Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. — Vince Lombardi
Everyone on the branch team has to commit to the team success.
Sports teams coaches at every level have their own language. The title to this blog post was inspired by Yogi Berra, that famous former Yankee catcher and king of the malaprop. My high school football coach use to brag about the “student-pupil ratio” that coaches enjoy over their classroom teacher counterparts. I think he meant student-teacher ratio. Do you think? Anyway it reminds me that Fall will soon be upon us which means the air will be filled with the sounds and smell of football season. Along with the usual pre-season predictions we are subjected to an overabundance of so-called experts providing us with the minutia of each and every team.
There is even a new “reality” show that takes the viewers through pro football training camp of all things. Anyone who has played football at a high level knows that there is nothing exciting about training camp. Imagine a bunch of 20 and 30-something guys living together for three weeks in a college dorm reliving their frat life days. Not a pretty sight believe me.
The real challenge that exists in professional sports, which unfortunately doesn’t play well on TV, is the leadership challenge. The best football coaches are the ones who can embody the above quote from Vince Lombardi; the ones who can develop a sense of commitment to the cause of winning a championship. That is no small task in this day of selfish, me-first professional athletes. Lombardi had it easy compared to the challenge coaches today have to face. Players may be with the team this season and then off to another team next year when their contract comes up for renewal and money becomes the primary motivator instead of team success and commitment.
What about your leadership challenge? Is there a sense of commitment within your branch teams? What do you do to rally your team around the cause of helping members reach their financial goals? Do you have a written plan that your branch manager partners have signed off on?
If you answered “yes” then I congratulate you. You probably have more referrals than you can handle. If you answered no to any of these questions take heart, it’s not too late. As the financial consultant in your branch offices you have to see yourself as the sales leader in the branch. No one else in the branch has your sales skills so if the referral activity is going to pick up then you have to take charge. It won’t happen by itself. Here are some action steps you can take to get the ship moving in the right direction.
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Sit down with you branch manager(s) and review your plan as it relates to investments. If you don’t have a plan then use this meeting as the starting point of your planning process.
- What is your production goal?
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What are the branch product goals?
- How can you help your branch manager partner achieve his/her goals?
- Learn the products so you can cross-sell at every opportunity.
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Take a “how can I help you?” approach. It’s amazing how much you will get if you help your partners get what they want.
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Develop an education component to your plan.
- Educate your branch team about what you do
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Educate your members through seminars and workshops.
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Develop a referral goal for the branch.
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It should tie in to your overall production goal
- X% will come from your book
- Y% will come from your marketing i.e. seminars
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Z% will come from referrals
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Become the best coach that you can be. Your referral and GDC success will be in direct proportion to your ability to be a coach and mentor to your branch team. Need help here? Give me a call or email and I will send you 10 Ways to Better Coaching Skills.
- Get creative. Mix up the incentive portion of your referral and cross-selling efforts. It doesn’t have to be expensive but it does have to be fun. Enlist your team to help you think of fun ways to celebrate your team success.
Remember, regardless of how good of a salesperson you are, when you work in a branch environment you need the support of your branch team to achieve your production goals. Subscribe to the Zig Ziglar philosophy of success which is, “you will get exactly what you want if you help enough people get what they want.”
