Les Dinkin Featured at Royal Media's Small Business Banking Summit, Speaks on Accelerating Sales

February 9, 2007

PHOENIX – The branch remains the anchor of small business banking relationships, but many institutions are not yet taking full advantage of the sales opportunities it provides, Les Dinkin today told attendees at Royal Media Group's Small Business Banking Summit.

A Managing Director at Novantas LLC, Dinkin led a session titled "Pragmatic Keys to Growth in Small Business Banking." He presented a series of specific recommendations for sales performance improvement, including 1) increasing the quality and consistency of the sales experience; 2) strengthening the partnership between branch staff and dedicated small business bankers; and 3) increasing the proactive outreach to clients and prospects.

Branch staff should be knowledgeable about small business products and services, attentive to customer needs and also skilled at referring customers to specialized experts and service areas elsewhere in the bank, but that's often not the day-to-day reality, Dinkin said. Training, coaching and sales management are needed to improve the quality and consistency of performance, he said, and audits of the branch sales experience help managers to correct weaknesses and capitalize on strengths.

Dinkin also said that greater coordination is needed between branch managers and field representatives, so that small business customers get the appropriate levels of attention and the institution can fully respond to the full range of needs, including commercial and retail financial services. New marketing tools and programs also are needed, he said, so that the institution fully identifies the range of sales opportunities in the branch trade area and methodically pursues them.

Royal Media Group's Small Business Banking Summit is an annual gathering of senior industry executives in small business banking.

Novantas is the acknowledged leader in customer science and revenue strategy for the financial industries. The Firm specializes in applying advanced analytics and technologies to help clients make better decisions in marketing, product, pricing, customer management, and distribution.