The Toolbox Award

Lana J. Chandler
August 26, 2008 | COMMENTS

Incentive pay alone isn't enough to motivate stellar sales performance. A case in point is Commercial Bank & Trust (CB&T) of LaGrange, Georgia. A creative and fun idea with a “toolbox” has motivated an amazing turnaround in tellers' sales efforts. Since CB&T introduced the Toolbox Award in January, 2008:

• Closed referrals have increased from 722 in 2007 to 2,035 in 2008 (January-June)
• Services per household has increased
• Interchange revenue from check card sales gone up
• Bank is exceeding its sales activities goals (e.g. coaching sessions, calls, and sales meetings)
• “Over and short” is down to $700 for the year, compared to $4,000 for the same period in 2007
• Absenteeism is down

CB&T's incentive plan requires that tellers have a minimum of 10 closed referrals per month to qualify for incentive pay. The latter is a per product incentive. A bonus plan rewards tellers for exceeding their monthly goals.

Although CB&T has had a structured incentive program for approximately eight years, some tellers still didn't buy in to the importance of a sales culture. “Gradually some branches were catching on and embracing sales, but others struggled to meet their sales goals every month,” explains Linda Sims, assistant vice president. “Many of our tellers were making the minimum number of referrals a month in order to receive their incentive pay and total monthly closed referrals were on the rise, but at a very slow rate.”

“Tools” For Success

Knowing the tellers could do better, Sims needed a way to jumpstart the process. She knew the best way to do this was through competition that involved teamwork. Always thinking of ways to improve teller performance, the idea for the Toolbox Award came to her late one night.

“I wanted to create a tangible item that the branch could take with them after our weekly meetings and put on display,” Sims says. “A toolbox was a good representation for what we were trying to achieve—we need ‘tools' such as teamwork, personal responsibility, and enthusiasm in order to achieve our goals.” The first “tool” she put in the box was a mirror, indicating that the success of a branch begins with “me.”

“It's a shiny black toolbox that has brightly colored polka dots and ribbon. You can't miss it!” says Sims. Each week a branch earns the right to keep the toolbox at their location and add a “tool” to its contents. The toolbox is put on display on the teller line so clients can see it. Clients ask a lot of questions about it, and the tellers share with the clients what the toolbox is all about. Regular clients have started asking, “Who won the toolbox this week?”

Tools that CB&T's tellers have added include:

• 4 AA batteries—Energizer Bunny keeps on going
• CB&T Recipe—this is a recipe, qualities that measures up to good service
• Flashlight—seeing the obvious
• Glue—sticking together we can accomplish anything
• Hammer—a symbol, to beat our competition
• Notebook—remember the Rs: Respect Self, Respect Others, and Responsibility for your actions
• Puzzle—a united winning team fits together like pieces of a puzzle
• Six-inch ruler—measure success with teamwork
• Sugar cubes—always be sweet and kind to co-workers and it will reflect in the way we treat clients

How Tellers Earn Points

“Our personal bankers already did an excellent job with sales, so we did the Toolbox Award in hopes of encouraging tellers to do the same,” explains Sims. Although CB&T's incentive program rewards tellers for making closed referrals for bank products and services, the Toolbox Award adds fun and the potential of earning more than money.

Ten points are available every week. The branch gets:

• 1 point for having the required number of closed referrals. It doesn't matter if each employee has a closed referral—to earn the 1 point for closed referrals, the branch must have the total number required, which is the number of tellers the branch has times two. Example: If a branch has 7 tellers, it needs 14 closed referrals to earn the point. If the branch's teller team has more than 10 closed referrals, the team still earns only 1 point. But if two branches tie that week, then the branch with the most closed referrals wins.
• 1 point for making a client call
• 1 point for having a sales meeting
• 5 points for having coaching sessions
• 1 point for no absences (vacation and personal days off do not count as absences)
• 1 point for no one being out of balance

Besides earning points, branches can also lose points. “If a representative from a branch misses the Friday meeting or is late for the meeting [door is locked once meeting begins], that branch forfeits its points for the week, but this has never happened. We did this to encourage participation and punctuality,” Sims says. “Absenteeism on the teller line is down because our tellers know that their branch will lose points for the week if they are absent.”

Weekly Meetings

Every Friday morning Sims hosts a toolbox meeting. A representative from each branch attends the weekly meeting. Each person shares with the group the focus of their branch's weekly sales meeting, number of closed referrals, and who they made a call on that week. Then the group discusses over-and-short and absences.

Using a dry-erase board, branch representatives write their points for the week. This gives everyone a visual of how they've done for the week and also reinforces accountability. Once the weekly toolbox winner is announced, the branch that had it the previous week tells the group about the “tool” they placed in the box.

“We celebrate and encourage one another during our weekly meeting,” Sims says. “The meetings really get interesting when there is a tie.” If that happens, the branch with the most closed referrals wins the toolbox.

The Grand Prize

In December, the wining branch will be awarded a grand prize. “A limo will pick up the tellers at their branch, take them out for an evening of their choice—restaurant, concert, spa, whatever. We've budgeted a $1,000 for the evening,” says Sims. Now that will be a memorable experience!

Contact Linda Sims at 706-880-2229 or lindasims@combanktrust.com. Lana J. Chandler is publisher of Branch Manager's Letter. This story appeared at www.branchmanagersletter.com and is reprinted with permission.