Our big advantage
is the jact that we are
the only bank that
really focuses on one
sector, right through
the chain, from retail
all the way to
wholesale
MANAGEMENT SPECIAL CLIENT LEADERSHIP
Mobility
Sipko Schat:
'This is exactly how you demonstrate the added value
Rabobank can offer," Marttin says. Rabobank's global
sector knowledge offers tremendous added value,
especially for Rabobank's main Rural and Retail Bank
ing target group, which is top farmers. These farmers
operate in a global environment and they know, for
instance, that what happens in the dairy sector in,
say, Brazil, affects dairy prices in the US, but they do not have ready
access to the expertise that Rabobank can offer.
Sipko Schat
knowledge to provide clients with products and
services they really need. "But they also need to control
the relationship and the flow of ideas between the
bank and the cliënt. By controlling the relationship
and bringing their sector knowledge to bear, SRBs can
make sure that the products offered are much more
aligned with a particular client's real needs," Schat
adds.
Berry Marttin: "So while the emotional engagement of the kitchen
table is at the heart of the cliënt relationship, it's also about the
products we offer and the global sector knowledge we bring to that
table. In fact, getting to the kitchen table gives us the chance to
bring all of this together- engagement, products and knowledge."
"Of course," Schat says, "because SRBs and Relationship Managers
(RMs) play such a crucial role, Rabobank has a duty to make sure
these people are as well prepared as possible and that they have
all the knowledge they need to make this work. That means good
training and, perhaps just as importantly, mobility. We need to move
people around the bank, so they get to know the different parts of
the whole, both in geographical terms and in terms of the products
we offer."
One of the next steps, Schat and Marttin agree, is to make sure that
Rabobank offers the right products in the right places. "We are
currently looking at product gaps and how they can be filled,"
Schat says. "Given enough demand, we will have to develop new
products. While in some cases, we may have to form joint ventures,
like with investment bank Rothschild and the transaction banking
joint venture with Deutsche bank, as building some product capa-
bilities from scratch is simply not cost effective.
ISSUE 24 JULY 2010 RI WORLD
