APFTRoadshow
One-to-one presentations
Follow-up
Tailor-made solutions
Wine industry potential
Synergizing expertise
Crop financing
Reaching goals
What'sNewS Issue 6-June 1998 I5
outside the credit area. A number of
companies expressed appreciation for the
fact that a bank should have such a
uniquely strong strategie grasp of their
businesses.
lt became clear that 'one-to-one'
presentations are the trend of the future,
and that this will make a host of
practical demands that put the general
concept of 'customer intimacy' to a
practical test. On the one hand, despite
the fact that this was primarily a
marketing and not a sales-orientated
exercise, the roadshow did achieve a
fcpiumber of direct hits, and the real
potential for more actual business in
1998. On the other hand, it also injected
a note of hard realism about the
importance of cross-border and cross-
disciplinary follow-up. 'Viewed in terms
of immediate results, the road show was
satisfactory,' explains Streefkerk. 'We
were able to market ourselves to a
number of potentially important new
clients, and lay out the full suite of
Rabobank's capabilities, and at the same
time we also came closer to closing
several important deals, even though this
was not our primary objective.'
However, 'the ultimate goal is to
position Rabobank at the top of each
target clients' short-list of key banking
P-elationships,' Streefkerk adds. it's easy
to make presentations and to talk about
customer intimacy as a general goal, but
at the end of the day, getting on the top
of that list, and really following up
and producing future sales, are the true
mark of success. If we are honest with
ourselves, we have to say that we still
have a good way to go before we
achieve this aim. In many cases, we
might well be "onto-it" but not yet
"intimate," so to speak. The potential is
there but it is going to take a lot of hard
work to turn it into an ongoing stream
of value-added business,' Streefkerk
emphasizes.
Transforming potential into actual
^business, and clintbing up the list to
^teeome a top-tier banking partner with
these potential new clients, will require
superlative internal cooperation and
professional follow-up. Genuine
customer intimacy requires the ability to
actually deliver knowledge in a useful
form. We have to proactively anticipate
clients' needs, deliver a clear strategie
view on industry trends, and produce
innovative and structured financial
solutions, taking into account the clients'
unique corporate culture all the while.
The roadshow made it clear that major
marketing and sales efforts need to be
undertaken, with an emphasis on careful
and joint planning and execution, all
within programs of limited size that can
be pursued with consistency over time.
The tailor-made approach requires that
Rabobank staff will act as bilateral
coaches or consultants, usually through
virtual (or cross-functional, cross-border)
teams.
Among two of the more interesting niche
market opportunities that were
developed during the APFT roadshow
were a potential wine industry
specialization and the
agri-service centre
concept. Within wine,
there is a significant
opportunity for us to
leverage Rabobank's
evolving experience
and product
innovation in both the
'Old' and 'New
Worlds', particularly as
European markets
begin to show signs of
further consolidation
and foreign
investment, with the
potential for integrated
financial solutions that
would also involve colleagues in
Australia, California, Chile, South Africa
and Argentina. The idea is to create a
very focused global wine industry group
which could potentially capture the
emerging opportunities in this field.
Says Milan's senior F&A account
manager Mariano del Vescovo: 'We've
done quite a lot of research on Italian
wine producers and selected the quality
producers, the ones with a well
established international image and
brand. We were looking for international
players who could be served by our
international network. During our
research and interviews with the
companies, we addressed the strategie
Mariano del Vescovo, Milan
issues facing their industry to establish
their detailed needs. Our colleagues at
APFT added their own expertise on an
international level which enabled us to
make a really detailed presentation to the
president and owner of a major Italian
quality wine producer. As a result, it is
likely that we will be asked to financially
package certain ideas which may involve
expansion abroad. This is an example of
how we can pursue a shared vision with
our clients by synergizing global
expertise.'
On the agri-service centre concept, APFT
is experimenting with a new means of
structured crop financing for a pool of
growers in emerging markets, through
the involvement of a major trading
and/or agri-chemical company. The
concept addresses the need for greater
risk sharing and capital efficiency, and
also partly addresses the limitations on
working capital that
often form a major
stumbling block to the
development of
profitable agriculture
in emerging
economies. This was
an issue repeatedly
brought up during the
roadshow by potential
clients.
I
The overall priority is
to develop a more
holistic approach in
which the capabilities
of APFT, investment
banking, corporate finance, relationship
management, trade finance, research and
APFT are all integrated and coordinated
in the effort to meet our F&A clients'
needs. The roadshow did lay a good
foundation, but it cannot be repeated
too often: we need to develop a much
stronger preparedness to interact and
cooperate than is currently the case.
The market and cliënt focus will have to
override prevailing organizational
patterns and practices. If this follow-up
is well coordinated and carefully
executed, and if we can attain a more
intensive and acceptable level of
cooperation within the RI organization
overall, we ought to be able to
substantially reach Rabobank's goals
over the next two years.
