MOVING ON THE MIDDLE MARKET K WHAT'S NewS Issue 6 October 1995 market news 7 Aggressive marketing based on sound regional expertise forms the key to the bank's strategy for tackling a domestic market where we currently occupy a third position. While Rabobank is extremely strong in the SME and increasingly prominent in the larger corporate markets, the so-called middle market is almost virgin territory. Rob Hartog talks us through ongoing plans to increase our current 10 percent market share. 'The reason for our relative absence from this market is historie,' he says. 'Essen- tially, we were an agribank. In the 1960s, we moved strongly into urban areas in order to cover the savings market as a base for our lending. We were extremely successful here and a natural progression was into local small and medium-sized en- terprises. At the same time, Rabobank Nederland was also moving into the upper market. But we never truly defined policy ^■or the middle market.' So what exactly is the middle market? The policy document on which the new strat egy is based describes it as: Clients and prospects whose financial services require- ments are so varied and complex that they require a more than average knowledge of products, markets and sectors. 'You could also define them as companies with a turnover of at least NLG 20 million and more than 20 employees,' Hartog adds. mm MIDDENMARKT mm Rabobank gaat actief de midden- markt bewerken. Momenteel heeft de bank slechts 10 procent van deze aantrekkelijke markt in handen. Door de overheid zijn on langs tien economische groeiregio's aange- wezen. In al deze regio's zullen teams be- ^^staande uit drie ervaren accountmanagers en een ondersteunende persoon worden in gezet. Zij zullen vanuit een van de grotere plaatselijke banken in hun regio nieuwe cliënten voor de bank moeten winnen. The bank's study on the global Sugar and Sweeteners is now available from Marketing Services,+31 (0)30 216 2804. Most of these companies are exporters. That means they have all kinds of often complex needs. Our local banks, cannot possibly be expected to have that kind of know-how. So, I'd say they've done pretty well to get the market share we already have.' But the bank clearly wants a bigger slice of this particular pie. And it is prepared to put its money where its mouth is. The middle market project will have a time- scale of around five years and will be re- cruiting at least 50 highly qualified new staff. 'The strategy we have developed is aggressive,' Hartog says. 'The government has defined 10 economie growth areas around the country. We are planning to put in place a specialized team at one of the large member banks in each of those areas. The teams will consist of three ac count managers and a support staffer. Their job is to bring in new clients by first defining prospects in their particular region, discovering what these companies need and coming up with solutions. They can bring in specialists if needed'. Hartog explains: 'They will have to have indepth knowledge of the region, know how in the main sectors located there, and an equally sound insight into the bank's products. 'So, we are busy recruiting the first group of five teams now. We're trying to find them within the local banks them- selves, in Utrecht and, of course, outside. If we are going to achieve our goal of doubling market-share within the space of five years, then we have to bring in a very powerful sales force that is at least as good, and even better, than ABN Amro's. It's rather like when opening a new branch. They are the main competition as they have 60 to 65 percent of this market, while ING is second player with about 20 percent.' Mark the evening of December 1 in your diary as it is party-time for CBSers. Look out for the program and international activities in the next issue. The first five teams should be in place early in the new year. 'Our focus will be new business, new business and more new business,' says Hartog. 'We will be aggres sive and consistently persistent. But we're also a relationship bank, so we know it will take time to build the kind of con- fidence essential to this kind of relation ship. There are 10,000 companies in this market in Holland. We currently work with only 10 percent and our target is at least 20. We also know it's not going to be easy but at the end of the day, this is not really a basis-point business. We have to prove to this market that we are the best relationship bankers in the country.'

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1995 | | pagina 7