Spotting Opportunities and Making Referrals

Date:

May 13, 2020

The two most important factors in any customer engagement are: 1) Processing transactions accurately and efficiently and 2) Expanding the relationship. Every client encounter presents opportunities to engage the customer. Customer engagement opens the door to uncover a need not being met. Alert, attentive frontline staff can spot and act on introducing a new product or making a referral to a specialist.

The keys to successful referrals and cross-sells are preparation and curiosity. Preparation involves knowledge of the institution's offerings and best matches of products and services to meet customer needs. Curiosity about the customer leads to engagement that can provide discovery of a life event, need or problem that an attentive call center agent or branch staff person can offer a solution or a referral that results in a satisfying match.