During the year under review, a number of improvements, based in part on the Customer Focus
performance indicators, were made to further increase the focus on the interests of customers.
Good products
Rabobank has continued to simplify its range of products, including mortgages, payment
platforms, consumer loan and savings products, and investment products. This has made
the product range more transparent for customers, and many products have become more
affordable, too.
Rabobank pays a great deal of attention to simplifying the language used in its product
information, proposals and terms and conditions, so that the contents are clear and easy-to-
understand for all customers. Mortgage proposals were fully rewritten, for instance, during
the year under review. In addition, Rabobank makes improvements to the information and
texts on its website on an ongoing basis in order to provide clients with clear, comprehensive
and accurate information.
Rabobank has had a product approval committee since 2004. During the year under review,
the system of standards used by the committee in its reviews was revised and tightened up
further. The committee checks the quality of products and assesses whether the information
received by clients is easy-to-understand, balanced and complete. It also monitors whether
products and services reflect the needs of clients. Rabobank examines the existing product
offering periodically to determine whether it still meets current requirements. Needless to say,
this process also takes customer feedback and complaints into account. Whenever Rabobank
reviews a product in this way, the product information is always reworded in simple Dutch.
Suitable advice
Rabobank aims to establish mutually loyal relationships with customers, offering the best
financial solutions and services for each stage of the customer's life or the enterprise's lifecycle.
In doing so, Rabobank helps consumers achieve their financial goals and businesses achieve
success.The focus is therefore shifting from product-oriented to customer-oriented advice.
The objective is to be able to provide the customer with integrated advice and to discuss his or
her overall situation, both on a periodic basis and in special situations.
Rabobank Nederland and the local Rabobanks invested a great deal in improving the quality of
mortgage services in 2011, stressing the provision of suitable advice. Besides training advisers
and managers, and streamlining processes and checks, efforts were put into improving the
systems used by advisers. Attention was also paid to continuing the process of assuring customer
integrity. Rabobank only wants to do business with customers that we know, whose intentions
are honourable and whose risks are acceptable.
Service excellence
The use of new media and virtual contacts is becoming more and more popular among
consumers. Customers use all kinds of communication channels to contact Rabobank.
During the year under review, Rabobank conducted extensive customer research in order to
ensure that it can provide the best possible customer support going forward, irrespective of
the channel the client chooses, for example when a mortgage is taken out. In future, it will be
possible for direct contact with an adviser at a branch to be combined with contact through
virtual channels if the client wishes so. The prime consideration will at all times remain the
provision of personal mortgage advice that suits the customer's needs.
Rabobank wants to be accessible to all client groups, including clients with a disability. This is
part of the service Rabobank offers. To this end, it is continuing to work on making services
and branches more accessible to all clients.
During the year under review, Rabobank made a start on implementing a new integrated
complaints management policy. As part of this, Rabobank Nederland and the local Rabobanks
made additional improvements to the complaints handling procedure at various levels,
19
Strategic Framework Cooperative identity
