Mastering the Skill of Recognizing Opportunity
Tellers who aspire to move into different roles — such as customer service or cash management — often begin by mastering one essential skill: recognizing opportunity. Those who understand how business customers handle money can spot the pain points, inefficiencies, and growth prospects that naturally lead to broader financial relationships.
Cash management products are best suited for business customers with intricate money flows. Accounts that exhibit frequent, high-value deposits or diverse deposit or withdrawal streams may signal opportunities for advanced cash management solutions such as analysis accounts or remote deposit capture. Demonstrating initiative in these areas signals to managers a teller’s readiness for expanded responsibility.
Here are five tips that can help tellers increase cash management referrals.
1. Understand the Products That the Bank Offers
It is critical to have a functional knowledge of the tools that make up a bank’s cash management program. Understanding these products and services helps tellers recognize the right moment to suggest help or make a referral. If a bank is offering a cash management suite, there is a good chance it is offering one or more of the following:
- Analysis Account: A business checking account that offsets service charges through an earnings credit rate on balances. Designed for organizations with complex transactions or multiple relationships.
- Remote Deposit Capture (RDC): Allows business customers to deposit checks electronically from their own home or office, saving time, reducing trips to the branch, reducing risk and generally accelerating funds availability.
- Positive Pay: A fraud-prevention service that compares checks presented for payment against those issued by the business, protecting against altered or counterfeit items.
- Merchant Services: Solutions for accepting credit and debit card payments, including processing systems, online payment tools, and cost reviews to ensure pricing efficiency.
Together, these offerings form the core of most cash management programs. For tellers, understanding how each works and the financial issues they are designed to address is paramount for recognizing which customers may benefit from them.
2. Recognize High-Value Industry Patterns and Payment Flows
Certain types of businesses naturally generate more complex transactions. Churches, medical offices, municipal agencies, and transportation businesses often juggle multiple payment channels — cash, checks, ACH, and wires — that require stronger control systems. Businesses that handle large amounts of cash or process high volumes of credit card payments may benefit from merchant service reviews. Further, commercial accountholders who accept numerous card payments could be paying more in processing fees than necessary.
Tellers who recognize these situations and patterns can help connect customers to specialists who can analyze costs and streamline payment systems. This is an important skill for anyone aspiring to move into business banking or have a closer partnership with the bank’s cash management team.
3. Identify Pain Points for Wasting Time
Many business customers still spend valuable time preparing deposits or visiting a branch in person. When a teller sees this, it may signal a fit for Remote Deposit Capture, which saves time and streamlines daily operations.
Connecting such customers with the bank’s cash management specialist not only improves their experience but also shows initiative in identifying efficiency opportunities.
4. Recognize When Fraud Prevention Could Help
Businesses that issue many checks or handle payroll manually are often good candidates for Positive Pay. The service helps prevent check fraud by comparing each presented item to a list of those authorized for payment.
When tellers observe high check activity or frequent payroll transactions, referring those customers to a cash management specialist helps protect both the client and the bank relationship.
5. Keep Referrals Straightforward
Strong referrals don’t need complicated explanations. Most banks have product specialists, so introducing a customer to a cash management specialist in a clear, practical way — such as, “We have a team that can help you manage deposits more efficiently”— keeps the focus on solving a problem rather than promoting a product.
A well-timed, well-phrased referral demonstrates teamwork and signals a teller’s readiness for broader responsibility.
Cash Management: Your Natural Next Step in Banking Career Advancement
Cash management can be a career goal for tellers who are interested in advancing their banking careers. Those who understand how to spot business complexity, recognize product fit, and connect customers with the right specialists will quickly stand out to managers.
As banks continue to invest in digital transformation, tellers who proactively build cash management expertise will be well-positioned for success in tomorrow’s relationship-driven institutions. Mastering the art of the referral is key to advancement, whether you’re focusing on cash management or building wealth management referral expertise.
