lead product on changing that culture-because it was the only product, at that point, that we could talk about selling."
How did she go about changing the culture? "The changes that we made in the culture at the time were, first of all, to focus on the word sales," Johnson remembered, "that it was something that we could do, and should do-and that it was good for us, and good for the customer. We provided the kinds of sales recognition, reporting, incentives and all the other things that a sales organization would do for our staff that is in the field."
So, she got everybody to buy into the concept. "Yes," Johnson agreed. "It was done from the very highest level of the organization, through the organization. We have a very successful incentive program at the branch level, that helps to drive the sales process here in the organization."
ARE THESE YOUR BEST MARKET SEGMENTS? C
onsultants always tell a bank to segment its customer base before selling insurance products. But that's not much help. How should you divide bank customers into groups? Do you use net worth, income, assets under bank management, or other factors-such as age or buying patterns? Then, once you've got your groups, how do you know what products and services each group really needs or wants?
To find those answers, the bank usually has to do a lot of time-consuming research. Robert K. Gallmann, Jr. thinks he can save banks the time. He's found that bank customers often fall into five distinct groups-each with special insurance product needs.