My wife and I recently needed to renew our mortgage for another term. The last time our mortgage was due, our bank called several months in advance and offered a good interest rate, so we renewed with them without shopping around.
This year was a bit different. We decided to do some research before speaking to our bank so that we would be well-positioned to negotiate a better rate. We then found a lender who offered an extremely attractive interest rate—almost two full percentage points below our bank’s posted rate.
Armed with this information, my wife called our bank directly but was transferred to a call centre. Here’s a summary of the telephone conversation.
Call Centre Agent (CCA): Hi, may I help you?
My wife: Yes, our mortgage is coming up for renewal and the last time our mortgage was due someone contacted us several months beforehand but we haven’t heard anything from you yet.
CCA: No problem. What branch do you bank with? I’ll contact someone there and they can probably renew your mortgage over the telephone.
My wife waited several minutes until the agent came back on the line.
CCA: I’m sorry ma’am. They don’t want to talk to you. Your mortgage isn’t due for six weeks so we can’t renew it right now.
Wife: I don’t want renew it yet. I just want to get some information.
CCA: There’s nothing they can do—it’s too early.
Wife: So no one will talk to me about this?
CCA: No ma’am.
Wife: My husband and I have received a quote from another mortgage company and they’re offering a good interest rate. Are you saying that we should go with them?
CCA: I guess so.
Wife: You really want us to transfer our mortgage to one of your competitors?
CCA: There’s nothing we can do.
Wife: So you’re saying that you have no interest in keeping our business and renewing our mortgage?
CCA: I guess so.
Wife: Okay, I guess we’ll take our business somewhere else.
My wife and I were flabbergasted when she hung up the telephone. It was evident to me that no one had taught this particular call centre agent how to effectively deal with this type of situation. He clearly had no idea that his actions were costing his employers thousands of dollars. Or perhaps he was just doing what he had been taught to do. Our experience may have been an isolated incident, but I doubt it.
I realize that banks make most of their money in the first half of a mortgage, but it still astounded me that they were willing to give their competition our business so easily. Nevertheless, we started to transfer our mortgage to another lender.
Most large lending companies invest millions of dollars in advertising in an attempt to attract new customers. What if they took a portion of this money and taught their call centre agents how to properly deal with every type of situation? Imagine the return on that investment.
So, how does my banking story affect you? If you run a business and rely on other people in the organization to make contact with your customers, you could be losing business due to their actions and behaviour. Invest the time and resources to teach your team exactly how they should behave, what they should say, and how they should respond to specific situations. A throwaway comment made by an untrained employee could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in sales. If you are a sales rep, think of how your actions and behaviour could cost your employer money in the form of lost sales and market share.
By the way, we did receive a call from our bank—four weeks later. It went something like this: “Hi Mr. and Mrs. Robertson. It’s Debbie calling from your bank. I’m calling to remind you that your mortgage is coming up for renewal and I’d like to talk to you about the options you have.”
Obviously, the conversation we had with the call centre agent was not forwarded to the mortgage agent at our bank. And once we told her about that conversation, her shock, frustration, and concern were quickly apparent. The actions of her colleague in the call centre cost her our business.
Don’t let what happened to our bank happen to you. If you rely on other people to help you reach your sales targets, take the time to show them exactly how to handle tricky situations. Don’t let other people cost you money!
© 2006 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.
Kelley Robertson is a professional speaker and trainer on sales, negotiating, customer service, and employee motivation.
Visit www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.
He is also the author of The Secrets of Power Selling and Stop, Ask & Listen—Proven Sales Techniques to turn Browsers into Buyers. Receive a free copy of “100 Ways to Increase Your Sales” by subscribing to the free newsletter available at his website.
