“Integrity is the currency that never loses its value; let it guide your every decision.”
Dear Readers, last week we saw the stresses faced by Relationship Officers and Managers as they go through the maze of expectations from both customers and the bank.
I also gave examples of how to handle key accounts to get a win win situation for both the bank and the customers.
Before I continue with the management of key accounts, lets look at some quotes from the chapter on Relationship Banking, from my book “THE MODERN BRANCH MANAGER’s COMPANION”
“The Branch/Relationship Manager’s Relationship with SMEs.
It is not just the value you want add, it is aligning with the business owner’s value drivers. Often-times, bankers are accused of abandoning customers after they have been convinced to open an account. They continue to move on with their “conquests”, looking for more accounts, forgetting the rest.
Many SMEs in our parts of the world do not have proper long-term strategic goals. Some business owners just enjoy carrying the daily cash proceeds to their homes and counting the cash.
Let us see how relationship managers in partnership with the branch managers can get closer to their customers in a more structured way:
Enquire about the SME customer’s business strategy or goals for the next three to five years. Often times, they have difficulty answering questions about these goals. Do not forget the distinction between a vision and a plan.
I hope that some of the small business owners could be coaxed into sharing their vision with you, if you approach it intelligently. Let us try:
- Spend time learning first about the history of the business and its principals.
- Delve into how the business works today.
- Develop an understanding of their current business and financial objectives.
- Frame the conversation about the future like this, using your own words of course: “Imagine that we’re having this conversation in 3 or 5 or 10 years. I’m going to ask you a series of questions about your company. It will be nice if our bank can be a partner in your growth. “
Use some follow-up questions to get the conversation started. Listen. Take notes. Ask follow-up questions sparingly. This is about them, not you. Pay attention.
- Avoid playing banker at this point. Just listen and learn.
- Go on as long as the client allows. You see some areas that would be worth pursuing in a follow-up conversation. It might involve introducing the business owner to someone from your Investment Banking Wing or Business Advisory specialists. It could even lead to facilitating an application for some of the donor-funded projects from the Western countries.
- Decide on what your next steps are. If there are others in the bank you should consult, bring them up and if possible, pay another visit with them to the customer. You never know, you win even win the bigger operations account being held at a competitor bank.
The RM’s Dilemma (contd)
This is a tall order! As an RM, you are to be the customer’s “Friend”. Sometimes they demand outrageous exchange rates for their foreign currency during international trade transactions. During the negotiations, many RMs find themselves being asked by the Bank’s management staff: “Are you for the customer or for the bank?”.
Meanwhile your customer is also threatening to take the transaction to another bank! This dilemma is very common and can put branch managers and relationship officers under duress. Management of the bank would not be happy if you lose a key account holder to a competitor!
Sometimes, you may face blame games, warnings, and sometimes poor appraisal from the supervisor. That is why managers need to know the customers’ business, the competition and its external environments and regularly send brief call reports to management for an appreciation of the customers’ stand and find solutions to withstand any shock from their decisions.
Increase Your Influence
The key to successful relationship management is to increase your influence with the decision maker in your key account. To do this, you must find out who’s who in the decision-making process, understand the ‘internal politics’ in your customer’s organization, the network in the key account and so become familiar with the whole organization.
One thing a manager or relationship officer should never do is to think that apart from the main customer, (the account holder), the CEO, Board Chairman, etc, nobody else matters in the company. Let me share a true story.
A young relationship manager dealt only with the Managing Director of a company. She never bothered to know the General Manager, Finance Manager, Sales and Operations Managers.
The other management staff were also key decision makers who exerted great influence in the company’s decisions. She had the rudest shock of her life when she realized that the company had started sending most of their sales proceeds to a competitor.
Apparently, they were not satisfied with the way the bank’s branch was handling their operational account. Returned cheques were not being advised, some SMS alerts messages did not pop up, causing inconsistencies in their balances on their internet banking platform. They felt the relationship manager did not respect them and had therefore managed to convince the CEO to try another bank!
This means that the relationship manager did not even bother to know how the company’s account was faring, neither did she even attempt to know the other executives to cross-sell other products like Executive loans, salary loans, etc to them.
For such products, you need to know the Finance Manager, Head of HR, Production Manager, not forgetting the Executive of their Local Union.
The union leaders are very influential in mobilizing the general staff to meet the bankers for a sales presentation. They sometimes become the bank’s advocates, so do not under-estimate their influence.
Strategic Planning for Decision making
Find out who within your key account is the Decision-maker, who signs-off on all strategies and deals. This varies depending on who you talk to, so ask a few different people within the organization, “Who makes the final decision?” and then decide yourself. Develop a rapport with this person if you can. There are some “Influencers” in the company.
They influence the decision maker and have expertise in a particular area – finance, strategy, operations, information technology, and therefore give valued input to the decision-maker.
It is advisable to have this person is on your side. In your interaction with other management staff, some may feed you with non-confidential information on what is happening within the company, may suggest business development ideas to you.
On the other hand, there are “Against” staff, so watch out! They prefer your competitor’s products to yours… there is one in every company. Try to develop at least a neutral relationship with this person.
The Politics in Your Customer’s Organization
As a human institution, your customer’s business is your business. Do not feel that you are being too intrusive. A good RM, in a bid to know the customer’s business may detect some sort of politics within the organization and know how to tread cautiously.
I remember the case of a senior Relationship Manager who, during a working visit to a key account’s factory, met an agitated staff, grouped together on the verge of starting a demonstration at the front of the factory.
They were threatening to report certain unethical practices within the company to the government.
Since the account had benefitted from a big credit facility from the bank, the Senior Relationship Manager, who was on good terms with some of the staff, engaged their leaders in an informal discussion, which eventually ended up successfully, with the management staff promising to rectify the anomalies.
Apparently, the senior RM played a critical role and sometimes gave advisory services to the CEO, which earned him a great deal of respect.
The strike could have caused losses to the business and obviously a default in the loan repayment schedule. This may be an extreme case, but when a Manager listens to the grapevine, certain sensitive information may emerge which can give the bank a heads-up during decision-making, while gaining a competitive edge.Avoid these things:
In the efforts to meet targets, RMs must a stay focused and avoid the following unethical acts:
- Never compare yourself to your customer by using the confidential business information you have, to seyour personal gain. You will be found out one day.
- Live within your means and not compete with the customers.
Enjoy your banking experience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alberta Quarcoopome is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, and CEO of ALKAN Business Consult Ltd. She is the Author of Three books: “The 21st Century Bank Teller: A Strategic Partner” and “My Front Desk Experience: A Young Banker’s Story” and “The Modern Branch manager’s Companion”. She uses her experience and practical case studies, training young bankers in operational risk management, sales, customer service, banking operations and fraud.
CONTACT
Website www.alkanbiz.com
