Tue 18 - Thu 20 November 2008 - Frankfurt am Main, Exhibition Grounds, Hall 5.1
E.B.I.F. sets the pace for customer orientation
Great demand for the latest CRM solutions
Wiesbaden, 19 October 2006 – Customer relationship management is currently undergoing something of a renaissance. In the run-up to the European Banking & Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.), exhibitors have also indicated that there is a new trend towards improved service among banks and insurance companies who are now focusing increasingly on customer orientation.
Modern information technology will be used more and more in the future in order to provide better advice for customers. Standardised, improved Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM), which can be used across all sales channels, create a uniform foundation of data for all employees. This is the key requirement for optimum and efficient customer care. Banks and insurance companies offer abstract products. You cannot smell a current account, taste a life assurance policy or hold a savings scheme in your hands. These days, the conditions and benefits of products and services are not only comparable but, in many cases, wholly interchangeable as well. Furthermore, thanks to the internet, today’s customers enjoy a far more transparent market than ever before. Not only can conditions be compared easily, but policies can generally be taken out online very quickly. As a result, bank and insurance customers no longer feel tied to one particular provider and are becoming more and more willing to change. Price and performance are no longer the sole key aspects – instead, qualitative aspects are now taking a front seat.
According to the Branchenkompass Kreditinstitute banking survey conducted by Steria Mummert Consulting in collaboration with the F.A.Z. Institute, almost 80% of account holders are prepared to pay more for service if more in-depth advice is provided. This is a clear indication that today’s financial services providers can differentiate themselves above all through the quality of the advice that they offer their customers. A prime example of this is Allianz. Two-thirds of customers lost by the insurance group over the last two years switched over to the competition because they were no longer enthusiastic about the company. The findings of the internal survey demonstrate that customers were clearly given substandard advice at times in the past (“Would you recommend us”, Handelsblatt, 4 September 2006). Allianz reacted to this and even introduced a key indicator for measuring customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The “net promoter score” gauges the likelihood of Allianz customers recommending the company to friends or colleagues.
Today, it is long-term customer satisfaction rather than short-term sales that is the main focus of sales efforts by banks and insurance companies. Sector players are well aware that it is four times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing one. According to the recent “Banking Trend” study, 90 percent of banks in Germany are now aiming to optimise their sales processes. The study, which was conducted for Steria Mummert Consulting in collaboration with ibi research and trade publication Bankmagazin, also showed that financial institutions are now making strategic investments in modern sales software. The foundation for the needs-oriented customer advice is that all employees will have the same data at their disposal. Modern, standardised CRM software ensures that all relevant data, e.g. regarding the customer’s job, marital status etc., can be included in an individualised offer for the customer’s personal requirements.
“Banks and insurance companies do not make use of anywhere near the enormous potential of modern CRM systems”, says Frank Uwe Burkhardt, banking expert at IBM Deutschland, the largest exhibitor at the E.B.I.F. “Above all, qualified data – e.g. about customers’ life situations – could be used to greater effect to target customers and cater for their needs. Data from CRM systems can not only provide valuable assistance to customer advisors, but can also help to design marketing activities more effectively”, continues Frank Uwe Burkhardt. Furthermore, the latest CRM programs allow customers to be selected according to emotional, qualitative criteria. Information that was formerly overlooked, such as each customer’s preferred form of contact, often proves to be the factor that ultimately tips the balance. It is these additional emotional benefits that now determine whether or not the customer is satisfied in the long term.
Michael Graben, Managing Director of TietoEnator Deutschland GmbH and a leading expert in customer management and customer care, confirms the trend towards increased customer orientation: “Banks and insurance companies have recognised that a software for sales and customer data is not enough to establish a firm bond with customers, to serve their exact needs or to show them that they value the relationship with their customers. What is required is a central and end-to-end view of each customer in all his/her different roles together with an interaction management system that makes it possible to attend to customers’ individual needs as efficiently and effectively as possible, across the whole company and through all points of contact, i.e. branch office, telephone, internet etc.”
“These days, banks and insurance companies need to raise the bar substantially as regards the quality of their advice if they want to increase customer loyalty. Very soon, users and decision-makers at the E.B.I.F. will see just how IT can provide assistance to customer advisors”, says Thomas Schütz, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt Ausstellungen GmbH, the organisers of the event together with the Maleki Group. “This year’s E.B.I.F. will also set future trends in the field of CRM”, he adds.
The E.B.I.F. is Europe’s largest independent technology trade fair in the field of banking and insurance. This year the E.B.I.F. will once again be taking place within the framework of Euro Finance Week, the high-powered industry gathering of the European finance and insurance sectors in Frankfurt, one of Europe’s most important financial centres. As part of the congress entitled “Strategic Challenges in Private Customer Business”, there will be top-level discussions on CRM featuring leading experts in the field. An additional attraction for exhibitors and visitors alike is the Sparkassen Informatik IT forum 2006, which is held at the same time and in the immediate vicinity of the E.B.I.F.
9TH EURO FINANCE WEEK 13 - 17 November 2006
E.B.I.F. Trade Fair 14-16 November 2006
Conference: “Strategic Challenges in Private Customer Business” – 13 November 2006
Concurrent with: IT forum 2006, Sparkassen Informatik 14 – 16 November 2006
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Michael Diegelmann / Henryk Deter
cometis AG
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diegelmann@cometis.de
deter@cometis.de
