In my experience, bankers often attach too much significance to things like better prospect lists and marketing material.  While they might need them, here’s why they might not.
 
“I need a better prospect list.” How many times have Marketing Departments heard that one? Don’t get me wrong; bankers do need good prospect lists. But I suspect that some people think that their Marketing Department is holding out on them, that there really is a magic database of credit-worthy companies ready to change their banking relationships tomorrow.
 
While there are certainly ways to build a better list—by using multiple data sources, tapping into the knowledge that your colleagues have of the market and doing a better job of researching companies to be sure that they match your bank’s target profile—every list has flaws. Sure, D&B and InfoUSA have some out of date information, but that doesn’t mean that prospectors should avoid using them.  Most lists that have been run in the last 12 to 18 months are plenty good enough as a starting point.
 
The real issue is what you do with the list you have. Your job is to get in front of the prospects that your sales manager thinks are a good match for you and the organization. Until you have a chance to meet with the prospect—or as many say, the “suspect”—you won’t know whether you should spend more time with them or not.
 
And remember that in 70 to 80% of the cases involving proactive prospecting, your prospects will be at least moderately satisfied with their current banking arrangement. That doesn’t disqualify them; on the contrary, that probably means you’re in front of a viable prospect, albeit one that you’ll have to work hard to win over.
 
 “I need better marketing material.” Of course everybody wants to have good collateral material to share with prospects. But when I hear this comment I usually cringe.
 
Do bankers think that business owners are seduced by slick and glossy leave behinds? Or that prospects actually read them? Maybe, if the subject relates to a specific need that the customers have, probably one that emerged as a priority in the course of a sales call.
 
But my sense is that too often the bankers who complain about marketing brochures really view them as critical props in a prospect call, which in most cases they are definitely not. Spare your prospects the glossy brochures. Focus on identifying and developing needs and then showing how your products can really make a quantifiable difference on the business.
 
After the call you can always send them a note that indicates how much you’re looking forward to the meeting you set up for the following week with a living, breathing brochure (your Treasury Management representative or Capital Markets specialist or Trust Officer).  Business prospects buy from people, not from brochures.
 
Agree or disagree? Let me know what you think at nmiller@mzbierlyconsulting.com.