TM innovations Softwaretechnologie - Press release - 14 th of November 2006 Active customer orientation ensures sustained added value Increase in the quality of advice through IT-supported client relationship management (CRM) an overall picture of customers identifies potential areas for business development Immenstaad, 14 November 2006. 96 percent of decision makers at banks regard active customer orientation and an increase in customer service as the most sensible approaches to better tap the potential of their customers. Through focused communication with the customer and individually prepared offers the German credit institutions want to score points over the competition by providing clearly more competence in servicing the customer, that is the result of the latest Branchenkompass for credit institutions issued by Steria Mummert Consulting. An integrated view of customers through IT supported CRM systems as presented by Innovations Softwaretechnologie GmbH, Immenstaad at the 2006 European Banking und Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.) is essential for this. Keeping a customer is more cost effective than acquiring a new customer. This is not in dispute. Yet bank customers of today are very well informed, technologically orientated and conscious of price. They value simple online bank offers as well as excellent personal advice and put together their portfolios quite freely based on the wide range of products Page 1 of 6
offered by credit institutions. The unlimited loyalty of former times to a single bank is over. The challenge for German banks and insurance companies is clear: it is essential that they form long-term relationships and tap the repurchase, up- and cross-selling potential of each customer relationship in an optimal manner. Standards for quality of advice across all areas A qualitatively high standard of customer relationship management can only be built up if the underlying business processes are efficiently and clearly structured stresses Achim Berger, managing director of Innovations Softwaretechnologie GmbH. An IT led account opening, customer servicing and documentation process provides transparency in customer relationship management and allows the credit institutions to coordinate the opportunities, marketing, sales, acquisition and service in an optimal manner. In order to achieve this it may be essential to establish advisory and selling standards, to make these available online and in their current version and thereby ensure that a quality service is provided across all areas. Because the advice may still be strongly dependent on the personal, technical and social abilities of the individual adviser as well as his/her subjective experience and motivation. An opinion given by Dr. Martin Freiermuth, Head of Private Banking Services at Bank Vontobel in Zurich. Vontobel has implemented in cooperation with Innovations Softwaretechnologie of Immenstaad on Lake Constance a portal for advice and the management of sales that greatly exceeds the conventional requirements of CRM systems and Page 2 of 6
supports the bank in its business strategy of developing longterm business relationships. The new advisory portal is to make available the company strategy to each of the 300 advisers and to display customer relationships and thereby areas of potential acquisition and how to make better use of them. The Vontobel adviser portal, an internal development based on the»work frame relations«finance platform of Innovations Softwaretechnologie depicts in a concise manner customers with their family and/or business relationships in the form of a network. As a result acquisition and cross-selling approaches can be easily identified by the advisor. Iterative development and fast implementation The pre-defined technical and operating elements of»work frame relations«guarantee that this CRM solution is implemented quickly within a period of only seven months at Vontobel. Berger regards the close cooperation between the Private Banking front office team and the project team as well as the iterative development as key factors in the successful implementation. Important parts of the application are evident at an early stage and can be discussed in concrete terms stated Berger. The»visual rules«technology is used as the development tool. It enables the body of rules to be modeled in graphic form and combines the requirements of the operating department and IT. The result is an integrated working environment. (approx. 4,394 characters with spaces) Page 3 of 6
Figures and photographs are freely available: Please refer to the source: Graphic 1: Picture of relationships relationship network Text: Integrated picture of customers and their family and business relationships based on work frame relations highlights new areas of business potential in a transparent manner. Page 4 of 6
Photograph: Achim Berger, managing director of Text: Appropriate data from the CRM systems allow advice to be given to customers in line with their requirements. Page 5 of 6
ie Current events: is located at the 2006 European Banking and Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.) in hall 5.1, stand no. C17. Contact: Angelika Lange D-88090 Immenstaad Telephone: +49 (0)7545/202-563 E-mail: angelika.lange@innovations.de www.innovations.de www.mlds.info Information on located in Immenstaad on Lake Constance is the development partner for innovative front-end applications and compliance solutions. The company founded in 1997 employs 85 highly qualified graduate computer scientists and works for companies such as Bank Vontobel, Zürcher Kantonalbank, LGT Bank in Liechtenstein, the Schweizerische Post - Post Finance, Hypo Vereinsbank, the Swiss Life Group and Banca del Gottardo. Innovations is one of the leading providers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein with its mlds anti-money laundering solution. Page 6 of 6