F&A learning curve, part two
relati onship managers'course
Rabobank Internationals pioneering
F&A relationship management
course was launched early this year
amid high expectations. It is now
well advanced and the initial dass
will soon enter its final phase.
^Fhree members of the inaugural
dass share their experiences on the
progress to date.
Action-learning modules
Positive evaluation
Teamwork
Constructive criticism
What'sNewS Issue 7 July 1998 ~J
Betty Mills of Atlanta, Philippe
Charbonnier of Paris, and Fernando
Araya of Santiago de Chile are all young
account managers with broad experience
in the F&A market. They form part of a
30-strong class engaged in the three-part,
custom-designed program devised to help
them develop a new approach to
customer value. This spring, they
completed the second part of the
program, and we asked them to rate the
^ffectiveness of the course so far. Is it
meeting its stated goal of changing
attitudes? What have they gained to date?
First, a word on the structure of the
course, which involves three modules
built on the 'action-learning' principle: the
Hrst component, in London, focused on
opportunities, trends, and developments
in the global F&A industry. The second,
recently completed in Chicago, focused on
working tools, with particular attention
paid to corporate finance and investment
banking. It conveyed an understanding of
swaps, options, forwards and derivatives,
plus tax-driven financial structures and
other basics of corporate finance. The
final module will seek to integrate the
lessons of the first two modules into a
Boherent whole. 'Our overall aim as a
bank is to promote geographic and
functional cross-fertilization,' remarks
1 lenny van de Schraaf of the Rabo
Academy. 'Our aim has been to
accentuate these priorities by designing a
training program that will promote a new
way of working - and stress the
importance of innovation and dynamic
interaction.'
Betty Mills is enthusiastic about the
results. 'The first module gave insight on
overall company strategy, whereas the
second provided very specific and useful
tools for evaluating companies and the
Fernando Araya -
solving cases
way they create value. The real challenge
now is to find time to apply what we
learned and to approach customers with
different ideas. We always get quite
focused on day-to-day calling and
prospecting, but we need to take more
time to evaluate our clients on a macro
level in order to help them solve
problems. My goal is to spend more time
with my largest clients and incorporate
what I've learned while it's still fresh.'
Both during the modules and in the time
in-between, participants have been asked
to work in teams, to identify existing (or
potential) clients, and try to build a
relationship with that firm. 'These project
teams are quite challenging,' says Mills.
'We all have very demanding jobs and we
are trying to focus on our projects at the
same time. We are hoping we can add
value to our project company once we
finish all of our evaluations and make our
recommendations.' Philippe Charbonnier
echoes this view, saying, 'when a
relationship manager has 20 clients, there
is little time to work with a cliënt in-
depth. If we want to sell value-added
services, we should manage no more than
ten clients at a time. Also, if value is going
to come from new products, it might be
useful to invest more on people
specifically focused on product
development - for example quasi-equity
and off balance sheet financing for F&A
firms.' As for the case studies approach,
participants have been generally positive.
Fernando Araya points out that 'by
solving cases, you immediately start
looking for an association with one of
your clients. Cases sometimes help you to
create new financing structures that best
suit your clients financial needs.'
Charbonnier believes 'the level of the
course was good, considering the fact that
it started out as an experiment. The
University, teaching staff and quality of
materials at Chicago were all perfect, and
the seminar had a very friendly and casual
atmosphere. Members of the IRM teams
know each other quite well by now, and
the relationships are easier and more
friendly. This will probably help the
networking approach in the future and
help create business opportunities.'
Q
Philippe Charbonnier
- more attention to
specifcs
However, Charbonnier offers several
constructive suggestions. 'I think it might
have been better if we'd been able to
devote more attention to some of the
specific deals. This was impossible
because of time considerations, but I
think it might be valuable in the next
IRM course.' What's more, 'globally, the
sessions were too academie and lacked
enough "down to earth" material. It
could be interesting in the future to
arrange an IRM session in London or
New York, where we could get some
concrete examples of how high-value
added services can be provided to our
clients. I.aws are different from country to
country, and some of the structures you
learn in the IRM course are not
necessarily useful for every one, but if you
can absorb the general concept, it is
usually possible to adapt it to your own
specific reality.'
