What selling financial products has to do with culture - summary of the episode

A core idea in linking sales and culture is customer-centricity. While companies develop strategies for products or services, it is up to their sales staff to successfully market them to customers. However, there is often a lack of active involvement of customers and employees in customer-facing areas.

Tania highlights the importance of sales in financial services: sales is at the heart of the industry. It is no longer just about returns, security and liquidity, but also about ethical, accessible and understandable products. The challenges of digital transformation and regulatory requirements are making sales more complex. Financial advisors need to think in terms of the customer, not the product, and create transparency.

Claus Peter explains the problems that arise in financial services sales: Although customer segmentation and branch optimization are necessary, the importance of culture in sales is often neglected. A good culture is characterized by psychological security, willingness to change and team orientation.

How do you create a better sales culture? There are two possible approaches: the top-down approach, in which management sets the sales culture, and the bottom-up approach, in which employees act as trailblazers. Both approaches are important: the bottom-up approach enables dynamic cultural change, while the top-down approach creates long-term structures. A combination of both approaches is recommended for sustainable change.

Tania and Claus Peter have gained extensive practical experience in projects with savings banks and cooperative banks. In summary, a good sales culture that combines customer-centricity and adaptability is essential. Employees in sales must be able to support this culture. The combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches therefore seems to be the most promising way forward.