ASPEN CONSULTING GROUP, INC.
6084 S. OAK CANYON DRIVE
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84121
PHONE: 801.277.9548XFAX: 801.424.2334

SALES & SERVICE CULTURE SURVEY
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Asset Size

 <$500 MM
$500 MM - $999 MM
$1 B - $4.99 B
$5 B+
After reading each statement, provide the response that best describes how it applies to your financial institution. Please provide only one response for each statement. If a statement does not apply to your institution, please use the “Never” response.
Please answer ALL questions.
The response choices for each statement are "Normally", "Sometimes" or "Never"
ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Normally Sometimes Never
1. Our employees would rate their benefit plans very
favorably compared to those provided by other
employers in our market area.
2. Our employees would rate the level of service
they receive from our Human Resources Department as
being very good.   
3. In our financial institution, employee performance
reviews are conducted on time.
4. Our employees would give a high rating to the
level of service and cooperation that they receive
from other departments when addressing customers’
problems or concerns (service from departments such
as Research, Depositor Servicing, Loan Servicing, etc.).   
5. We survey our employees to obtain their feedback on
our employee benefit programs, products and services.
6. Our internal departments have formal standards of service.
7. The employees of our internal service departments (such as Research, Check Processing, Credit Cards, etc.) are measured on the level of service they provide to employees on the front line (i.e., customer contact employees).
8. We encourage employees to use our institution’s services by providing them with information on the benefits of using our services at their employee orientations and as new services are introduced.
9. We actively promote our banking services to our employees.
10. We pilot new services with employees before offering them to customers.
11. We provide discounts and other incentives for employees to use our banking services.
12. We conduct formal research to determine the extent to which our employees use our products.
13. Our employees can easily articulate our institution’s sales and service philosophy.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
1. We measure the skills of our sales personnel by routinely conducting formal shopper surveys of our branches.
2. We measure the product knowledge of our sales personnel with formal product knowledge testing.
3. We measure the attitude of our sales force by conducting a formal sales and service attitude survey.
4. We measure the telephone skills of all employees who take customer calls by routinely conducting a formal telephone shop.
5. We periodically measure the time required by branch managers to complete their various assigned tasks to determine the amount of time available for sales management.
6. We periodically assess the time members of the sales force devote to sales versus service and operational activities.
7. We routinely communicate to employees the results of any surveys or shops we conduct.
8. We maintain a customer database that computes customer profitability and use of bank products and services.
9. We continually measure customer deposit attrition.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
1. Our recruitment and selection process for Teller, Platform Sales, and Branch Manager positions emphasizes those attributes that are necessary for selling.
2. All of our Teller, Platform Sales, and Branch Manager job descriptions emphasize the responsibilities and accountabilities for selling.
3. Our performance appraisal process for personnel in customer contact positions requires the evaluation of sales performance, service performance and sales management (for managers).
4. We have established a career path for sales personnel.
TRAINING
1. We have regularly scheduled sales training sessions for teller personnel.
2. We have regularly scheduled sales training sessions for platform sales personnel.
3. We have regularly scheduled sales and sales management/coaching training for Branch Managers.
4. We have established a service training curriculum for all customer contact positions.
5. We have established a sales training curriculum for each category of sales position.
6. We have established a sales management curriculum for personnel in sales management positions.
7. We have a formal process for employees (including managers) to provide feedback on their sales training programs.
GOALS & MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS
1. We establish sales or referral goals for tellers.
2. We establish sales goals for platform sales personnel.
3. We establish sales team goals for each branch.
4. Our sales personnel are involved in the goal setting process.
5. Our goal setting system places a heavy emphasis on individual goals.
6. We do not consider cross-sell ratios to be a productive goal setting and measurement technique.
7. Our sales personnel can track their own progress toward goal attainment.
8. Performance towards goals is measured and reported monthly.
9. We publish the sales results within ten business days following the period of measurement.
10. In our financial institution, the total of the branch retail sales goals equals the institution’s retail sales goals.
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
1. Our branches have excellent directional signs. In other words, customers entering our branches clearly understand where to go to obtain the service they seek.
2. The teller stations in our bank are designed to provide our customers with privacy. Customer conversations with a teller are protected from another customer at an adjacent teller’s station.
3. The platform sales stations in our bank are designed to provide a maximum amount of privacy to our customers when they are opening a new account or applying for a loan.
4. The platform sales stations in our bank have been designed to provide the most effective seating arrangement for sales and communication.
5. We aggressively communicate our sales message in our branch offices through the use of merchandising, brochures, posters, etc.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVATION
1. When we are launching a campaign to introduce a new product or to sell an existing product, we make an effort to sell employees on using the product and/or the value of the product for the customer.
2. We provide our sales force with information about competitive products, competitive rates and with an assessment of how our products compare to those of our competitors.
3. When we are launching a campaign to introduce a new product or to sell an existing product, we routinely advise all sales employees of the objective of the campaign, the target audience, and the length of the campaign, and provide them with copies of all advertisements, examples of direct mail, etc.
4. We provide our employees with the results of all marketing campaigns.
5. We formally recognize the achievements of top sales personnel on a regular basis.
6. We conduct regularly scheduled sales meetings at levels above the branch.
7. We encourage Branch Managers to conduct frequent sales meetings.
8. We routinely produce a publication specifically designed to support selling and recognize sales performance.
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
1. The philosophy of our incentive system is to reward for performance only above a threshold or goal.
2. The amount of the financial award for each sale is directly related to the value of the business sold.
3. Participants in our sales incentive system are able to keep their own score. In other words, our employees know how much they have earned at any time during the measurement period.
4. Selling is the primary responsibility for those individuals who are participating in the sales incentive program.
5. At least 50% of the payouts in our incentive program are based on individual measurement and reward.
6. Our incentive payments are sufficient to motivate behavior.
7. Our incentive payments are sufficient to create personal dependency on incentive compensation.
8. Our incentive rewards are received by employees within two weeks following the end of the measurement period.
9. We calculate and pay incentives on a monthly basis.
10. Cash is the primary award in our incentive program.