Dr. Seuss for Credit Unions: Green Eggs, Ham & Auto Loans

It’s not unique to your credit union. Not at all. The many folks who we work with and talk to at credit unions across the country have the same dilemma. “How can we get our frontline staff to cross-sell?” Not even the most expensive sales trainer can motivate the unmotivated. However, there may be diamonds in the rough at your credit union, who could excel on the frontline. But they just need the right tools. Consider a classic sales training book written by an age-old expert in human behavior. Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, may have thought he was writing books for children to enjoy. But somehow each one of his works can be translated into a life lesson for adults, and for credit unions. It’s written that Dr. Seuss made a point of never writing his stories with a moral in mind, instead he enjoyed writing about “issues”. “There’s an inherent moral in any story” Geisel(he)said, adding that he was “subversive as hell”.

My next few articles written for CUinsight will feature the lessons that credit unions can learn from the great philosopher Dr. Seuss. Starting this month we’ll break down one of his most famous works, Green Eggs & Ham. This book has turned into one of my favorite sales training manuals.

Here is a summary from Wikipedia of the work first produced in 1960:

There are two main characters: The first is unnamed (but his image would evolve into Knox from Fox in Socks). The second is named Sam. Throughout the book, Sam tries to encourage the unnamed character to try green eggs and ham, though he meets with little success. The unnamed character refuses to taste the dish, insisting that he would not like it. Sam then goes through an assortment of locations (house, car, tree, train, box, boat) and dining partners (fox, goat, mouse), trying to persuade the unnamed character to eat. The conclusion of the tale occurs when the unnamed character is standing in shallow water after a boat sinks, surrounded by various people and beasts. He finally gives in and tries the green eggs and ham on the condition that Sam leaves him alone. Upon doing so, he realizes that he does, in fact, like green eggs and ham. He would eat them in all the places and with all the dining partners suggested throughout the book. The story closes with the character thanking Sam-I-Am for his persistence.

Here’s now a Great Idea: buy a few copies of Green Eggs and Ham to hand out at your next staff meeting. It’s a quick read. Have the staff peruse it and present their synopsis at your next meeting. Green Eggs and Ham is a great reminder that persistence pays off. Just because “Member X” says “no” to an auto loan in a box with a fox today, doesn’t mean that we can’t help them in some way. Perhaps they may need an auto loan in a house with a mouse. No doesn’t always mean no, it just means that we haven’t asked the question the right way. “Do you want to refinance your car?” is a different question than: “Can I see if we can save you some money on your monthly car payment?” The lessons your staff can learn from Sam-I-Am and his tale of Green Eggs and Ham could go a long way to grow loans and improve member service at your credit union.