10 Steps to Inspire Credit Cards Sales

By Nancy Brook First Interstate Bank

The average American carries four credit cards, according to a 2007 MSN Money report. If your customers are not making purchases on your bank’s plastic you could be missing out on a great opportunity to earn additional revenue while providing your customers a needed benefit.

A decade ago, our senior managers at First Interstate Bank recognized that credit cards could evolve into a growth center. When I started at the bank in 2002, the Credit Card Division was turning a modest profit from its 20,000 cards on file. Working together with our bankers, we have turned the business into a 65,000-card profit center earning more than $1 million annually— even during tough economic times.

Key to our success has been turning staff into a formidable sales force. As you broach the subject of card sales with your employees you may encounter resistance. Common excuses include: “I’m too busy doing my ‘real work’” or “Customers don’t seem to want to carry our card.” Turning naysayers into salespeople does take some finesse, but with a little effort, shifting negative attitudes can be easier than you think. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

1. Ask: Would you want this card? Your bank needs to have a compelling card offer. You don’t need to have the lowest APR, but you do need to be competitive. Do research on the Internet at least quarterly to see how your card compares to other issuers.

2. Tout your customer service excellence. Your bankers need to be confident that their customers will be well taken care of. One of the best ways to do this is to share success stories. Did your credit card staff help a customer in an emergency? Remind them that customers will not likely receive this kind of community bank treatment from a national issuer.

3. Get senior management buy-in. Present a case to management on how building a card base can help grow revenue and increase customer loyalty. With bankers, numbers speak. ICBA Bancard has a tool called ACE that can help you define the opportunity and outline scenarios to help your bank reach benchmarks. Schedule monthly meetings with your executives to go over branch sales results and ask for their support to encourage branch sales and set expectations.

4.Establish credit card champions. Have the branch managers assign a champion— someone who can talk about credit cards, report successes and share the information you provide. Keep in touch with the champions through monthly phone calls, newsletters and at least annual branch visits.

5. Set goals. Nothing will change unless you give your branches a target. Define how many credit cards they should be selling on an annual basis and then break these goals into monthly chunks. Ask senior managers if they can assign the goals into the branch managers’ performance plans.

6. Report on progress. Let branches know how they stack up against peers. Share individual sales ranking with branch staff. This will provide friendly competition which will encourage more sales.

7. Listen and train. Ask branch staff what barriers they have with credit card sales. You may find bankers feel uneasy starting the conversation or may feel uncomfortable with their product knowledge. Offer training if needed and follow up after six months to see if the training has helped.

8. Develop promotions. Create your own sales promotions. This can be as simple as offering a prize to the top salesperson or doing random drawings. You can also give a pizza party for all branches that meet their monthly goals. How about getting customers to ask about credit cards? Offer giveaways for applying. The gift can be as simple as a coffee mug or water bottle.

9. Give incentives. Make selling worth the effort. A $10 or $15 incentive can be all it takes to generate some enthusiasm. Have a standard incentive and then during promotions increase the payout. Paying for performance will increase results.

10. Recognize Success. Make a big deal out of the success of your top salespeople. You can tout their achievements in newsletters, in staff meetings through group e-mails, or on your bank’s intranet. This is especially effective if a branch or senior manager does the recognizing. The best part: the acknowledgment can inspire others to perform.

Hopefully, these ideas can kick start your own credit card sales effort. Remember, attitudes won’t change overnight. But through your commitment to stay positive and to keep the product in the forefront your branch staff will be inspired to improve their sales efforts.

Nancy Brook, MBA, is vice president, marketing for First Interstate Bank’s Credit Card Division in Billings, Mont. Reach her at nancy.brook@fib.com.

Bancard Confidential Home Page >>