment
& collaboration
that addresses key capability gaps; for
example, offer game-based learning © 2013 Accenture. All rights reserved
solutions, video-cast refreshers and
thought leadership web links
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