Seven Steps for Banks to Capture Full Small Business Relationships, Increase Profitability in 2010

In the article, The Whole Enchilada: Attracting the Full Small Business Relationship, small business bank training specialist Clarity Advantage offers seven tips to maximize opportunities with small business mixed households (business + personal + employees) and increase bank profits and balance-sheet growth. Download at www.clarityadvantage.com. Free registration required.

Concord, MA, January 26, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Mixed-household relationships leverage the entire bank to deliver significant increases in profits and balance-sheet growth. Research by Novantas indicates that small business relationship profitability can more than double when banks capture the full mixed household. Small business relationships can drive 40 to 60 percent of retail bank profits.

Even so, many bank senior executives miss the power of small business relationships. Twenty percent to 40 percent of a bank’s nominally consumer households are connected to small business relationships that bank elsewhere. In 50 percent or more of bank small business relationships, the owners and employees bank elsewhere. Small business bank training specialist Clarity Advantage offers bank senior executives seven tips for capturing full small business relationships:

· Cut across silos. Integrate retail and small business strategies to so there is One strategy for attracting a larger share of mixed-household wallets.
· Define a compelling value proposition for business + personal + employee relationships. Answer the question, “Why should our family + employees + business bank at your bank together versus separately at other banks?”
· Share information. Grant branch and small business banking staff access to all elements of existing small business and consumer relationships across all bank departments so they can see current relationship size and gaps they could address in future relationship development efforts.
· Train staff. Develop people specifically for the mixed-household role rather than “for retail” or “for small business,” alone.
· Communicate what’s important with scorecards and performance management. Align performance metrics with the bank’s strategy and align performance-review criteria and processes to support the strategy and incentive program.
· Incorporate quality standards into the sales and service process. The sales process and sales management disciplines must include quality standards that define how and how sales activities should be done.
· Observe and coach. Coach service and sales behaviors that deliver the desired customer experience and generate deep mixed-household relationships.

To learn more about driving profitability by leveraging small business mixed-household relationships, visit www.clarityadvantage.com and download The Whole Enchilada: Attracting the Full Small Business Relationship, a Clarity Advantage article published in The Commercial Lending Review. Free registration required.

About Clarity Advantage: Small business bank training specialist Clarity Advantage helps banks generate more profitable relationships faster with small and medium-sized companies, their owners, and employees. Clarity consulting, communications, sales tools and training help banks recruit and deploy sales team members, choose their best business and consumer prospects and clients, then approach, engage, sell, expand, and retain relationships. Clarity also assists banks with consumer sales and cash management sales. Clarity clients have posted increases in household penetration, cross-sells, deposit volume, and loan volume. Visitors to Clarity’s website, www.clarityadvantage.com, can subscribe to “The Weekly Sales Thought,” a free eNewsletter and podcast focused on business-to-business selling and sales management.

Contact:
Karen Tunks
Clarity Advantage
980-939-2112
karen.tunks@clarityadvantage.com

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Contact
Clarity Advantage Corporation
Karen Tunks
980-939-2112
www.clarityadvantage.com
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