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Article courtesy of Julie Murphy, Qstream.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
When considering the challenges of today’s complex business environment, there are few as fluid as those faced by financial institutions. Regulatory rollbacks, rising interest rates and global political and economic turbulence are just a few of the factors these institutions must navigate within highly competitive markets. Succeeding in this changeable landscape requires that sales teams combine deep knowledge of an expansive product portfolio with an informed industry perspective. Multi-national financial organizations, including commercial banks and investment firms, are helping their sales reps achieve this level of expertise by leveraging Qstream, and in turn, transitioning reps to the role of trusted advisors.
Mastering an Expanding Product Portfolio
Implementing a sales integration plan after a strategic acquisition can pose significant challenges, leading one multi-national financial services organization to Qstream to ensure their thousands of customer-facing advisors and representatives, distributed across the globe, quickly got up to speed on new product offerings. With complex products numbering in the hundreds, sales leadership used Qstream to ensure their advisors not only retained critical product knowledge, but also understood the processes, tools and services available to support the sales cycle. Using Qstream’s fluency heat maps, managers were able to identify knowledge gaps by region and product, and take corrective action through targeted coaching. In short order, advisors achieved a 15% average proficiency gain, and improved how they communicated the new offerings as a complement to their existing portfolio.
Adapting to New Market Opportunities
The ability to adapt quickly to market opportunities is pivotal for sustained success in the financial services sector. In this time of global uncertainty, investors continue to flock to the perceived safety of index-based ETFs paving the way for a record year for this investment option. Taking advantage of this robust but highly competitive market, a global financial services company turned to Qstream prior to the launch of multiple products to ensure hundreds of reps across multiple functional teams could consistently message the key differentiators of their offerings in a surging market.
Desiring a continuous learning approach, sales leaders launched Qstream to measure and manage product, customer and competitive knowledge, all key factors for success in a complex and commoditized selling environment. Reps achieved average proficiency ratings nearing 90% across the topics ranging from product knowledge, competitive landscape, sales techniques and industry knowledge, resulting in more consistent messaging with clients.
Having the Conversations that Clients Demand
In wealth management, there is significant pressure to acquire new clients and assets, and retain them, all in the face of mounting competition. To survive, firms are working to maintain a distinctive mix of products and services. No longer is it acceptable for financial advisors to hold clients at arm’s length and build trust solely on the notion that the wealth manager is the expert. Wealth managers need to clearly demonstrate how they add value, particularly with the influx of robo-advisors and AI-enhanced applications. Today, clients want more personal, real-time interactions with advisors, and firms are deploying Qstream to help prepare their wealth managers engage in the consultative, individualized conversations their customers are demanding.
Clients in the wealth management sector are using Qstream to ensure their advisors retain deep product, technical and regulatory knowledge, preparing them to meet heightened transparency and performance requirements that suit the varying needs of Baby Boomer and Millennial clientele. Firms are also relying on Qstream to prepare advisors to manage risk in its many forms – from economic conditions to sustaining customer loyalty and retention.
Consistency is key when conducting client conversations. A multi-national bank uses Qstream to ensure that its different divisions are in sync with consistent messaging by launching 2-3 Qstreams a month, sustaining over 90% engagement among these teams in the process.
Creating Agile and Trusted Advisors
In any industry, knowledge is power but that is particularly true in the demanding, highly competitive world of financial services. In its many applications within the sector, Qstream equips reps and advisors with greater situational fluency and nuanced consultative selling, amidst constant industry change. With a mobile platform delivery that takes minutes a day, large institutions can ensure their global sales teams can confidently pivot in the face of expanded product offerings and technical services, assess and respond to competitive moves, and provide the valued guidance of a trusted advisor.
