Trying to get to selling 7 POFS products a week!

Quite a challenge but many of the phase one STEP branches are doing just that

These are the branches from
Spennymoor
Stanley
Town Centre Washington
Thornaby
Morpeth
Peterlee

It's not been easy - but the morning warm up sessions get the staff focussed

As a result the staff have much better conversations with the customer both in quality and quantity
and....

as always we either
Save the customer money
Make the customer money
Give the customer peace of mind

That's not such a bad thing is it?

Fantastic Branch at Bilsborrow

I was out with Paula Vennells (our network director) on Friday and we went to a fantastic branch at Bilbsborrow near Lancaster
Sharon the subopostmistress was really pro-active in driving sales and we were there to deliver a golden ticket award for most improved branch on focus income
They had a carpet promoting products on the floor at the counter
There retail area was one of the most professional and well merchandised of any business that I've been to and it was a joy to visit
All the team always think about
How to deliver great service and tell the customers about our products and services
How we can continually improve the store
How to make the most of the space available

Some examples of Sharon going the extra mile for her customers:
Bilsborrow post office is on the main road between Preston & Garstang (A6) its a busy branch, however the relationships Sharon has built with her customers and local business's is a real credit to her and her team, she supports local events & festivals by extending her opening hours to provide all the usual post office facilities but also to provide cash & change to the smaller local business to ensure these events are a success. I have been in branch and customers actually travel past other post offices to come to her branch for there post office needs. The branch have had numerous issues with collections mainly from Parcelforce which could have been a major problem but not for Sharon, if the driver didn't turn up then she or her husband David would put the parcels in the car and drive all the way to Leyland to ensure her customers were getting the service they required (this is now sorted). Sharon has attended the face to face training events and always brings her team with her, she fully supports the training. Sharon see's the benefits the training brings for her team and for her customers, increasing their product knowledge, confidence and everyone's ability to have effective conversations with customers (and to colleagues who work in the retail side).

Great nights in the North East!

We've had some great success in the North East with evening , or all day , events - Probably more success than their football teams
Only last week we had an event with 7 new branches on the STEP programme and it was great to see their passion for success and thier desire for learning
It's great to see and if we could bottle up all the excitement and desire to win , then the results throughout would be fantastic
It's always worth thinking about what you do to drive passion, and desire to achieve in your branch
Do you make it fun
Do you enjoy work
Do you encourage and reward success

Proud of a branch

Swarn - who is one of my agents in Thornaby has now , twice stood up to speak to other agents /branch managers about the success story of his branch on the STEP programe.
It's great to hear how positive he is and that the programme has been such a success for him across all products (Not just FS products)
It's really all about
Quality of conversations with customers
Quantity of conversations with customers
Quality of staff having those conversations
and the sales model really does drive the above areas by coaching the right conversations, talking about the opportunities for every customer, giving the staff the confidence and ability to succeed

NFSP Conference

I was at the conference in the peaceful setting of Peebles just south of Edinburgh
It's the one main event where the NFSP get together and it's often (to me anyway) a mixture of humour and vitriol
Whenever i speak to NFSP representatives i have a great conversation - we will not always agree but there's an understanding of each others points of view
At the conference, in my opinion, many of the speakers on the podium often wanted to attack the business and get a cheer rather than make a valid point , which i found frustrating and disappointing
There must be a better way of engaging with agents but i still don't quite know the answer?

Out with one of my BDM's and spotted this

What do you think - I know it's not the best branding

Travel Money Cards

Whilst out yesterday, I had a lightbulb moment. You may already have though of this, but thought I would share.

As the Over 500 rate has been withdrawn on cash, obviously we want deal of the day cards promoting TC/TMC rate.

Customers coming in, should still be advised of the higher rate regarding amount they want.

Customers who choose cash, and are wanting over 500 could be recommended to take TMC as an upload of 600 Euros would save them over £16.

E.g. Rate of 1.0816 (taken of internet today) = 600 Euros on TMC = £554.73

Rate of 1.05 (guessing that will be rate today on currency) = 600 Euros in cash = £571.42

Difference of £16.69, if they take TMC covered on insurance and when arrive in destination take out 2 amounts in hole in wall (ATM) costing them 6 Euros, still better off by £11.

Just a thought.
Let me know what you think

ISA sales day

Last Thursday we had an ISA sales day , as April is a key time for customers to look for this type of product and last year we only introduced the ISA half way through the year.
We actually achieved 177 sales on the day (with only a very small amount as a £1 deposit)
This shows that there really is the demand for this savings product!

One of our team - Rachael - did some mystery shopping following on from some feedback at her branch in Thornaby

As discussed mystery shopped both Barclays and Halifax today as Thornaby girls practically pounced on me that both were offering a better rate when I walked in the door.

Barclays
3.61% Golden ISA (advertised in window)
Variable rate and includes a 1% bonus for first 12 months.
CANNOT transfer existing ISA into scheme.
£1 initial deposit
Do not need a Barclay's account
Future deposits can be made in branch.

However if you are not an existing customer - you need to book an HOUR appointment to open one and produce I.D. in form of passport/ driving licence.

Halifax
3% AER (advertised in window)
Guaranteed for one year Halifax ISA Direct Reward
Open from £1,000 (must pay in at least £1,000 in first 60 days of account opening)
Open in branch/ phone/ online
Subsequent payments cannot be made in branch - over phone/ internet only.
£1,000 must remain in account for full 12 month reward period, or will drop to standard variable currently 0.50% (will NOT return to 3% if balance goes back above £1,000)
4 withdrawals permitted throughout the year, 5 or more result in the account reverting to standard variable rate currently 0.50%.

On asking about their ISA offer, I was advised she would need to look on computer as interest rates are changing daily. I asked about 3% in window and was advised "for that you've got to open with a minimum of £1,000 and who's got a spare £1,000 these days" - Great selling technique!!! (Or maybe I just look poor) On asking if I could open the account in branch, I was advised no as it is an ISA Direct account, however brochure says I can so not so good on product knowledge or closing the deal!!

I asked about other ISA if I don't have £1,000.

As I'm a Halifax customer I could apply again DIRECT and would qualify for 0.50%
Alternatively I can open one in branch which attracts a staggering 0.10%

No mention of their fixed rate ISA, again she probably presumed I didn't have the £500 to open one. (I had a suit on too)

So basically moral of the story - No competition to Thornaby and they should focus on what they've been doing in last few weeks.

Quite an interesting find though, neither bank tried to close the deal, and halifax just didn't seem interested in doing anything in branch. Whilst I was stood in the queue a lady tried to pay £500 into her ISA, the cashier passed it back through and asked is it a direct account customer didn't know, asked if set up on line customer advised yes and was told well I can't take your money it's got to be done over the phone or on line - little bit difficult when she had cash in hand!!


So ISA's are a really strong product for us - 171 customers in one day can't be wrong!!

Bureau tips to get that sale

Two branches with a different approach to getting a sale

This from one of our BDM's Nick Moriarty

BARNOLDSWICK branch will offer a free travel first aid pack or free
suitcase strap to try to clinch a currency sale where necessary. The first
aid pack and straps both sell in his branch for £2.75, however they only
cost the SPMr about 75p. It has worked as the decider to keep several
transactions when a customer would have looked elsewhere.

ACCRINGTON branch, when I was there last Friday I was serving from the
Bureau position (giving the staff the benefit of my expertise), customer
came in asking for the Euro rate. I did the usual chat, got him talking
about where he was going, how long, who with, been before? etc. He was
after £1000 of Euros and I can't remember the rates exactly, however when I
explained how many Euros for how much (and he did only want to spend £1000)
he asked what the rate was for that, I told him and he said that was lower
than Althams (pur competitor) and he would go there. I asked him to hang on a second and I
spoke to the Subpostmaster to see if he would agree to round down the sterling
equivalent (which was about £4.48), who agreed.
I went back to the customer and told him we could knock off the £4.48 to bring
it down to a round figure and he agreed and took it.

In reality, the better Althams offer would have given him about 20 Euros
more than us, maybe he didn't quite realise how much the difference was, or
he was pleased with the service but he stayed with us.

I realise the agent had to agree to a reduction in his remuneration, but
this time it worked.

Banking - Why it always makes sense to ask the question

You will have noticed the changes to your remuneration and the fact that payments fot Card account have reduced.
On the upside we've increased payments for Link Card and A&L withdrawals and so there's never been a better time to be asking all your customers
On EVERY cash/cheque transaction - "Would you like to pay be debit card?"
and on debit card transactions follow the prompt and ask - "Would you like some cash today?"

I know we've kept on about this but branches who have this discipline really notice the difference on their remuneration - AND....It's good customer service to ask.

A great Friday on upselling

As it was the last day of the financial year we decided to have a "texting around" sales day to see how many great bureau upsells we could manage leading in to the busy weekend
Here were some of the success stories

Cockermouth	TMC cross sell £100 on top of currency
Dumfries	TM & travellers Cheques +1 sale
Skipton	Upsell from £250 to £500
Skipton	Upsell from £100 to £600
Longridge	Upsell from £250 to £700
Cockermouth	£200 upsell to TMC
Fleetwood	£500 dollar sale and £3500 in travellers cheques
Garstang	Upsell from £400 to £500
Moortown	£250 upsell
Highfield Rd	From £500 to £700 - with £200 Travellers Cheques
Castleford	E top up push to day =£150 plus £14,000 growth bond and £30 upsell
Peterlee	another Growth Bond for £10,000
Boroughbridge	£100 upsell
Fleetwood	£78 upsell
Garforth	2 x £700 TMC upsell sale
Blackburn	sold £400 tmc another customer £2100 in tc's
Lytham	£300 upsell
Highfield Rd	£200 upsell and a £50 tmc

It's all about having the conversation with the customer
asking them how long they're going for. Reminding them that, due to the exchange rates declining year on year, that they need to take away between 30-35% more in Euros to have the same holiday experience otherwise they will run out of money part the way through
Simple i know but it REALLY DOES WORK!!

Give it a go and let us know how you get on

thanks as always
Phil