Build a strong set of skills for a successful sales career in SME banking and let your numbers speak for themselves!
First Mile offers professional training programs, designed and delivered by industry experts, to help you build sales effectiveness, identify your strengths, and build a successful career in SME banking sales. First Mile's training programs cover a number of important areas, including:
- Communication in Business English (interviews, emails and more)
- Lending Concepts and Products (working capital, term loans and more)
- Understanding Financial Statements (Balance Sheet, P and L and more)
- Sales Effectiveness (How to make a good sales call and more)
For a free orientation session, please provide your basic contact details and area of interest in the adjacent box
Free Orientation Session
- Students
- Job Seekers
- Working Professionals
Who Should Attend
To be effective in SME lending sales, professionals need strong communication and sales skills and build a sound understanding of lending concepts, practices and products. If you are one of the following, then the First Mile program is for you.
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I have finished my graduation and want to start my career with a Bank or NBFC.
OR
I am working in a sales role in a different industry but want to switch to a career in sales in SME banking. - Click Here for program details
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I am working in a sales role in a bank in liability products (CASA, Transaction Banking, etc.) but wish to switch to a sales role in assets, in SME lending.
- Click Here for program details
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I am already working in sales in SME lending, but feel the need for an in-depth training on lending products / concepts and communication skills, which will help me increase my numbers.
- Click Here for program details
If you belong to any one of the above categories,
Please register for the free consulting session
and we would be glad to understand how we can help you improve your sales effectiveness.
- Classroom Training
- Practical Experience
- Mock Sessions
Training Programs for Individuals
First Mile has designed its training programs keeping in mind the critical skills needed to be effective in a sales role in SME banking. To meet specific training needs of different profiles, First Mile provides following options:
Sales in SME Lending (Complete Program) 6 days (48 hours)
Provides detailed training on communication and technical aspects and prepares you for a job
as a sales professional
in any reputed bank or NBFC.
Communication in Business English (Workshop) 1 day (8 hours)
Prepares you to clear job interviews and improves your verbal and written communication in Business English, i.e., the English that you need to use for your work with your colleagues or customers.
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Sales Effectiveness (Workshop) 3 days (24 hours)
Helps you to increase your logins and conversions through better understanding of lending products, interpretation of financial statements, qualifying customers and making an effective sales pitch.
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Business English, Clearing Interviews and Sales Effectiveness (Program) 4 days (32 hours)
Helps you prepare for being a successful performer in a sales role in SME lending not just by improving your communication skills to clear interviews, but also your selling skills and knowledge of lending concepts/products.
Know More- Integrated Recruitment and Training Solutions for Corporates
Corporates (Banks / NBFCs)
SME Banking: The Opportunity and Challenge
In order to counter increasing competition and seize the growth opportunity in the SME lending segment, Banks and NBFCs need to quickly deploy a large and skilled sales force to be the first to reach out to the customer. However, in doing so, often Banks and NBFCs end up with a 'problem of plenty', i.e., while they hire plenty of Sales Executives / Sales Managers to ramp up their sales force, these resources are not always equipped with the specialized skills, warranted in this segment.
Our Proposition to Banks / NBFCs
To address this challenge, First Mile offers a 'one stop recruitment and skill building solution' to Banks and NBFCs. We 'recruit and train' sales resources (frontline staff) for the SME business, who can be skilled to become 'market ready' and be able to win the confidence of the customer in their very first interaction.
The core focus of our training is on improving their knowledge of lending products, financial concepts and trade finance, as well as their soft skills and communication in Business English. While we would recruit as per the mandate given, the scheduling, exact content, duration and process for delivering the training can be customized to meet requirements of the Bank or NBFC.
Value to the Bank / NBFC
- Faster recruitment since only candidates with the right aptitude would be referred
- Shorter learning curve for newly on boarded sales resources
- Higher resource productivity in the initial months
- Lower attrition leading to predictability in sales
To know more about our training and recruitment solutions, write to us at info@firstmile.in
- Training Programs and Solutions for Educational Institutions
Educational Institutions
Employment Opportunities for Students
There is a huge employment opportunity for students in this space. Banks and NBFC's look for young, enthusiastic Graduates or Post Graduates with a flair for sales, who are willing to work hard and make sales calls in the market to reach out to maximum customers. However, all organizations expect the candidate to possess strong communication skills and knowledge of lending.
Our Solution for Educational Institutions
We offer a comprehensive training program for fresh Graduates / Post Graduates who aspire to start their careers in SME lending. It focuses on two areas - Business Communication in English and Lending Products / Concepts.
For details of our training program, click here
Placement Assistance
We provide placement assistance for students through formal tie ups with Banks and NBFCs or by referrals within our network of senior professionals employed with reputed Banks and NBFCs.
To know more about our solutions for educational institutions, send us an email at info@firstmile.in
- What do banking professionals say about us?
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"After completing the training at First Mile, I had the confidence to speak in English with my colleagues or customers. The session on how to draft good emails was very useful and now I don’t need to take anyone’s help when I write an email in my job. I also got an understanding of how to think when answering questions in interview and what kind of language to use. I feel the training improved my communication and my overall confidence."
Rohit Satpute Relationship Manager - Branch Banking, Standard Chartered Bank
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"I had attended the training at First Mile to get more in depth knowledge of working capital products. During the training, I learnt concepts of working capital and its assessment which is helping me in my job since I am able to gauge the client’s potential and understand their requirements better and pitch the right product to them."
Abhishek Gujarati Relationship Manager - Business Banking Group, HDFC Bank
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"The training at First Mile improved my Business English and taught me how to think in practical situations like writing emails or introducing myself or opening a sales call with a customer. I also got to know how to take a 360 degree view of a customer when wee study any case. I feel the training taught me how to be different from others in my way of working and how to create a good impression on colleagues and customers."
Swapnil Wani Area Sales Manager - Business Loans, IDFC First Bank
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"Before I joined Bank, I had experience of 5 years in sales in working capital. So I had basic idea of products and how to source. But from the training at First Mile, I got idea of how exactly to approach a customer; the most important questions to ask and why they are important; how we can understand customer’s business, know their needs and suggest right product. I also got useful knowledge on trade finance (import and export credit) and now very few times I need to take help of others in this type of deals. I feel the training has helped me in my sourcing as now I can understand customer;s requirement better and can convince them with the right solution."
Santosh Gudlamani Relationship Partner - Micro Enterprise Business, Yes Bank
- Mumbai
- Navi Mumbai
- Pune
Free Orientation Session
For queries regarding our SME lending programs or corporate training needs,
please send an email to info@firstmile.in
please click here
- About First Mile
About First Mile
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) business segment is a key focus area for growth for most banks and NBFCs in India. With increasing competition in this segment, distribution and speed to market are expected to be the key growth drivers leading to a high demand for skilled, independent and effective front line sales resources.
First Mile offers training for such sales resources (frontline staff) with the objective of improving their sales effectiveness. The training content focuses on lending concepts/products, business communication skills (oral and written) and selling skills. We offer varied training programs for sales professionals already working in SME lending or even for those aspiring to work in this space. We offer customised training solutions for Educational Institutions. For Corporates (Banks and NBFCs), we offer a one stop 'Recruitment and Skill Building Solution' for their SME business.
Having started in July 2018, First Mile has successfully enrolled and trained sales resources working both on-roll / off-roll with reputed banks like Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, Standard Chartered, DBS and upcoming banks like AU Small Finance Bank and IDFC First Bank. First Mile is founded by Ajit Ambekar, an ex-banking professional with over 17 years’ SME lending experience across reputed banks in India and Dubai (UAE). Ajit has held senior leadership positions and led several sales teams with leading banks like Axis Bank and Yes Bank.