Image

Private Banking

Client Relationship Management and Communication Skills

Agenda Program
divider graphic
icon
Location
Prague, NH Hotel Prague
icon
Price
N/A
icon
Lecturer
N/A
icon
Language
English
icon
Evaluation
N/A
divider graphic
Regulate their emotional state in order to cope with the client
Define the motivational needs and preferences of the client
Use relationship building skills to build trust and confidence
Improve client responsiveness using the psychological process
Apply research and client profiling techniques to identify the optimum initial client approach
Use effective questioning skills to uncover the client's true intentions and objectives
Present appropriate recommendations clearly and confidently so that the client understands exactly what is proposed and can make the right decision
Cope with negotiation conflict in a positive way
Course Description

These are challenging times. Client trust levels are at an all time low and Private Bankers are faced with a market environment that is unparalleled in modern history. Previously highly profitable hedge funds and other exotic products have plummeted in value and in some cases disappeared altogether! The instinct reaction from most clients has been to withdraw and lick their wounds. Risk aversion is their primary/only strategy moving forward. Some discretionary clients have gone on the offensive and pursued their bankers who they feel have failed them by exposing them to unacceptable risks. Risks that were either kept hidden from them or were taken without their express permission. Many bought "AAA" investments that were so opaque or complex that even the rating agencies were unable to assess them accurately. Is it any wonder that the clients are looking at their bankers and questioning their expertise and added value? In a long-term bull market it is easy to build relationships and delight clients because it's easy to make money. In 2013, the biggest challenges for the Private Banker continue to be to retain clients and rebuild trust and confidence in their capability.

Learning Objectives

Given a colleague acting as a client, the Private Banker will be able to conduct a series of client interactions, whether by written correspondence, the phone or face to face, and gain commitment to a positive course of action that meets required criteria within an appropriate time frame.

Program of the seminar: Private Banking

The seminar timetable follows Central European Time (CET).

09.00 - 09.15 Welcome and Introduction

Session 1: Challenging Markets – What it means to the Private Wealth Manager

Global investment markets are challenging and it is clear that poorly prepared and skilled institutions will be casualties. This session focuses on the essential process of professional account development and new business acquisition– and why this is so critical in any market.

  • Why the market environment is really different today
  • How we can benefit from the turmoil and mayhem in financial markets
  • Typical client behavioural reactions and how they might differ on this occasion
  • What clients expect from their bankers in these environments
  • What can behavioural finance teach us in these environments
  • Changing investor motives and objectives
  • Revisiting portfolio structuring and asset allocation

Session 2: Influencing the client positively

This session focuses on the customer’s personality and likely motivational needs both of which will determine their approach to relationships and environment. The inner personal states needed to cope with conflict and market conditions are also critically important as these typically are externalised when under pressure. Developing the participants’ abilities to influence the clients trust levels using verbal and non-verbal communication will be a key outcome. It will start with an analysis of poor “trust breaking” non-verbal communication then analyse the different interpretations and impacts of “weak word” choices that the participants may make to deal with a client’s situation. The session will finish with further practical exercises where participants will be asked to communicate with each other using the techniques discussed.

  • What makes clients “tick” – What are their motivations?
  • Understanding personality preferences and how they control human reactions
  • Adjusting your style to that of the customer
  • Retaining positive attitudes in difficult environments
  • Using Body Language to analyse and influence
  • Interpreting Auditory and Visual cues
  • What is the client’s preferred sensory language system?
  • Matching client language and maintaining verbal congruence to build trust

Session 3: Acquiring new clients

1. Targeting clients

A quality new business development approach requires a systematic, organised approach and excellent record keeping. In order to achieve a quality first contact, forensic research needs to be completed on every potential target. It is impossible to do this with vast numbers of prospects and so our first priority to is to distil our opportunity base down to some “hot prospects”

  • Sources of opportunities
  • Filtering and sifting the database
  • The benefits of a “top 10” prospect list
  • The most effective methods of initial approach – getting referrals and recommendations

2. Researching clients

A quality first contact, whether face to face or on the phone, is down to the quality of our forensic research.

  • Deep mining – information is power so how do we truly profile our clients?
  • The difference between pitching and collaborating – identifying likely aspirations, risk appetite and likely goals
  • Networking events and other sources of client profile “data”

Session 4: The Buying Process and the “Cherry Cake”

Clearly, when making an appointment call or even when asking an existing high net worth client for a referral, we have to use a persuasive approach to gain the client’s commitment to give us that prospect name or introduction. For some of us this persuasive skill comes naturally but, for the rest, the good news is that it is a trainable skill! The first base is to be able to pinpoint the client’s position in their own psychological buying process then to understand what our role is in bringing it about.

  • The Buying Process – Cash and Chrissy’s revolution
  • The steps of the process and why “Needs Based” or “Diagnostic” selling can stall
  • Syndicate work – identifying the client’s position in their buying process
  • Mapping the client – diagnostics versus forensic research – the “Cherry Cake”
  • Developing a gap matrix – where are the likely opportunities / client issues?

Session 5: How to gain a face to face appointment with a “cold” client using powerful written communication

Often, robust client targeting approaches are let down by inadequate, clumsy initial approaches to clients, and can lead to blowing the opportunity out of the water. The truly “cold” phone call really is a myth in terms of success – the best sales people know that this MUST be preceded by some form of introductory letter or other contact.

  • Referrals and recommendations – why are they warmer to our initial contact?
  • The issues of written versus oral communication
  • The introduction letter – structuring of a powerful letter that works
  • Analysis of real life letters – first impressions and why they failed
  • Syndicate exercise – writing a letter of introduction to Mr Colin Cowling

Session 6: Making the telephone call

The phone call will determine success or failure – once we are in front of the client, our chances of doing business improve dramatically. No appointment NO DEAL!! This session will use a patented appointment gathering approach - “Procall” ® - that develops confidence and fixes quality appointments

  • Developing the call structure
  • The rationale of each step of the structure
  • Briefing of call partner – Real Life Case Study
  • Conducting the call – audio taping
  • Feedback and evaluation

Session 7: Re-engineering the Traditional Sales Process

This session focuses on encouraging participants to re-think the highly technical, expertise-driven product sale and to partially re-design it. Current client feedback surveys will then lead us to investigate further the actual Buying Process all clients go through; this element will give both new AND experienced sales people a real competitive edge by recognising what their role and approach should be with any client. Finally, the participants will be able to critically appraise a sales methodology that is trained across the majority of Banks and other financial institutions globally. The session will finish with participants defining a practical persuasion process that will engender trust and build relationship

  • Balancing Technical Expertise and Client Requirements
  • What Private Banking clients expect of us – survey results and what we can learn from them
  • Buying motivations and the client spectrum
  • Pin-pointing our response to the client – Buying Process Diagnostics in real life
  • GAP mapping and realising that sometimes the client’s map is wrong
  • Research-based sales systems – Key Banking Sales Processes and how they apply to Private Wealth Managers.
  • Persuasive presentation of initial diagnosis and client needs analysis
  • Classroom versus real world – Making the Questioning Process work for us

Session 8: Applying the Questioning Process

1. Colin Cowling Case Study Pt1

A detailed case study will now allow teams to first analyse the client and make a short recommendation for the type of products and portfolio structure that the initial client research document would suggest. Our conclusions from this exercise will now allow us to prepare for the simulated face-to-face meeting with Mr Cowling.

  • GAP Mapping and client diagnostics
  • Team exercise – Initial Portfolio Structure
  • Comparison of GAP MAP

2. Colin Cowling Case Study Pt2

Half the group (Team A) will now be given a more extensive briefing and be asked to prepare themselves to take the part of Mr Cowling. The objective will be to test the other half (Team B) to see whether, as the Bank team, they apply the questioning structure fully and actually gain a true picture of the client before building the needs, offering solutions and asking commitment questions.

  • The Roadmap – A powerful opening to any client meeting
  • Being outgoing and convincing
  • Advance versus Continuation – The Commitment Conundrum!
  • Team exercise – Simulation exercise. This can be digital video or digital audio recorded on request and copies transferred onto USB stick for reference later
  • Debrief – How did we perform?

Session 9: Preparing a detailed set of recommendations

This session will now look at how to structure our client recommendations into a powerful client proposal

  • The issues around client recommendations – clients choose what they want to hear
  • Mis-selling and how to ensure robust commitments
  • Persuasive presentation of diagnosis, technical data and client recommendations
  • How should we structure our recommendations?
  • Written formats – The “MINTO” pyramid
  • The 4 quadrant approach to a successful verbal presentation
  • Visual representations to the client

Session 10: The Negotiation Toolbox

The Negotiation toolbox consists of a fast run through of all the key skills needed to control a negotiation and the main pitfalls to avoid! HNWI’s have varying levels of sophistication and their portfolios reflect this. The most sophisticated clients will not only attempt to self-recommend but also will be committed to cutting management fees to the bone

  • Negotiation - The critical aspects of successful negotiation
  • Why do some people “give it all away” AND STILL LOSE THE DEAL?
  • Dealing with conflict – results from pre-course conflict questionnaire
  • Maintaining rapport whilst maintaining assertiveness
  • Using creativity techniques to develop negotiation variables
  • “The iPhone negotiation” – let’s forget banking for a few minutes and discover how easy it is to use variables!!
  • The Top 20 Negotiation Tools – “BATNA”, Objective Criteria, Monetary negotiation
  • Real-life exercise – Negotiating account management fees with a HNWI

Session 11: Workshop Conclusions

The opportunity for the group to reflect on the learning imparted and how they will apply it in real life

  • Q and A
  • Personal Action Planning
  • Course Evaluations
  • Course Close

Training catalogue in PDF
arrow-up icon