Personal banking is an essential function within any financial institution. Personal bankers are financial professionals who provide customized banking services and financial advice to individual customers. They are responsible for managing customer relationships, building trust, and promoting loyalty, all while providing financial guidance and support.

It is important to understand the role and responsibilities of a personal banker to identify the right candidates. In this blog post, we'll discuss the key duties and qualifications needed from a candidate when you are looking to hire a personal banker and talk about some of the benefits that hiring one brings to your organization.

What is the role of a personal banker?

The role of a personal banker is to provide a comprehensive range of financial services and products to clients. Personal bankers are responsible for managing customer relationships, building trust, and promoting loyalty, all while providing financial guidance and support.

They help customers open checking and savings accounts, and assist clients in getting credit cards or loans for their businesses. They also maintain customer relationships by helping resolve disputes when needed.

Responsibilities of a Personal Banker

Building Customer Relationships

The primary duty of a personal banker is to build and maintain strong relationships with clients. This includes identifying the customer's financial goals, understanding their financial needs, and providing them with the necessary tools to achieve their goals. They assist clients by being a link between them and the products and services they need. The client receives a professional who can address their needs, and has a deep understanding of their financial situation due to their repeated interactions. Therefore personal bankers should be able to communicate effectively, listen to customer concerns, and offer appropriate financial advice. When you decide to hire a personal banker it should be kept in mind that they differ from other salespeople in the sense that they are focussed on retaining clients through their interactions. While normal sales personnel are focussed on selling company products and services as well as revenue generation, a personal banker adds on their own touch and helps companies connect with their client base easier.

Sales and Revenue Generation

Personal bankers are responsible for meeting sales targets and generating revenue for the financial institution. This involves promoting and selling financial products such as loans, mortgages, credit cards, and investment products. They should be knowledgeable about the products and services they offer and understand the customer's financial situation to make appropriate recommendations.

Account Management

Personal bankers are responsible for managing customer accounts, including opening new accounts, maintaining accurate records, and updating account information. They should also be able to troubleshoot any account-related issues and provide appropriate solutions. This relates back to their initial duty of opening and retaining customers and hiring a personal banker can help spread out the accounting work so that each department can focus on its own duties with a separate executive engaged in handling their set of client accounts.

Compliance and Risk Management

Personal bankers must comply with various banking regulations and policies to ensure the safety and security of customer accounts. They should be knowledgeable about Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, know your customer (KYC) requirements, and other industry regulations. They should also be able to identify potential risks and report any suspicious activity to the relevant authorities.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Personal bankers often work closely with other departments within the financial institution, such as credit and loan officers, investment advisors, and customer service representatives. They should be able to collaborate with these teams to provide a seamless customer experience and deliver excellent service.

Skills and qualifications to look for when hiring personal bankers.

Education

Personal bankers must have at least a high school diploma or equivalent. A bachelor's degree in finance, business, accounting, or economics is preferable but not always required. A higher education degree can provide candidates with a strong understanding of finance and economics, which is essential in providing clients with relevant financial advice.

Sales Skills

Personal bankers must have excellent sales skills to sell financial products and services to clients. They should be able to identify customer needs and offer relevant financial solutions to meet those needs. Candidates with a proven track record of meeting sales targets and experience in the sales industry would be ideal for this role.

Communication Skills

Personal bankers must have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, to communicate effectively with clients, colleagues, and management. They should be able to listen to clients' concerns and provide accurate and relevant information on banking products and services. Therefore when you are looking to hire a personal banker, strong communication skills are necessary as they contribute towards developing customer relationships and promoting loyalty.

Analytical Skills

Personal bankers must have strong analytical skills to understand customers' financial situations and provide suitable advice. They should be able to analyze financial data and make sound financial recommendations. Candidates with experience in financial analysis or accounting would be ideal for this role.

Technology Skills

Personal bankers must be comfortable using various banking software, including customer relationship management (CRM) systems, online banking platforms, and other financial software. They should be able to navigate these software systems and ensure customer accounts are managed accurately and efficiently.

Compliance Knowledge

When you are looking to hire a personal banker you should look for candidates who possess a good understanding of banking regulations and compliance requirements. They should be able to identify potential risks and report any suspicious activity. Candidates with experience in risk management or compliance would be ideal for this role.

Customer Service Skills

Personal bankers must have excellent customer service skills to manage customer relationships effectively. They should be able to resolve customer complaints and provide timely and accurate responses to customer inquiries. Candidates with experience in customer service or hospitality would be ideal for this role. The reason as to why this is stated separately from the communication and sales skills is due to the same reason that separates them from the role of regular sales person. The personal banker you hire should be able to make the client feel comfortable with the organization they have chosen and ensure that they can choose plans or services that fit in with their needs without making them feel like they have been exploited.

Time Management Skills

Personal bankers must be able to manage their time effectively to meet deadlines and prioritize tasks. They should be able to multitask and work in a fast-paced environment while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.

Teamwork and Collaboration

For hiring personal bankers, you must keep in mind that the candidate you choose must be able to work collaboratively with other team members, including credit and loan officers, investment advisors, and customer service representatives. They should be able to collaborate effectively to provide a seamless customer experience and deliver excellent service.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Personal bankers must be adaptable and flexible to work in a dynamic environment. They should be able to adjust to changes in policies, regulations, and customer needs. Since personal bankers are expected to deal with different clients and modify or alter their approach based on their individual financial situations, they are the part of an organization’s workforce that have to be prepared for eventualities and situations that can come up at a moment's notice. Therefore candidates who are experienced with working in a dynamic work environment can be a great catch for your organization.

The benefits of hiring personal bankers

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Personal bankers play a significant role in providing customers with personalized banking services and financial advice. They can help customers understand their financial situation, identify financial goals, and recommend suitable financial products and services. Personal bankers can also provide assistance in resolving customer complaints and concerns, leading to improved customer satisfaction.

Increased Revenue

Hiring personal bankers can generate revenue for financial institutions by cross-selling financial products and services to customers. By building strong relationships with customers and identifying their needs, personal bankers can offer relevant financial solutions, resulting in increased sales and revenue for the organization.

Enhanced Customer Loyalty

Personal bankers can build strong relationships with customers, resulting in increased customer loyalty. By providing personalized banking services and financial advice, personal bankers can establish trust and rapport with customers, resulting in repeat business and referrals.

Compliance with Regulatory Requirements

Personal bankers are responsible for ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, including Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and other banking regulations. Personal bankers must stay up-to-date with regulatory changes and ensure that customer accounts are managed in compliance with regulations.

Increased Efficiency

Hiring personal bankers can increase efficiency in the organization by managing customer accounts, processing transactions, and resolving customer complaints. By handling customer inquiries and concerns, personal bankers can free up other staff members to focus on other tasks, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity.

Improved Cross-Functional Collaboration

Personal bankers must work collaboratively with other departments, including credit and loan officers, investment advisors, and customer service representatives. By working together, personal bankers can provide a seamless customer experience, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Competitive Advantage

Hiring personal bankers can provide a competitive advantage for financial institutions. By offering personalized banking services and financial advice, financial institutions can differentiate themselves from competitors and attract new customers. If you wish to recruit personal bankers you should look for candidates who have a personality that can separate them from the rest of the candidate pool as they are most likely to be able to help your organization stand out in a competitive industry.

Increased Sales Productivity

Personal bankers can increase sales productivity by focusing on high-value customers and providing them with relevant financial products and services. By identifying customer needs and offering relevant solutions, personal bankers can close more sales and generate more revenue for the organization.

Improved Brand Reputation

Personal bankers can improve the brand reputation of financial institutions by providing excellent customer service and financial advice. By building trust and rapport with customers, personal bankers can enhance the organization's reputation, resulting in increased customer loyalty and referrals. Since personal bankers are employed to help build relationships with clientele this is a direct result of their employment. The rise in customer retention is obviously greatly beneficial to the company but the improved brand reputation works in conjunction with it to ensure that the company brings in new clientele through its better status in the competitive market and keeps them from engaging with competitors in the industry.

Internal Recruiting and Career Development Opportunities

Hiring personal bankers can provide internal recruiting opportunities for the organization and provide benefits for the candidate from career development opportunities within the organization. By providing training and development opportunities, financial institutions can help personal bankers develop new skills and advance their careers within the organization. This benefits the organization as the company has a pool of candidates to choose from when they wish to choose internal hiring over conventional modes and channels of hiring.

We can help you source and assess personal bankers with ease!

We at HireQuotient understand the importance and need for effective candidate sourcing. With access to over 600 million candidate profiles across the globe and a concise pre-screening procedure, HireQuotient can help you finish your candidate sourcing in days rather than weeks with the use of automation. Utilize our job description builder to quickly create the ideal job description when you decide to hire a personal banker and access and communicate with HireQuotient’s vast pool of candidates via our targeted mass outreach procedures. This has saved over 70,000 hours for recruiters and with our pre screening you can sort out candidates and find the ideal candidate in under 5 minutes!

HireQuotient also provides an entire plethora of skill assessments that you can employ in gauging the skill of your employees. Our repository is constantly updated with the latest industry relevant tests and assessments pertaining to all non-tech related positions. The questions are created by dedicated subject matter experts in the relevant industries and are categorized based on the difficulty levels so that you can effectively assess the candidate you choose to hire.

All of this is available in a few clicks of your mouse, so check out the company website to book a demo or get on a call with our experts here at HireQuotient to learn how we can help you hire personal bankers for your company.

Bank on Success: Hiring a Personal Banker That Will Exceed Your Expectations