Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Bringing Customer Relationships Back into CRM Implementations

Over the past decade, few banks have seen the rewards promised despite significant investments in CRM systems. A 2009 study by Forrester Research indicated that 47% of CRM project implementations in the U.S. fail in their initial attempt. While specific reasons can be cited, CRM failure is most often tied to a poorly planned strategy. Over the past decade, many organizations grossly underestimated the extent of internal restructuring necessary to reap the full benefits of their CRM solutions. While CRM systems can definitely be a crucial part of the effort to develop and maintain healthy relationships with clients, it is merely a technological enabler. Therefore, designing a CRM system to support a business that is not already customer-centric is unlikely to deliver satisfying results. “In the end, CRM delivered a healthy amount of tactical benefits (improving employee productivity, streamlining processes, reducing cost, etc.) but did not move the needle on customer loyalty and experience,” wrote Bob Thompson of CustomerThink.


Click here to download the entire PDF article


 


About The Author, Michael Ruckman


During his career, Michael has worked both as a banker and as a consultant for retail banks in more than 30 countries around the world. He has delivered a variety of successful projects ranging from business strategy to the launch of fully transformed retail institutions.


Michael is known for his experience in retail bank management, distribution network development, alternative channel rollouts, sales development, alliances and ventures, systems implementation, and corporate culture development.


His work portfolio includes large-scale projects for brands such as Abbey National, Alfa-Bank, Atlantico (Millennium BCP), Banco Venezolano, BNP-Paribas, Citibank, ING, Vneshtorgbank, Bank Menatep SPb, Nadra Bank and many others.


 



Bringing Customer Relationships Back into CRM Implementations

Monday, November 11, 2013

15 New Book Reviews - Now a Total of 90 Book Reviews at Senteo.net for the Banking Industry

We are happy to announce 15 new book reviews to our Recommended Reading List for Customer Experience, Customer Relationship Management and Loyalty topics. Launched in March 2013, this new addition adds up to a total of 90 book reviews, and we hope to reach over 100 reviews by the end of the year.


As a company dedicated to helping banks and retailers to enhance the quality of their relationships with customers through meaningful experiences, the executives of Senteo have read many books, research reports, articles and blogs on these topics. In fact, there are thousands of books covering different aspects of the subjects such as explaining theory, proving viability, sharing case studies, providing guidance, and more. By sharing its recommended reading list, Senteo is hoping to provide guidance to the reader when selecting the type of content that brings the most value.


Each book review is rated according to the Senteo Diamond Rating from One Diamond to five Diamonds. The factors used in the rating include structure, clarity and quality of content. In addition, each book review includes the following sections:


* Key Methodology Elements
* What we Liked
* What we Did Not Like
* Amazon Book Description
* Main Uses and/or Applications


Finally, each book review will show the type of content in the book as well as the main focus of the book, whether it is research, tactical application, measurement or quality control.


Whatever, your industry or needs, we hope you find the book reviews insightful.


Please stop by The Senteo Online Community and have a look.


Our community is free to join and only takes a few minutes to sign up. As always, your feedback is welcome and helps us to shape the future content of the site.


 


A Message from the CEO of Senteo


Over the past two years, we have worked to build the first phase of the Senteo Online Community as a resource to help bankers and financial professionals expand their knowledge in the areas of Customer Experience, Customer Relationship Management, and Loyalty.


As we continue to add to the online community, you will see new events, an expansion of our educational curriculum, and a new series of webinars from a fantastic line-up of speakers. Please join us as we strive to build a resource destination for bankers and financial professionals on the internet. As well, please share with us your thoughts, feedback, and desires for future content so that we can tailor topics and content to your liking.


Welcome to the Senteo Community !!



15 New Book Reviews - Now a Total of 90 Book Reviews at Senteo.net for the Banking Industry

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

B Joe Pine II Explores the Future of Banking in Beyond Products and Services

No industry has more commoditized itself over the past three decades than banking. Banks pushed people out of branches to use automatic teller machines in order to reduce personnel costs. They pushed them out of branches – the one physical space where they could actually control the experience provided to customers – to use telephone response systems, again in a bid to save money. They pushed them out of branches and onto the Internet to further reduce transaction costs. That’s no way to create a lasting relationship. Is it any wonder consumers treat financial offerings as mere commodities to be bought and sold on price, price, price?


Consider, however, a true commodity: the coffee bean. If you convert its commodity price from a per ton to a per cup basis, you will find that a cup of coffee costs just two or three cents for those who treat it as a commodity…


Click Here to Read the Entire PDF


 


About The Author, B. Joseph Pine II


B. Joseph Pine II is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike.


Joe specializes in helping people see the world of business differently. He did that first with the award-winning book Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition, which detailed how organizations didn’t have to provide the same thing to everybody, but could give customers exactly what they want, at a price they’re willing to pay. The Financial Times chose it as one the seven best business books of 1993.


Joe did it again with the best-selling book The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage, co-written with his Strategic Horizons’ partner Jim Gilmore, which showed how organizations must go beyond goods and services to staging engaging experiences. Published in fifteen languages and named one of the 100 best business books of all time by 800-CEO-Read, in July 2011 it came out for the first time in paperback as an Updated Edition with new ideas, new frameworks, and many new exemplars.


 


 



B Joe Pine II Explores the Future of Banking in Beyond Products and Services

Friday, November 1, 2013

Michael Ruckman Challenges Bankers to Be More Relationship Focused


The Relationship Centric Bank


Learning what your customers really want just might be the key to creating a relationship-centric bank.


According to a Gallup survey in 2009, only about half of customers surveyed could strongly agree that their banks performed the sorts of actions that likely would keep customers coming back, such as “making me proud of where I bank”, or “keeping me informed of new opportunities”, or even “understanding my financial goals.”


The Relationship-Centric Bank and a desire for repeated contact with a provider is just the beginning of a healthy relationship. Another survey conducted by Forrester in 2010 asked respondents if they agree with the statement, “my financial services provider does what is best for me not just its own bottom line” . Results showed that a majority of respondents simply don’t trust their banks.


Click here to download the entire PDF article



Michael Ruckman Challenges Bankers to Be More Relationship Focused