.Quality update
WHAT'S NewS Issue 5 September 1995
Client service
5
CBS organization j-
'As good as the best'and 'Success through partnership' were the key slogans used to
launch no less than 31 projects designed to improve quality and service throughout
CBS. It is exactly a year since kick-off meetings were held around the world to mark
the start of a concerted effort to ensure we were not only as good, but better than
the best. What's NewS makes up the balance of a year of intense effort and asks
some of the people involved in these projects about the concrete results.
The 31 projects cover a whole host of
ways to improve the quality of service, not
only to clients but also to other divisions.
They include activities as diverse as 'Spend
a day with a customer', programs to cen-
tralize complaints registration, cliënt exit
interviews, improved career guidance,
^ïternal communication and positioning
Kie bank in the market. The quality pro
gram CBS defined for itself was based on
a comprehensive customer satisfaction
survey carried out in 1993. The results
showed us not only where there was room
for improvement but also which specific
areas, services and products were per-
ceived as important by clients. This meant
we could adapt our focus accordingly.
Many of the projects launched at the kick-
off have already been completed, some are
still ongoing. In other words, the 'As good
as the best' drive was no mere flurry of
empty slogans. It remains an ongoing pro-
cess in which we all participate in making
CBS the best bank for clients.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
SURVEY 1995
^Maarten Giezeman, marketing services:
^Ce'll be carrying out a survey on cus
tomer satisfaction every two years, so this
is one of the ongoing projects in the 'As
good as the best' program. In fact, we've
just mailed this year's
survey. The 1993 sur
vey was only sent to
corporates. This year
we have also included
institutional inves-
tors, so questions on
financial markets
products are more
detailed. But in many ways this year's
questions are the same so we can use the
first survey as comparative data to see
how effective our quality drive has been.
We'11 be presenting the results at the CBS
vear-end party on December I and we're
^ire they will generate new quality pro-
lects for the coming years.'
QUALITY SUPPORT SYSTEM
Rob Niesert, corporate banking: 'This
project was actually known as the cliënt
complaints registration system, because
that is what it is. In the past, we had al-
ways registered com
plaints, but by de-
partment rather than
by cliënt. The new
system cross-refer-
ences complaints so
we now have a
clearer overview of
where things can go
wrong and why - which is also very help-
ful for account managers. This enabled us
to become proactive in solving problem
areas. And there is another positive factor
here, too. Now we know where problems
arise, there is no more passing the buck
between departments. I'd say this has
really improved communication between
front and back offices. They work
together on solving the problems and
that's a major step forward.
CAREER GUIDANCE
Louis van Woerden, P&O: 'The career
guidance project had a number of goals.
Ongoing developments in banking are
creating an environ
ment where profes
sionals, be they in
generalist or specialist
sales positions, in sup
port or in back-office
positions, will in-
creasingly work in
teams. This reduces
the number of managers we need, but
does put greater pressure on the qualities
of those who remain. Given this situation,
we have to put in place clear training and
career development paths for both the
professionals and the managers. The pro
ject has mapped out actions we can take.
One concrete result is the development in
cooperation with the Rabobank Academy
of training programs, such as the exe-
cutive marketing course that starts next
month. Another project aim was generat-
ing realistic job descriptions within CBS.
It has been years since that was last done.
We're currently in the process of finaliz-
ing that aspect and we'd like to come
back on it at a later date.'
BANK NOTES
Merchant bank, savings bank, retail
bank - the adjectives used to describe
the wide range of various types of
banks tend to be just that - an indi-
cation of a core activity. Rabobank also
has an adjective, but in contrast to
those noted above, it describes our form
of organization rather than one specific
activity. In our series on the why's and
how's of the CBS organization, we look
at where the 'cooperative' in Rabobank
came from and why it continues to be
important a century after it was first
introduced.
A brief history lesson is needed here.
Savings and loan cooperatives were the
brainchild of a mid-19th century Ger-
man burgomaster, Friedrich Wilhelm
Raiffeisen. Life was precarious for most
European farmers in those days (and
there wasn't even a CAP then). They
tended to be tenants of absentee land
lords, paying high rents for the land
they worked. Loans were hard to come
by and interest-rates exorbitant. Raiffei
sen, a contemporary of Karl Marx, was
gravely concerned about the conditions
of local farmers and came up with a
self-help concept which would ulti-
mately develop into Farmers' savings
and loan cooperatives.
The concept was simple. In good years,
the farmers put some money by and this
was used to finance investment, but
also to assist them when times were
hard. Cooperatives caught on rapidly in
Germany and the notion was soon ex-
ported to neighbouring countries, such
as France and Italy. Oddly enough, in
the highly industrialized but also very
agricultural UK, cooperative banks
would be launched by the Trades Union
movement. The Dutch took to cooper
ative banking like proverbial ducks to
water. The first was established in
1885, probably in someone's living
room, and the cooperative banking
movement never looked back.
So much for the history lesson. But
what exactly is a cooperative bank?
Rabobank is a joint-stock cooperative
- there's that word again - in which all
local Rabobanks are both members and
shareholders. The basis of the cooper
ative is a cross-guarantee system which
means all member banks and Rabobank
Group subsidiaries are liable for each
other's commitments. In other words,
the aggregate equity of the participants
- read: members - serves as guarantee
for any debt. More next month...
