IBM solutions

Point of view
July 2009

Investing in great relationships: how smarter collaboration

can help retail banks turn customers into advocates.
“ To delight customers, banks need a major makeover that
requires significant changes in their strategies, processes
and underlying technologies. The path isn’t easy or fast,
but it does exist, and banks are beginning to follow it.” 1
— CGI Group Inc.

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Imagine this:
Carolyn needs to deposit a check from her brother-in-law into her savings account. She
heads to the nearest branch of her bank during her lunch break. After waiting in line for a
few minutes, she approaches the teller, David, and hands him a check and deposit slip.
From her account record, David sees that she has recently filled out an online application
for a home-equity line of credit. He asks whether she’s heard anything yet. Carolyn replies
that she hasn’t and that she’s eager to know whether she’s been approved.

David sends an instant message to a colleague in the loan department, who works at
an office hundreds of miles away. The loan officer checks Carolyn’s status and sees
that there’s one more piece of documentation he needs. Carolyn is able to produce the
required document within hours, leading to her loan approval the very next day. And as it
so happens, this helps the loan officer meet his weekly goals.

Without David’s attention, the approval may have taken much longer. Carolyn is very
pleased with the high level of service she experienced, and she lets her friends and family
know. Her brother-in-law has been looking for a new bank in town. He’s impressed by
Carolyn’s story and opens an account that week.

This bank has turned a customer into an advocate by empowering its employees to work
smarter to address the customer’s every need. Tellers, loan officers and other employees
can work together to meet business goals. They are strengthening relationships, eliminat-
ing bottlenecks in the way they work, and making better decisions faster. And it’s making
the bank more successful.

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 Chances are, Carolyn’s brother-in-law was looking for much
more than a convenient banking location. You’ve probably
seen it yourself: Customers are becoming more informed
consumers of financial services. They’re researching fees and
interest rates, they’re listening to others’ opinions, and they’re
becoming more selective. Consumers know that banks are
vying for their business. And competition is fierce.

How to stand out from the competition? Surprisingly, it’s not

about fees and interest rates. Or new products and services.
Rather, retail banks are differentiating by becoming customer
centric, investing in rich and deep customer relationships. And
that means much more than staying open later or greeting cus-
tomers with friendly hellos. Customer-centric retail banks focus
on providing the right services and products at the right times,
regardless of location or channel.

Key to richer customer relationships is being able to offer

the services and products customers need — perhaps even
before they realize they need them. This is a powerful tool for
turning customers into advocates, and it can be in the hands
of practically every bank worker, regardless of role. How? By
enhancing employees’ ability to collaborate in order to access
the right expertise and information when they need it.

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 “Developing a new view of clients and advocacy is an impor-
tant first step in converting clients into advocates. To make a
meaningful change within your enterprise, you must be able
to take new insights on client advocacy and turn them into
tangible actions focused on key interaction points.”
In retail banking, one thing remains constant:
customers mean business
In the 1990s, retail banks trended toward establishing an
online presence, believing that customers would eventually
conduct most, if not all, of their business online. This turned
out not to be the case. Instead, retail banking customers are
looking for much more than 24x7 account access; they want a
one-stop shop that revolves around their needs to help them
meet their unique financial goals. And when customers find
that relationship, they tend to be very loyal.
In large part, these kinds of personal relationships have become
more important because customers are better informed and
have more choices. This is especially true for first-time custom-
ers, such as those in developing countries, who may not have
been exposed to banking. They place high importance on
relationships and personal attention.
— IBM Institute for Business Value2
Banking customers around the globe make it clear that they
prefer to have their financial needs met by only one financial
institution. But they require proof that one bank can provide
for all of their requirements before they’ll open or transfer
accounts. These customers need to experience superior ser-
vice, convenient delivery — and holistic advice that addresses
all facets of their financial situations.3
The problem that many banks face in becoming more customer
centric and providing that proof is that they’re not making the
best use of the information and knowledge base they have.
There may be no avenue for collaboration among employees or
between employees and senior management. And the people
who need customer data most may not have an easy — or
any — way to access it. Banks need to provide their people with
a smarter way of working to take advantage of their collective
knowledge and turn it into more value for their customers. By
helping their people collaborate, banks can better meet cus-
tomer expectations and operate more efficiently.
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Banks can’t afford dormant information
Untapped information, ranging from dormant information to valu-
able information in employees’ heads, is everywhere in banks.
And tapping into this information and expertise can unlock
significant opportunities. Dormant — or siloed — information is
data that exists in one application or database and can’t be
accessed by the people who need it. This is commonly the
result of merger and acquisition activity or databases that may
have been developed with only one use in mind, such as those
for checking account histories. “Advances in technology keep
stoking demand for more sophisticated portfolio and risk-
management tools for investors and staff. The net result is that
firms must continue to spend just to maintain parity.”4 When
banks want to move toward customer centricity, change and
innovation become imperative.
Here’s an example: If only a bank manager has access to a
customer’s auto loan information, then a teller would never see
that the loan is coming to an end — and wouldn’t be able to offer
the customer a new loan for a new car at a great rate. An oppor-
tunity to create an advocate would be lost. When information
exists in silos or is only available to one individual, banks aren’t
making the most of it. When the same information is shared, it
becomes a potent tool for enriching relationships.
This information sharing must take place within the context of
an employee’s tasks and activities. Security-rich collaboration
tools that are designed to be easy to learn and use can help
employees quickly respond to — and anticipate — customer
needs. In addition, when employees can collaborate with their
colleagues and make great decisions, job satisfaction and
employee retention rise.
Information + context + collaboration =
customer advocates
The formula for creating customer advocates is straightforward:
Combine the right information with context and collaboration.
The information in this equation is data your bank probably
already has — such as loan amounts, applications in process,
and checking and savings account balances. Context, in this
sense, means the job role of the employee and the situation of
the customer. And smarter collaboration means using tech-
nology to empower the employee with that information and a
simple way to communicate. Collaboration-enabled business
processes not only help drive productivity and adaptability,
they can also foster deeper relationships.

Smarter collaboration
People work smarter when collaboration is embedded in
the way they work.
• Help people across departments and the enterprise
work together in cost-effective ways.
• Discover, share, apply and preserve expertise.
• Turn relationships into business advantages.
• Speed business processes and reduce costs.

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Collaboration tools, such as Web portals and Internet-based
services that emphasize information sharing and collaboration,
can help bank employees provide the personalized service cus-
tomers are looking for by enabling cross-channel, event-based
selling. They can help branch managers and key executives
keep a close watch on how branches are performing — down to
the employee level. The tools can provide the information that
forms the basis for any necessary remediation. They can even
enable you to tap into customer thinking about service offerings
and strengthen relationships through community features.
Many branches, one tree: how smarter
collaboration fosters common goals
To meet overarching business goals, everyone — not just
upper-level managers — needs access to information and
expertise. It should be easy for any bank employee, in nearly
any job role, to get the information he or she needs, and that
information should be tailored to individual job roles and tasks.
It should also be easy for employees to communicate and
collaborate when and where they need to so they can gain
deeper insight into their customers’ needs and provide increas-
ingly customer-centric levels of service. By working smarter
through collaboration and with the help of greater insight,
employees can make quicker, more informed decisions that
promote customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Building a foundation for working smarter
With the right collaboration technology, you gain the potential to erase
boundaries, build relationships and save money. Your employees can
find the answer to a question in seconds from an expert across the
country or halfway around the world. They can combine information
to make faster business decisions.
• Connect— When it comes to differentiation from the competition,
the customer experience can be a trump card. Collaboration software
can help you do more than just support relationships and drive
efficiencies—it can help you create communities and build advo-
cacy. You can create dialogues that foster productive relationships
both inside and outside your organization. And you can figure out
what people want before they ask for it.
• Collaborate — Even if a customer service representative in a call
center and a loan origination officer are a thousand miles apart,
their ability to come together and make decisions quickly can make
or break a client relationship. The right collaboration tools can help
people in departments across the institution come together and
make decisions quickly in realtime using e-mail, instant messaging,
social networking, document sharing, Web conferencing, telephony
or videoconferencing.
• Innovate — Innovation isn’t just about creating groundbreaking
products and services. It’s about creating a business culture that
fosters quick thinking and new ideas. Available at their fingertips,
dashboards give executives the information they need about
customer trends. Enterprise social networking enables people to
discover and share knowledge and expertise in profiles, blogs,
wikis and other tools. And mashups offer new ways to combine
information and quickly generate insights.
• Optimize — In tough economic times, smart banks must be more
efficient than ever, both in terms of people’s behaviors and the
infrastructure that supports the way they work. Low-cost col-
laborative environments, leveraging Linux® technology and open
productivity tools, can free up costs. Instant messaging technology
enables people to come together via online meetings and communi-
cate in realtime, just about anytime. The result? Less need for travel
and more cost-effective interaction with colleagues.
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 Branch managers
Branch managers are concerned with meeting their goals, so
they need the information that can help them be proactive in
making sure they do. For example, if new account openings
are below target, they need to know why. With the right tools,
bank managers can see exactly which account representatives
are not meeting expectations and can investigate possible rea-
sons for this. Then managers can take action to remediate the
problem by providing the support or education their employees
need. And they can easily see the results.
Tellers
Bank tellers must provide deep and personalized levels of
service to customers. They require empowerment and support
via access to information about their customers and collabora-
tion with their colleagues. Tellers should have access not only
to the account at hand but also to information regarding other
products and services that would be of value to that customer.
In addition, tellers need fast and simple ways to communicate
with their peers and management when they have questions or
need advice. Through blogs, instant messaging applications
and Web portals, tellers can keep up with branch goals, learn
about new products and services, and make great decisions
that empower them and their customers.
“Using the solution from Virgil and IBM,
we believe that we offer the fastest, most
convenient access to financial data now
available in the Netherlands.”
— Theo van Koningsveld,
manager of electronic distribution wholesale,
Rabobank International
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Advisers
When helping customers make decisions that will affect their
financial lives for years to come, advisers need access to
more than the newest product in the bank. With an easy way
to review customer history — including, for example, how many
times a customer has tapped into savings over a 12-month
period — advisers can offer much more than a high-interest-rate
certificate of deposit or five-year plan. They can give personal-
ized advice based on past financial concerns and activity and
help customers create more-solid financial foundations.
Phone representatives
When is a checking account balance more than just a checking
account balance? When phone representatives see it in context
of the bigger financial picture. With collaboration tools, these
representatives can have the information they need to suggest
products that might serve even the best checkbook balancer
better, such as interest-bearing checking or money market
accounts. And because suggestions are based on customer
history and not simply on new products, customers may be
more likely to purchase. And they may very much appreciate
a bank that’s looking out for their needs.
Online representatives
Behind the “click to chat” button on bank Web sites is a real
person waiting to answer practically any question customers
may have. These representatives, when armed with compre-
hensive customer information, can make the same insightful
suggestions as phone representatives — at any time of the day
or night — and at the convenience of the customer.
With the right information, the right tools and the right levels of
empowerment, virtually every bank employee can add to the
enrichment of customer relationships.
Information access and collaboration: bank on
the differences you’ll see
When employees are empowered with the information they
need to work smarter and make great decisions for your cus-
tomers, you can bank on better customer satisfaction, higher
customer retention rates and the transformation of customers
to advocates. As a result, you may see revenue increase as
your employees become more satisfied with their jobs and
even more committed to helping your bank meet its goals.
Rabobank International provides faster financial
insight through a realtime Web portal
Having started as a group of small rural banks in the late 19th
century, Rabobank International is now a large conglomerate
comprising 288 local banks that provide a wide range of
financial services and products to Dutch retail and business
marketplace segments. Rabobank International is part of the
larger Rabobank Group, a marketplace leader in virtually
every financial services area.
Challenge
Rabobank International comprises 288 banks that provide a
wide range of financial services to businesses and consumers
in the Netherlands. To offer the best rates, prices and advice to
customers, Rabobank must have the quickest possible access
to stock market data, interest and exchange rates, and other
financial information. But like most large banks in its market-
place segment, Rabobank used separate internal applications
to tap into the various data sources. This process forced staff
to toggle through several interfaces to find all of the pertinent
data for a customer, making it hard to offer fast, quality advice.
Maintaining the various applications was also costly. To better
serve customers, Rabobank needed to deliver financial insight
more efficiently.
Solution
Rabobank became the first bank in its marketplace segment to
integrate financial data sources into a centralized, customizable
portal. Based on software from IBM and IBM Business Partner
Virgil, the portal enables staff to provide faster, more accurate
advice, and it allows customers to track relevant data in realtime
via the Web. Virgil’s technology leverages IBM WebSphere ®
software to integrate directly with the data sources, making
it possible to stream financial data as it changes, without
multiple applications.
Benefits
• Staff and customers can access the data they need 35
percent more quickly.
• Lower application costs cut total cost of ownership by 15
percent, enabling an 18-month ROI.
• First-to-market functionality increases customer satisfaction.
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IBM: helping retail banks grow, now and in IBM WebSphere Portal and IBM Lotus software
the future IBM WebSphere Portal and IBM Lotus ® software are industry-
IBM has deep, firsthand experience in the banking industry, leading portal and collaboration technologies that can provide:
especially when it comes to transforming traditional branches
• A single interface for a dispersed workforce.
into customer-centric, collaborative banks that drive results.
• Integrated instant messaging, social networking tools,
We’re here to help you define your bank’s business imperatives
e-mail, calendars and group scheduling.
and explore the technologies that can result in a smarter way to
• Integrated, online productivity tools.
work and an increased competitive advantage.
• Capabilities that help individuals and teams work
Our professionals apply business, industry and technology when, where and how they choose.
expertise to creating banking solutions that drive real busi- • Enhanced value as more tools, technologies and
ness value. We’re your trusted single source to solve the most processes are added.
complex — and the simplest — problems and to help you reach
Financing
your goals. We combine our extensive banking industry knowl-
IBM has financing solutions for businesses of practically all
edge and experiences with best practices we’ve gleaned from
sizes and in nearly every location. With financing from IBM, you
other industries. We’ve invested strongly in capabilities required
can consolidate contracts for hardware, software, services and
to address significant banking issues, and our global presence
ancillary suppliers; help free up cash for other strategic invest-
means that you can access resources around the world via a
ments; and take advantage of IBM’s status as a world leader of
single local source. Our delivery track record speaks for itself:
multivendor IT financing.
consistent, flexible and cost-effective.

We can help your company realize short-term ROI by increas-

ing system-wide performance. Together, we can help build a
flexible solution for now, and for the future.

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Supported by IBM Software Services for Lotus
For more information about services that support Lotus and
WebSphere Portal products, go to:
ibm.com/software/lotus/services
For more information
To learn more about IBM retail banking solutions and how they
can be augmented by IBM communications and collaboration
technologies, please contact your IBM sales representative or
IBM Business Partner, or visit:

ibm.com/banking

or

ibm.com/lotus

11
 © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009
1 Jame Cofran, “Toward the Promised Land of Delighted Customers: Ten Commandments for Transforming Lotus Software
Your Bank,” CGI, 2007, http://www.cgi.com/cgi/pdf/cgi_whpr_73_toward_promised_land_e.pdf. IBM Software Group
2, 4 IBM Institute for Business Value, Building client advocacy: New opportunities for wealth management firms, One Rogers Street
January 2008. Cambridge, MA 02142
U.S.A.
3 IBM Institute for Business Value, No bank is an island: Get global before globalization gets you, Banking
Community Call, April 2008. Produced in the United States of America
July 2009
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