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REGION SPECIAL WHOLESALE BANKING IN THE NETHERLANDS
Sander Pruijs:
28 ISSUE 23 MAY 2010 RI WORLD
Sander Pruijs
This will mean playing to Rabobank's own strengths, says Sander
Pruijs, Regional Head of Wholesale, the Netherlands. "Providing
maximum cliënt value is in the DNA of Rabobank and right now is
the perfect time to stress this, to be explicit about what we want to
do. We have the fïnancial strength, the people, the resources and a
huge amount of sector and financial markets know-how. Let's use
that to make a difference where it matters for our clients."
Another big advantage, says Els Kamphof, Head of Corporate
Lending, is that Rabobank has maintained a strong external focus -
on its ciients - during the crisis, while its rivals have been relatively
internally focused. "Just look at the journey we've made over the
past two years, and what we've achieved. We have shown that we
have everything it takes to be a market leader. In most of the major
transactions in the Dutch market in 2009, Rabobank has taken
a leading role. We just need to communicate that confidence to
the market, too."
We should be making it very clear that Rabobank has a strategy
that is aimed at customer value. When they grow, we grow, that
is the idea, Pruijs adds. "We also need to stress our international
capabilities. All our stakeholders should be aware of who we are
and what we can do. We have no wish to be all things to all men,
but we can do so much more than many people believe."
Rabobank's most recent Dutch ad campaign, focusing on corporate
clients around the world, is helping to correct the perception
of Rabobank as a purely domestic retail bank, and this message
needs to be stressed in Communications with all stakeholders, says
Matthijs Mondria, Head of Food Agribusiness Corporates. "We
need to leverage the enormous power of the Rabobank brand
and at the same time load that brand with our wholesale and full
international capabilities. Let's not forget that we are already the
biggest M&A advisor in this country. That's how we need to position
ourselves."
Eric Saris, Head of Mid-Corporates, agrees. Rabobank is making
a clear and visible transition from a collection of business units -
not always operating under the Rabobank name - to a truly client-
centric organisation combining all its capabilities to come up with
added value solutions for its clients. "If we can load that into the
brand, we will be seen as the corporate bank for everyone."
And we still need to stress the importance of collaboration, says
Tanja Cuppen. Rabobank has different businesses serving different
clients with different needs, but the know-how and products
developed in one business can add value to other businesses. "We
should be aligning more within wholesale, directing our efforts
towards creating cliënt solutions."
Eric Saris agrees that this collaboration between product groups -
creating solutions that are more than the mere sum of their parts
- is one of the keys to cliënt value. "Products are to a large degree
commodities. It's how you bring those products together that
makes the difference. Customers are looking for solutions rather
than a collection of individual products."
