Principal Financieel Coach

The Principal Financial Coach, Various Regions (Northern Region)

In a digital world, human contact can make all the difference. We believe that customers are best served by combining the power of mobile banking with the power of personal and expert interaction. Retail Advice provides the human touch within a digital bank. Genuine, attentive, and personal. This is how we do it.

Customers choose digital and mobile banking for their day-to-day banking needs because it is fast, simple, and secure. However, there are times when they need personal contact, either remotely or at one of the ING Houses. They may seek support, advice, reassurance, understanding, a sparring partner, or simply a nudge in the right direction. Examples include first-time home buyers wanting to know how much they can borrow, someone considering investing, or an entrepreneur looking to start a business.

Within the ING Houses, Financial Coaches and Principal Financial Coaches work together with advisors from specialist advisory teams. Principal Financial Coaches essentially perform the same tasks and responsibilities as Financial Coaches, but additional expectations apply.

What does a Financial Coach do?

As a Financial Coach (Grade 8), you are the personal point of contact for customers at key moments in their financial journey within the ING Houses. You are often the customer's first impression of ING, serving as the bank's ambassador. You are the customer's coach when it comes to banking matters. While many things can be done digitally, you help customers move forward and achieve more.

As a Financial Coach, your mission is to help customers improve their financial wellbeing. You can build a personal connection with different types of customers and use your expertise to inspire them. Broadly speaking, you do this in four ways:

You are the customer's first point of contact for financial matters. You have the knowledge and skills to conduct most customer conversations independently, including discussions about mortgages, investments, and business banking. At the same time, you know when a specialist colleague is better equipped to support the customer further. You proactively contact customers by phone when personal and relevant interaction is valuable, even if they do not visit an ING House. In doing so, you actively contribute to the success of other advisory teams. You help customers become confident with digital self-service banking. Rather than performing tasks for them, you empower them to do it themselves. ING Houses are where we meet our customers. You demonstrate entrepreneurship and are willing to take initiative.

What additional responsibilities does a Principal Financial Coach have?

As a Principal Financial Coach (Grade 9), you are a true role model for your colleagues in delivering outstanding customer service within the ING House environment. You set even higher standards for yourself and fulfil four additional roles.

You lead the transition from traditional bank branches, where service, cash handling, and transactions were the primary focus, to ING Houses where self-service banking, financial coaching, meaningful customer interaction, and customer engagement take centre stage. You understand that commercial customer contact is not the same as selling. It is about helping customers identify both explicit and latent needs and guiding them towards the most suitable solutions. You set the example for your colleagues in this regard.

You raise the bar for yourself and demonstrate seniority across all aspects of the role. You maximize the impact of financial coaching conversations and customer interactions. This is reflected in exceptional customer satisfaction and above-average conversion of sales opportunities into referrals to specialist advisory teams such as Investments, Mortgages, and Business Banking.

You possess deep expertise in both customer conversations and the products and services offered by specialist advisory teams. You act as the link between Financial Coaches and these teams. You can answer content-related questions without crossing the line between informing and advising. Together with specialist advisors, you deliver presentations and information sessions for customers on topics such as mortgages, investing, and business financing. For Financial Coaches, you are the go-to expert for these subjects.

In the ING Houses where you work, you are the proactive subject matter expert on more complex topics, including mortgages, investments, and business banking. As a coach and trainer, you help Financial Coaches get the most out of financial coaching conversations and customer interactions. You provide support through family time sessions and individual coaching on the work floor. Together with the Lead of the ING Houses, you form a partnership aimed at elevating the capabilities of Financial Coaches while continuing to perform your own responsibilities as a Financial Coach.

Who are you?

• You are successful across all aspects of the Financial Coach role.
• You have the expertise to support customers in financial coaching conversations and answer questions about investments, mortgages, and business banking.
• You proactively share your knowledge with colleagues and make use of every available opportunity to do so. You understand that different Financial Coaches require different forms of support and adapt your approach accordingly.
• You support colleagues who need additional help to develop or maintain their expertise.
• You lead by example in sustainable sales by focusing on relevance, appropriate solutions, and high-quality lead generation for specialist advisory teams.

What do you bring?

• A higher professional education (HBO) level of thinking and working.
• You meet all requirements applicable to the Financial Coach role.
• You hold the WFT Wealth Management, WFT Mortgage Credit, and MiFID Informing certifications.
• Strong verbal communication and presentation skills.

Competency 2: Customer Focus

Customer focus means actively listening and applying effective communication skills to understand the customer's needs and respond appropriately, including making a relevant commercial offer when necessary. This results in excellent service delivery, with a focus on creating value and achieving high customer satisfaction. Together, communication, needs identification, and service excellence contribute to a positive customer experience.

Competency 4: Employee Development

Employee development is about fostering growth and developing capabilities through coaching and guidance. Key elements include identifying strengths, providing learning and development opportunities, and creating a psychologically safe environment. This enables employees to reach their full potential, while their development contributes to the overall performance of the team.