Community First Credit Union of Florida’s Sales Training focuses on creating memorable member experiences to encourage members to continue doing business with the organization and see the value in their partnership.
Program Details
The Sales Training program is designed to be a one- or two-day course for all employees who face or speak with members. Before the in-person class, learners are assigned pre-work in the form of eLearning, to introduce them to the model that will later be explained by a facilitator. During the in-person class, learners are reintroduced to the credit union’s Sales Model and are taught the structure and expected behaviors to display during member interactions. The facilitator sets expectations on body language, the structure of a conversation, making professional recommendations, overcoming objections, exploring additional needs, and creating a proper experience. Throughout the class, learners are encouraged to create their own style of conversation while practicing key concepts.
After learning content, the participants spend several hours practicing in a live, skill practice scenario. They sit in a room with a video coach and/or a peer and record their practice sessions to play back to a small group for evaluation. They are able to determine what went well and what still needs improving.
Training reinforcement is conducted weekly through team huddles, as well as by the sales trainer during quarterly visits. Training in a box (self-service learning tools/material) was created on the credit union’s leadership intranet—skill practice activities are loaded for the leaders to use as ongoing reinforcement tools.
Results
The credit union was tracking to achieve 95.8 percent of its target goal for consumer loans in 2024. That marked a 5.66 percent year-over-year increase from what it achieved in 2023.
