Picture: If you smile and talk to me, I buy your car!
I recently went to a client-event of a medium sized Swiss bank. There were about 150 invited guests and at least 20 staff from the bank. And there it was again, a Swiss phenomenon: during the cocktail not a single sales person who talked to me nor was there any mingling of the guests. Not that I complain, I met some interesting people nevertheless. As I wrote before the Swiss are bad at small talk and prefer to stand around instead of talking to people (not only potential clients). So why bother doing such an expensive event if you do not want to talk to potential clients? One thing is for sure: without shaking-hands, saying hello and talking, there are no sales. I know a consultant who works with private bankers and he experienced the same phenomena: the Swiss bankers are reluctant to meet new people. They prefer to wait behind their desks for new clients. Well, this is good for those who do talk to people (aka me). And yes, it is a Swiss ‘problem’ as I took a German colleague and she had no problem talking to guests at the reception. A friend of mine is aware of this problem and he offers coaching for ‘shy’ sales-guys. Maybe he will unlock the sales-potential of Swiss bankers!
PS: It can be argued that Switzerland is a prime banking hub but not because of the world-class sales-skills of its bankers!
Comments