Nick Brown, president of Sales CU, SalesCUNick Brown, president of Sales CU
A credit union is fundamentally different from a bank because it focuses on offering its members, who are also its owners, the best terms for financial products—lower rates on loans, fewer fees, and higher APYs. This makes their goals and challenges unique. Unlike banks, which strive to maximize profits from selling products or schemes, credit unions prioritize offering products with the best value for their members without focusing on profits.

Most credit unions also lack the necessary training infrastructure to improve their sales operations and struggle to offer more products to their customers. Their existing approach to sales may put them at a disadvantage as it often relies on outdated, retail-oriented selling styles.

"Because credit unions are member-run, and their members may not be proficient in credit union-specific sales, they struggle to strike a balance between selling a product and sounding intrusive," says Nick Brown, president of SalesCU, an industry-leading credit union sales training organization with two decades of industry experience. "Our sales training and leadership coaching offerings aim to help credit unions understand how they can perform sales in a credit union-specific way and serve member needs through effective member-centric sales initiatives."

To provide the best-suited credit union-specific sales strategy for each organization, SalesCU directly engages with a client's front-line sales teams and leaders to understand their unique needs. By maintaining a balance between being assertive and consultative, SalesCU deploys member-centric sales training programs, which help clients observe a significant increase in inbound and outbound sales performance from their member-facing employees. Credit unions also experience deeper and expanded member relationships during and after the training.

What differentiates SalesCU is its tailor-made training sessions built based on insights gathered from client sales teams' everyday conversations and the products and services they sell. Its offerings combine the theory and mindset around selling with the necessary skills and sales process training, something that the majority of competitors fail to deliver, enabling clients to achieve consistent positive results.

SalesCU conducts its training programs on-site and remotely, allowing it to cater to credit unions of all sizes. While in-person training is ideal for larger credit unions with big teams, virtual training programs are suitable for smaller ones with limited budgets. Credit unions can choose from various available workshop options virtually and do not have to incur repeated fees for on-site visits from the SalesCU team. This also enables smaller credit unions with limited staff to divide their teams and train them virtually, ensuring that while one half receives training, the other can continue sales operations, minimizing productivity loss.

SalesCU's training program is three-tiered. It starts with a three-day 'Credit Union Sales Intensive Workshop' specifically designed for client sales teams and leadership. The first two days of the workshop focus on their call platform employees, empowering them with credit union-specific sales mindset, processes, and skills needed to excel in their account opening and loan application processing tasks. The third day is dedicated solely to client leadership teams, providing training on sales leadership surrounding coaching and accountability. Once the workshop is complete, SalesCU offers the credit union's leaders and entire sales-facing employee base follow-up online courses for over a 12-month timeframe.

Our sales training and leadership coaching offerings are aimed at helping credit unions understand how they can perform sales in a credit union-specific way and serve their members’ needs through effective member-centric sales initiatives

The company also engages with clients’ sales leadership throughout the year to address their specific challenges in implementing the sales strategies offered during training. SalesCU provides additional coaching and training support to integrate the new sales approach into their work culture.

"Our flagship offering is the one-year training program, where we equip leaders to bridge their leadership gap in credit union sales and enable clients to have the necessary internal resources to excel in sales," says Brown.

The effectiveness of SalesCU's training programs was best demonstrated in its engagement with a small credit union in South Dakota. The client had a low loan-to-deposit ratio and was struggling with loan growth. SalesCU deployed its virtual training program with 14 individuals from their sales and sale leadership team attending. This workshop was tailored to address loan growth, and in 2021, the client ran a loan recapture initiative, estimated to bring in $7.5 Million in new loans. The momentum continued into 2022, with loan growth surpassing $30 million.

SalesCU's unwavering dedication to training clients from a leadership standpoint and enabling the establishment of a robust and thriving sales organization positions it as the trusted choice for credit unions.