Low-cost deposits are a high priority. Deposits are important to fund your loan growth and increase liquidity. Your strategy to growing deposits should include retaining the deposits you already have. Banks and credit unions have been chasing up maturing CDs by calling customers for ages.
Does this call script sound familiar?
Hi, this is Mary at XYZ Bank. I am calling to let you know that your CD will be renewing next week. Our current rate is 4.5%. Would you like for us to renew the CD or send you a check for the CD proceeds? Thank you. Goodbye.
At first glance, you might say what is wrong with this call? We do this call all day long. The call above is quite typical of what we see happening in many branch locations. Let’s break it down step by step to see where things went wrong.
#1 – Start with a friendly and informative greeting
Just saying hello and your first name and bank name is very informal and could cause reason for fraud concern. Begin with a confident and specific greeting that uses the customer’s first name like:
Good Morning, Amanda,
This is Mary Smith from the Main St branch at XYZ Bank. First of all, I would like to thank you for being our customer for more than 5 years. We appreciate your business and support.
#2 – Transition into the reason for the call
Now that your customer knows exactly who is calling and specifically from their branch and bank, they can picture your institution in their mind. This next step is to transition into the reason for your call.
The reason I am calling you today is we noticed that your CD is coming up for renewal on the 26th of this month.
#3 – Most Important Step – Opening up a financial conversation
Now comes the most important step in the call which is often overlooked. Before diving into specifics by providing rate information, we first need to better understand the customer’s needs. We want to answer the first question which is do they need some or all of the money for some short term reason or are they OK with investing this money again for another term.
Amanda, your existing CD is invested for 24 month. Do you have any immediate needs for this money or are you thinking about re-investing this into another CD?
#4 – Decision Point and Recommendation
If the customer says they need the money for some immediate short term need, we want to ask more questions about the need so we can then recommend a best solution given the information provided. The customer may tell you that she needs the money for a new roof before winter.
We could make a recommendation to retain the CD investment and offer a home equity loan to support her immediate need. Depending on the amount needed, it might work well to move some money out of the CD into a tiered savings product while rolling the rest of the proceeds back into another CD.
Without asking the customer about their needs, we have no idea what they plan to do with the money. The caller’s job is to be Sherlock Holmes. Gather the clues, uncover the mystery, and then make a valuable recommendation that retains or grows the relationship.
#5 – Closing the Call
While there are many books written on the best way to close a sale, the closing of this call is very easy. It is just to sum up what was discussed and create a call to action with one small twist. Ask for more deposit balances from other institutions.
OK Amanda, so based on our discussion, it sounds like we can move half of the existing CD into a tiered Money Market account so this money is available when you need it for your new roof. We will then roll the remaining amount into another 2-year CD. One last question for you. As our rates are nice right now, do you have any other money at other institutions that you may want to add to this CD?
#6 – Document the outcome
The final step in the process is to document the call in your banking CRM. The bank CRM is where you document the sale and write down notes from the call. Every customer interaction is important. We learn new information during every call about how we can help our customers to be financially successful. The newly acquired information is only helpful if it is documented and placed in a shared space so the next agent can use the information to enhance the customer experience.
For more information on how the Quest Analytics IQCRM® can help grow deposits and ensure that maturing CD opportunities are never missed, request a demo or 15-minute consultation.