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.

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1997 | | pagina 11