Lessons in Sales Productivity: My BBVA Journey in 2006
- Rafael Frias
- Apr 24
- 2 min read
By Águila Griega
It’s 2006, and I’m wrapping up a credit risk committee meeting in Monterrey, where I lived at the time, when my boss, Pepe Salgado, pulls me aside. He tells me they need me to relocate to Mexico City—our success in transforming the Northeast Region’s Commercial Branches has caught attention, and BBVA wants to establish a new model to balance growth and risk management. So, I packed up and moved to Mexico City to take on this challenge.
The task was clear: redefine the sales force model. Productivity had been climbing for years, but our Relationship Managers (RMs) were overwhelmed by admin tasks and repetitive risk management actions, pulling focus from their core strength—building client relationships.
A few months later, I’m in London, attending the “Boosting Sales Productivity” conference hosted by an international BBVA consultant. I’m the only non-European banker there, surrounded by attendees from RBS, Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, and some French and German banks. As the sole representative from Latin America, I realise we’re all facing the same challenge: how to increase RM productivity while ensuring servicing, risk management, and customer experience remain strong. What’s the optimal model to keep growing and maximise profitability?
The solution wasn’t a one-size-fits-all fix. We overhauled the branch structure, elevating the Admin team’s seniority and creating a new role: “Gerente de Operacion y Servicios,” to handle risk and servicing. We also used a data-driven HR approach to redefine the RM profile, finding that productivity was influenced by demographics (age, gender, kids or no kids), experience, and tenure. This led us to revamp recruitment and add three capabilities: a new sales training programme, tools like an early Salesforce version, and a “real-time” MI scorecard. I worked closely with Enrique Medina to design this model, supported by Armando Gutierrez Perez (data and analytics), Victor Manuel Ayala Garcia (HR), my team—Benjamin Medina, Mario Diez de Bonilla Alaníz, and Eunice Maria Eugenia Fernandez Rosales—and West Region colleagues Gabriel Ramírez Landa and Jorge Rivas.
Looking back, four lessons stand out: 1) You never know where you’ll be called to add value—be ready to step up. 2) Different geographies face similar challenges, from Mexico to London. 3) Sales productivity goes beyond training—it’s a multi-variable equation, and a good internal consultant is key. 4) Partnership with stakeholders drives success. What approach have you taken to boost sales productivity in your organisation? I’d love to hear your insights!