Selling, Service and Coaching Come Together at Regional Bank to Help Transform a Culture, Drive Success Metrics and Provide A Superior Customer Experience
OVERVIEW
First Dakota National Bank had its beginning in 1872 when it became the first, fully-chartered bank in the Dakota Territory. Located in Yankton, SD, the bank grew steadily as it served the needs of settlers, the river traffic and the flourishing businesses. Today, First Dakota has grown to a network of 16 full service and 6 loan production offices with assets over $1 billion and offering a complete array of banking, investment and trust services. With one of their core company values being “Integrity to do the right thing and do things right” the alignment with Integrity Solutions was obvious from the beginning.
CHALLENGES
- Rapid growth and expansion
- Strong legacy and culture to sustain and continue growth
- The need to partner with a training program that closely aligned with their corporate values and customer focused philosophy
- Build cross-selling skills and positive attitudes about selling
- Desire to instill continuity across all departments and areas of responsibility
PROGRAMS AND PARTICIPANTS
In support of First Dakota’s mission to anticipate, meet, and exceed our customers’ expectations, every First Dakota employee has participated in at least one of these core programs.
| SOLUTION | TARGET AUDIENCE |
|---|---|
| Integrity Service® | Accounting, Compliance, Audit, Loan Accounting, Loan Operations, Administration, Credit Review, Lending Assistants, Maintenance and other support |
| Integrity Selling® for Service Professionals | Tellers, Personal Bankers, CSR’s, Lending Assistants |
| Integrity Selling® | Ag Lenders, Business Bankers, Trust Officers, Brokerage, Marketing, and Executive Management |
| Integrity Coaching® | Supervisors and Executive Management |
First Dakota is now proactively pursuing deeper integration and long-term benefits through a series of ‘next level’ sustainment strategies, including:
- Performance Accelerators — structured reinforcement sessions tied to core course curriculum.
- Integrated select models, concepts, forms and other Integrity tools to create a seamless approach within their CRM system.
- Advanced Leadership training — aimed at providing Branch Managers a common platform and accountability to ‘pull through’ application and related coaching to entire team.
- Behavior Styles® assessments — personalized reports used as development/coaching platform.
- Q Mindshare — an electronic communication and reinforcement tool aimed at reinforcement and retention of learning.
IMPACT
First Dakota has met and achieved their goals in every aspect of their banking growth since implementation of the training. The proof is in the success metrics. Every metric — assets, loan volume, deposit volume, households and services per household — are up.
INTEGRITY SUCCESS MEASURES
Within two years of launching
| Assets (MM) | Loan Volume (MM) | Deposit Volume | Households | Services Per HH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % Change | 22% | 26% | 22% | 7% | 11% |
The proof is in the success metrics. Every metric – assets, loan volume, deposit volume, households and services per household – are up.
Rob Stephenson, President & Chief Operating Officer
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
Integrity and values are very important to First Dakota management. And employees agree that living their values increases the confidence of customers. Commentary from participants support their belief in this system:
The thought that we’re truly wanting to do the right thing for the customer makes it easy for us to sell products. It’s not selling the product of the month. It’s selling what the customer needs at this moment in time.
Prior to the Integrity Selling Course there were certain customers that I would let out a ‘mental groan’ when I would see them approach me. I would put on an external smile and struggle through helping them with their transactions. Through Integrity Selling I discovered that the reason for this difficulty was because I did not understand the different behavioral types. Thanks to the training I received, I no longer ‘mentally groan’. I am actually smiling inside as well as out and look forward to helping those Doer’s and Controllers who, previously, had me cringing. Thank you for giving me the tools to provide my customers with the quality they deserve!
So I think that’s so critical in banking because these people are trusting us with their money. They expect us to be accurate. There’s a lot of things they just expect, but on top of that, they expect us to be honest and people that they can trust.
Client Feedback
Integrity’s Training is hands-down the most comprehensive and relevant sales and service training I’ve had the privilege to utilize. It’s easy to implement and literally has the ability to change people’s lives. Love it!
Shelly Eilers,
Vice President eBanking & Cash Management First Dakota National Bank
The results and growth I witnessed at graduation was the most fulfilling aspect. Many times as a facilitator you wonder if you are reaching the attendees, but when you hear their testimonials at graduation you understand the magic of the program all over again.
Deb Weddingfeld,
Senior Vice President First Dakota National Bank
We chose Integrity Selling because it mirrored our culture.
Nate Franzen
President Agri-Business Division First Dakota National Bank
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