Customer Intimacy - Sailing in a Storm. An Oracle White Paper April 2009

Transcription

1 Customer Intimacy - Sailing in a Storm An Oracle White Paper April 2009

2 Customer Intimacy Sailing in a Storm Trust is under threat. The financial services industry is facing unprecedented criticism making customer relationships fragile. Financial institutions will need to ensure that trust, within and without the bank is based on solid information and that means stable systems. Keeping afloat in a storm isn t easy without connecting to something. The familiar sources of stability would be your peers other banks large and small and your customers. They are all still there, for the most part, but to keep in touch the bank of 2009 must be able to stretch, grip and let go of other enterprises with an unforeseen degree of flexibility. There are two main factors here, one is human and another technological and while the people you employ can adapt to their surroundings, your systems are pre-determined by you and your staff. These are extraordinary circumstances and few banks systems are prepared to make the most of their bank s current environment. But are you adapting them? Keeping agile is a term that has been bandied by management consultants for a long time, but the real proof of agility occurs in volatile surroundings. In the natural world species with the longest heritage have not all been those with the most extreme features the sabre tooth tiger and certain brokerages were both exceptional consumers, but with exceptionally inflexible dietary regimes. TRUST AND CUSTOMERS Without pushing the metaphor too far, cash is the food that finance houses need and that must be supplied by customers. As peers are now providing limited support, customers are everything. The lowered flow of capital caused by a lack of available credit means that senior executives must be prepared to offer higher touch services for profitable clients, and hand holding for clients that have potential. The restructuring, nationalisation or even outright failure of the world s largest institutions has left little reason for customers to have confidence in the industry. Every FI must look to improve confidence and manage customer expectations. To create trust outside of the bank there must be trust within the bank. The board must ensure the information they are receiving is complete and accurate. For this reason reporting lines should be strengthened and systems must be tested, reducing risk at every opportunity. The first point to consider is the architecture of the systems that you have either developed or bought. Customer Intimacy Sailing in a Storm Page 2

3 At the very centre of your business is the general ledger, with a core system or systems, fed data via multiple channels. This contact ensures you have a grip of your current position. This core platform is traditionally the least flexible system within a bank as it is the most crucial to business, therefore often the oldest, and with a development history that matches that of the financial institution it supports. In some cases this will mean there are multiple systems in place following the path of M&A that created the bank, in other cases you may find core systems that convert the bank s current major currency into the currency that the bank used at the system s implementation. To suggest that such foundations are unstable would be an understatement. Much as empires sitting fortresses fell upon the widespread adoption of cannon, using ancient legacy systems leaves a bank vulnerable while it sits behind venerable walls. The greater the number of systems used and the more middleware that is used to hold them together, the greater the chances are of a point of failure occurring. Standardisation is a crucial component of any military organisation as it allows interoperability and therefore reduces potential for significant failure. The trust that this creates is based on people s survivability. Your customers see the current crisis posing exactly that threat. For that reason an audit of current core systems and capabilities should be conducted by your operations and IT department. Factors to examine are the system(s) flexibility in the face of regulatory changes (whether local or regional), the operational risk involved in running it and methods of reducing that risk, the costs that are inherently tied in supporting its operations, plus the increasing need for risk data of all sorts to be centralised. Increasingly the latter will be seen as necessary for good corporate governance. Improving the core system not only reduces risks but also creates the potential for new products to be developed more rapidly, with a reduced deployment of resources thanks to increasingly accurate and prescient data. REACHING OUT WITH STEADY HANDS Although the core system is a major processing component for this data it must in turn receive the correct data. The channels that supply this data will often suffer from similar legacy issues as those found in the core itself. By their very nature the channels will have developed independently of one another, naturally in chronological order. Realistic management of these channels can only be achieved if there is a degree of interoperability between them. This has in the past been ventured through middleware technology and makeshift translation methods. The more successful method would be to use standardised data and components, reducing management levels and cutting the skill base needed for support. Adoption of a components-based architecture will not only existing risk but it will significantly contribute to flexibility of the enterprise. Taken as a whole, financial services are not innovative as a business in terms of technology adaptation, because the high value products involved mean risk and regulation are of significantly greater levels than in, say, retailing. In the same vein a large portion of Customer Intimacy Sailing in a Storm Page 3

4 the business has fallen behind the curve when relating to the most common consumer interfaces with some exceptions - and this is an opportunity to be exploited in the current climate. While not all channels can be considered commercially advantageous some provide costs centres without increasing customer numbers they are the cost of doing business. They must be maintained at certain levels so that the bank remains a competitive beast. Correct and accurate data allow the bank to evaluate a customer s behaviour, hedge risk where necessary and assure retention and maximum profitability for high net worth individuals. Clearly separate skill groups would need to be held by either contractors or internal staff for each channel and its integration in normal circumstances. The costs and risks in this could straightforwardly be reduced if the channels were to be built using a single componentized architecture. In turn it stabilizes the front end of the organization, ensuring that customers are not presented with any reason to lack confidence. RISK AND REWARD Some finance houses, such as Bank of America, have taken ownership of the concept. BoA has created a forum at its small business online community site, for the exchange of information and advice between its customers. Its mission statement Our mission is to create a thriving online community that empowers people in building a successful business underplays the positive message that the bank gives by encouraging discussion rather than pushing its own corporate message. Driving these changes through will require an enforcement of risk management culture across the organisation. In and of itself risk management as a science has taken a pounding under present exceptional circumstances. One area that can obviously be supported to a greater degree regardless of one s counterparties and reserves is operational risk. Tighter liquidity and operational strength can be delivered, reducing the need for reserves and freeing up much needed capital, before the need to allocate that capital arrives. The risk systems themselves present a route to risk reduction. If they have been developed internally they will reflect the business history whereas external systems often present more easily adaptable technology. A technology developed with component parts instead of a rigid structure could present its parent bank with the level of adaptability that is required in uncertain times. There is also improved performance to be found in straight-through-processing of documentation and data. If this can be combined with an integrated system of channels and a core system, the overall effect is much greater stability, and trust. This then allows the bank to move out to its customers and to begin a serious customer relationship strategy. THE NEW ENVIRONMENT Once customers are happy that your organisation is stable in itself, it is time to begin reaching out and ensuring that you have a handle on customer behaviour in the new paradigm of interaction, CRM 2.0. As technologies have enabled businesses, they are also enabling the individual and can threaten enterprises ownership of their own brand. Thanks to social networking, there are few limits to interaction between customers. Some finance houses, such as Bank of America, have taken ownership of the concept. BoA has created a forum at its small business online community site, for the exchange of information and advice between its customers. Its mission statement Our mission is to create a thriving Customer Intimacy Sailing in a Storm Page 4

5 online community that empowers people in building a successful business underplays the positive message that the bank gives by encouraging discussions rather than pushing its own corporate message. This also enables the bank to study trends on a community that isn t a natural one. Where large corporations often deliver such solutions themselves, BoA has hit a market that does not necessarily connect of its own accord. Small businesses are often very much on their own. Other banks have suffered through customer complaint campaigns run through social networking sites. Keeping track of opinions while tracking the bank s position could keep your organisation ahead of the pack. THE ROAD AHEAD The landscape has changed and will continue to change. Your customers across both corporate and retail business could easily be affected by further financial shocks. Property markets, debt, equity and commodity markets could all be negatively affected in the near future. Keeping abreast of clients investments and exposures allows an effective response to assist them when circumstances dictate. Information will be invaluable for an organisation that wishes to excel in the market. If systems that support the bank ensure reliable and timely delivery of information internally the customer relationship is placed under far less stress. Customer interaction should not be addressed with traditional positive messaging ; but should be true communication, with your organisation listening as well as speaking. The advantages are significant and will increase your reaction time. It may make your reactions more effective as well. Internally systems must be strengthened as part of an overall architecture strategy. To demonstrate good governance reliability and transparency a technology led approach should go hand in hand with any restructuring of the business and its processes. Be adaptive and sensitive to your business environment. By having the right information, internally and externally, delivered reliably to you and your customers in a timely fashion you are head and shoulders above your peers. Customer Intimacy Sailing in a Storm Page 5

6 Customer Intimacy April 2009 Author: Dan Barnes Oracle Corporation World Headquarters 500 Oracle Parkway Redwood Shores, CA U.S.A. Worldwide Inquiries: Phone: Fax: oracle.com Copyright 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is provided for information purposes only and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior written permission. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.