News

Small business bank training specialist Clarity Advantage shares best practices to boost the impact of training on bank plans to grow small business relationships in 2010. Small Business Readiness Checklist for Training and five-article series are available for download at www.clarityadvantage.com. Free registration required.

Concord, Mass., January 19, 2010 — For banks that want to attract, expand, and retain more small business relationships in 2010, training branch managers and small business bankers on business, product, and conversation skills is key.  The biggest training challenges lie in execution—connecting training managers with the bank’s lines of business early on in the process to introduce innovation and change in the workplace, and preparing branch managers and small business bankers so they know what they’re doing with small business clients.

Small business bank training specialist Clarity Advantage offers training managers five strategies to boost the impact of training on bank plans to grow small business relationships:

• Implementation structure. Help line-of-business partners define what results the bank wants from the small business effort, how results will be measured, specific expectations around how branch staff will achieve them, and a conversation framework for managers to communicate to staff.
• Business training. Train staff on the business challenges and operating cycle characteristics of the small businesses the bank is targeting.
• Product training. Train staff on bank products that address the targeted small businesses’ challenges and ensure that staff understand  the value created by the products and the implementation process (e.g. saving X dollars per hour by implementing Y product).
• Conversation training. Train staff on conversation models that encourage business owners to talk to the bank.  Conversation models need to focus on business environment, cash flow and goals, and how the big picture fits together.
• Manager training. Train managers in the same small business skills as staff (business, product, and conversation) as well as provide them with the coaching skills to drive and sustain results.

To learn more about how to increase the impact of training on small business growth in the branches, visit www.clarityadvantage.com and download Small Business Readiness Checklist for Training, a diagnostic tool and corresponding five-article series.  Free registration required.