i
What's NewS Issue 8 August/September 1997
customer value
11
knowledge-driven bank, but I'd say RI has
^Jeen in expansion mode for so long that
not enough attention has been paid to
educating people.
WNS: Roel, you've been listening to this
and you've been talking to a lot of people
from the region. How does what the guys
are saying affect your perception of
marketing for the network?
Roel: First, let me say I'm not a great
believer in very general advertising as our
tooi in marketing communication, it is
however, necessary as a basis for name
recognition. Instead, we have countless
other tools that can be applied. Participating
in very visible, sector-oriented conferences
and trade fairs is just one. This type of event
means we can bring in customers who
experience us as knowledge-driven. I also
believe in providing support for the
^jnitiatives taken to produce specific tools by
^pffices in the network that relate and appeal
to their local markets. Our role in Utrecht is
to make sure this is done in a consistent
way. We want to make sure we don't create
80 different Rabobanks around the world.
Another way is to focus on our niches - as a
knowledge-driven bank, we could think,
maybe, of advertising our studies. And
we're also in the process of creating a tooi
kit for the network so that we keep the
positioning and identity of RI right.
WNS:How far is Utrecht from here
(Southeast Asia)?
Maarten: Very far. We hear a lot about
things going on there. But I think it is
tough for a lot of people to grasp what's
really going on. From that perspective, it
is very good to have people, senior people,
come here and teil their stories. We need
•■gular visits.
oei: Do you think that is even more
important here in Asia than elsewhere?
Paul: Very much so. No disrespect to our
Paul Beiboer
(Rabobank Duta,
Indonesia)
own general managers (laughing at
Maarten), but our clients are not waiting
to see them. They want the top people.
Maarten: I agree. The financial authorities
want to hear from our most senior guy
Éphv he wants this office opened.
T>aul: I go even farther - we need a lot more
interaction with other regions at many
levels. Communication and cooperation
between various centres around the world
could be very much improved.
WNS:For a moment I thought this was
going to be the old bottom line discussion.
Maarten: It is. I think our networking here
in Asia is developing nicely. But it is all
fine and dandy for head office people to
come here an teil us about one
organization and one P&L. But if I'm still
judged on my personal bottom line, if I'm
perceived in terms of performance, it will
be hard for me to refer deals to other
offices if I don't get the credit.
RoekThere's talk about developing a way
to ensure people do get the credit for work
done.
Paul We hear it being kicked around. You
need something, even if it's only a pat on
the back. At the very least, you could
make networking part of the annual
performance evaluation or review.
Something like: 'Okay, Paul, what have
you done in terms of networking? How
many deals have you referred?'
WNS:This point comes up every time we
do a round table. I remember Dominque
Bech back in March saying that
organizations like Goldman Sachs used
networking as an integral part of the
annual review - and if you aren't a
teamplayer, you are out.
Maarten: One of the best examples and
ways of dealing with this dilemma is
export finance. No one can do this kind of
deal alone. You must have at least two
players in two different countries. They
have to team up and they have to find a
way to book the deal that is acceptable to
all parties. Banks that are very successful
in export finance are probably the most
successful at communicating and
networking. Why don't we look at them
and see how they do it? We need a bridge.
Roel: As I see it, that's what the policy
committees are all about - creating a
bridge. They are not exclusively head-
office - read: a long way from here -
groups, they bring in people from the
whole network. Okay, I agree that this
bridge is being constructed at general
manager and managing board level. But
the aim is that it will filter down. Sure it
will take time. People have to get used to
new ways of doing things. I see this year
as an intermediate period.
Maarten: Okay, but I'm still fascinated by
this problem - it's universal. Why are
some banks so successful at
communicating, how do they do it?
Paul: Right. If we can 'borrow' the process
from someone else, why not? I don't want
to struggle.
WNS: Are those your major concerns:
bottom line and communication and the
rest is all hunky dory?
Maarten: No, no - of course not. If we go
back to customer focus and how the
strategy is being implemented, then - and
this is communication related, but on a
different level - I don't think everyone in
the network is fully aware of the outcome
of all these policy committees and so on.
Roel:I think you're right, but the big
challenge here is the timing and content of
the internal communication. During the
change process - in which we are, there
are lot's of things being discussed,
rediscussed and reformulated (which is a
natural thing in a change process). Does it
create more insight to communicate every
little step in that change process to
everybody, or should we choose to
communicate to all colleagues when things
are more clear?
Paul: What I'd like is more clarity on non-
F&A. There are a lot of areas where we
are not clear to our own staff and to our
customers. Despite all the nice policy
committees and think-tanks, we forget to
set out clearly where else we're going. I
Roel van Veggel
(RI Marketing)
pity the people who work with
international corporates as there is little
guidance as to how to approach non-F&A
sectors and what our ambitions are with
respect to this line of business. More than
50 percent of our business globally is not
F&A. All I know is that we're supposed to
be opportunistic in other sectors. But how
can I send out my relationship managers
with that story? What is my story? Do I
teil the big manufacturing multinationals
that we're great at F&A? They couldn't
care less. All they want is cheap money.
WNS: Guys, I'm afraid we're going to have
to wind this up - running out of space.
Anyone want the last word?
Paul: No chance of getting into the country
limits debate, I suppose?
Roel: As I see it, people have been
preoccupied with the customer focus
strategy for a long time now - I think
there's a general feeling that it's time to get
back to business.
Maarten: I absolutely agree that any
company which wants to reinvent itself
has to make changes and to take in
concepts which you later translate into
concrete, practical action. But it seems to
me we're full of concepts and never seem
to get down to the practical. I'm a simple
guy. I like to know what I have to do.
Making money is certainly not too
academie a concept for me.