Novantas U.S. Multi-Channel Customer Research 2012 The Rise of the Virtually Domiciled RESEARCH
Inside: 3 4 7 10 12 14 15 Executive Summary Customers continue to move away from the branch for everyday banking There are three distinctive Customer segments in U.S. Retail banking A potential sales crisis looms as a result of current channel trends Major transformation will be needed at banks About Novantas Multi-Channel Customer Research Contributors & About Novantas RESEARCH
Executive Summary Figure 1: Channel Preferences for Virtually Domiciled Customers Percentage of respondents who prefer to use the branch (teller) for... Withdrawing Funds 14% Depositing Funds Resolving an Issue 23% Virtually Domiciled Other Customers 31% 33% 42% 66% Getting Financial Advice 42% 52% Taking out a Mortgage 64% 69% Virtually Domiciled customers utilize the branch infrequently and prefer to use remote channels for the majority of their transactions. The second annual Novantas U.S. Multi-Channel Customer Survey shows that customer preferences, attitudes, and behaviors continue to shift away from branches into remote channels. This shift is visible for nearly all categories of activity, as enhanced technologies and channel capabilities accelerate the migration of transactions and increase customer confidence in remote banking. As a result, there is a substantial, valuable, and growing segment of customers who see online, call center, and mobile phone as their primary channels today, with the branch as the alternative channel for limited, high value interactions with the bank. These "Virtually Domiciled" households still use branches in some capacity, but sparingly (less than once every four months). They want to shop, buy, and service their banking relationships through remote channels, using the branch less for routine transactions and more for important situations such as getting financial advice, purchasing complex products (e.g. mortgages), and resolving major problems. Due to the ongoing rollout of new technology such as remote check deposits on the mobile phone and tablet, and real-time, image enabled ATMs, the shift away from the branch will accelerate in the next year, increasing the number of customers who are virtually domiciled in 2013 and 2014. The retail customer base will likely consist of three distinct segments (Branch-Centric Traditionalists, Multi-Channel Ultra-Connected, and the Virtually Domiciled), each competing for investment, headcount, and management attention. For traditional network banks, these findings are a double-edged sword. The Virtually Domiciled are much cheaper to serve, so finding effective means of acquiring, cross-selling, and servicing these customers will provide banks with greater freedom to maneuver in dealing with the cost and revenue challenges the industry is facing. Yet, the shift away from the branch reduces the volume of walk-in traffic, which ultimately leads to fewer opportunities to cross-sell new products, given the traditional U.S. banking "reactive" selling model. With lower profitability on accounts and lower traffic, a bank s return on sales force investment ("RSI") suffers, creating a potential sales crisis in the branch going forward. Already, the industry may have excess capacity reflected in approximately 16,000 unprofitable branches 1 (out of a total of 93,000). Even more branches may be at or below their staffing floors (volumes lower than the minimum staffing needed to run the branch), resulting in stranded fixed costs and further depressing RSI. For some traditional players, the costs of reconfiguring the network may be insurmountable. For challengers such as direct banks, credit unions, and wealth managers, these Virtually Domiciled customers represent an opportunity to grow the customer base, particularly if these players couple market leading remote transactions, sales, and advice capabilities with new, limited physical footprints that attract those customers who are not yet ready to dispense with the branch altogether. In order to succeed in this environment, banks will need to evolve their delivery and sales systems towards customer activities and preferences rather than constrain their capabilities to artificial parameters such as branch domiciling, geographic, and territory boundaries or internal channel and product silos. Understanding specific customer transaction behavior should be a priority for banks going forward, as the better a bank understands what customers are doing (and where they are doing it), the better positioned the bank is to serve them, sell to them, and ultimately grow share and profits in the "new normal" environment. 1 Novantas Branch Analysis, Dec 2011 3
It is clear that many customers are still very attached to branches, even as they become less dependent on them. Customers continue to move away from the branch for everyday banking In the year since the 2011 survey, customers have continued to move away from the branch as their primary channel for core service transactions (see figure 2). This trend should not be a surprise, as actual branch transactions have been declining at a rate of 4 5% annually over the last three years. 1 The decline in transactions at the teller is expected to continue, particularly as banks invest in new channel capabilities (e.g. image-enabled ATMs, Remote Deposit Capture [RDC] on smart phones), and as more customers contemplate using these technologies in the future (for example, while only 12% of customers today are using RDC, another 43% would consider using it in the future). Customers are becoming more self-service oriented. Since the invention of the ATM in the 1960s, banks have continued to advance their technology and capabilities to provide convenience and speed in everyday banking, as well as reduce the costs associated with the teller line. Customers have been adopting this technology at an ever increasing rate: In fact, over the last year, the percentage of customers who prefer self-service channels for the majority 1 Novantas Comparative Branch Productivity Survey 2011 of their service transactions has grown from 49% to 53%, 2 meaning that the majority of customers prefer self-service for basic transactions. This overall trend is even more pronounced among younger customers, where 64% of 18 29-yearolds prefer remote channels compared to 37% of over 55 year-olds. Additionally, and as expected, we find that ownership of mobile technology shows a similar trend for remote channel preference (see figures 4a c). Of course, ownership of mobile technology is highly related to affluence (see figure 3), though this is a trend we would expect to level out as smart phones continue to penetrate all segments and become more affordable. We expect the differences in affluence and age to weaken over time. In fact, as we will show later, the major behavioral segments are not particularly demographically distinct. "Convenience" still matters to customers in banking; but convenience now means technology, not just locations. As expected, 66% of respondents believe that having a branch nearby is important; branches are not 2 Service transactions include depositing funds, withdrawing funds, transferring funds, checking account balance, replacing a card, and resolving an issue Figure 2: Branch Preference for Service Transactions (All Customers) Percentage of respondents who prefer to use the branch (teller) by year (all respondents) Depositing Funds Withdrawing Funds Transferring Funds Resolving an Issue 2006 2011 2012 70% 58% 54% 41% 26% 25% 45% 19% 15% 53% 37% 35% RESEARCH
Figure 3: Technology Ownership and Affluence Percentage of respondents who own a smart phone and/or tablet device by household income (all respondents) 25k 75k 75k 150k 150k 250k 250k+ 43% 57% 64% 71% going to immediately disappear from the banking landscape. Yet, of those respondents that said having a branch nearby was important, 7% are using RDC regularly today. From the opposite point of view, only 38% of all RDC users believe that having a branch nearby is important, about half as much sentiment for branches as the overall population. In addition, "technophiles" (customers with smart phone and/or tablet technologies) tend to prefer less standard hours than the rest of the bank's customer base 17% prefer to bank after 5pm vs. 11% for the rest of customers. Also, "technophiles" have less inclination to bank during the morning rush hours of 9am to noon (38% for "technophiles" vs. 55% of the rest). We found a striking lift in RDC usage for customers who own both a smart phone and tablet device (see figure 5d), being three times more likely to use RDC than those who only have smart phones. Close to half of these customers only go into the branch when ATM withdrawal limits are too low and 65% of these customers look forward to the day when they never need to write a check again (vs. 39% of the rest of the population). It is likely that these customers will be early adopters for new technology and features, so keeping their behaviors in mind will be important as the bank continues to evolve its digital capabilities. Despite visiting branches less often, customers still care about branches. Even as customers shift away from the branch for their core transactions, there are still many situations where the branch is their preferred option for interacting with the bank. For example, 30% of customers stated that they needed a branch when the ATM did not provide enough cash (due to daily limits on most ATMs), up from 17% from 2011. In addition, "having a branch near where I live" is still the top reason for choosing a new banking relationship, with 87% of those respondents stating that the branch was important. There are even 47% of customers who believe that a bank is not legitimate unless it has branches (up from 41% in 2011). Lastly, brand is also highly correlated to reliance on the branch, as we have seen that 71% of respondents who chose "a well-respected brand" as a top reason to join a bank also said they would never use a bank that did not have a physical branch (as opposed to 50% for the rest of the population). It is clear that many customers are still very attached to branches, even as they become less dependent on them. There is a growing group of "thin network ready" customers in the sense that they like the idea of proximate branches, but do not use the branch often. Identifying these customers and understanding their behaviors will be important, especially as banks look to reduce the cost of their physical networks by closing and consolidating branches. Figure 4: Remote Channel Preferences Percentage of respondents who prefer remote channels for the majority of their service transactions * by segment (all respondents) *Service transactions include depositing funds, withdrawing funds, transferring funds, checking account balance, replacing a card and resolving an issue 4a: Age 18 29 30 54 55+ 37% 64% 59% 4b: Household Income 25k 75k 50% 75k 150k 56% 150k 250k 57% 250k+ 56% Neither Tablet Only Smart Phone Only Smart Phone & Tablet 4c: Technology Ownership 40% 57% 59% 71% 5
Figure 5: Statistics About Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) Usage Percentage of respondents who use RDC by segment (all respondents) 5a: Willingness to Use RDC 5b: Age 12% 18 29 30 54 13% 23% 45% 43% Currently Using RDC Not Using RDC, Willing to Consider Not Using RDC, Not Willing to Consider 55+ 5% 5c: Household Income 25k 75k 11% 75k 150k 12% 150k 250k 17% Tablet Only Smart Phone Only Smart Phone & Tablet 5d: Technology Ownership 4% 11% 34% 250k+ 30% RESEARCH
Figure 6: Top Reasons to Join a Bank Percentage of all respondents There are three distinctive customer segments in U.S. retail banking Virtually Domiciled All Other Respondents As the technology and product landscape evolve, so do the customers who utilize those bank features. We see three distinctive segments important) for a variety of reasons, such as safety and habit, two of the top reasons people stated they prefer the branch channel over ATMs for 86% 92% emerging today: Branch Traditionalists, who mainly use branches, the Ultra-Connected, a deposits. Also, many of these customers enjoy the relationships they have developed at the segment defined by high usage of all channels branch over time, in some situations to resolve including the branch, online, mobile phone, and issues (60% believe that knowing someone at call center, and the Virtually Domiciled, a group the bank will make it easier to solve an issue to User-Friendly Online Banking Branches Near Home of customers who use branches extremely infrequently (once every four months, on average) their satisfaction) and in other situations just to have something to do, as would be seen in the 78% 81% and see remote channels like online banking and their mobile phone as their primary channels for banking today. This last segment may anecdotal customer who comes in to say "hi" and enjoy the free coffee. Identifying the core reasons why these customers see the branch as be the future of banking, and understanding it their primary channel will be pivotal to distin- is critical to adapting to the changes needed to guishing which customers will migrate to remote Branches Near Home Well-Respected Brand solve the revenue, cost, and sales crisis in retail banking today. channels and which other customers need to be carefully managed to retain their relationship The Branch Traditionalist. This legacy and balances. 76% 81% customer base still believes that the branch is the main place they should go for service, sales, and The Ultra-Connected. The Ultra-Connected (representing between 30 45% of the popula- advice. Branch traditionalists make up approxi- tion) are customers who use and prefer the mately 25 40% of the overall population and branch for many of their core transactions, and will visit the branch between three to four times also utilize most of the remote channels at similar Well-Respected Brand User-Friendly Online Banking per month. They are differentiated from other segments in that they utilize other channels quite frequencies. The Ultra-Connected will visit the branch at a similar frequency to Branch Tradi- 76% 79% infrequently. For example, Branch Traditionalists will use the call center around once every other month. On the other hand, Branch Traditionalists tionalist (about three to four times per month), but will use the call center four to eight times as often as the other two segments (twice per month), will check their account balances online three to get cash from foreign ATMs three times more four times per month, but this is no different than than other segments (three times per month) and ATMs Near Home Well-Established Company the other segments. In terms of demographics, the Branch Traditionalists are similar to the Virtually Domiciled in even deposit checks via their mobile phone eight times as often (twice a month vs. once every four months). The Ultra-Connected are simply using 75% 76% age and average balance. Branch Traditionalists are slightly skewed toward lower income (60% every channel frequently. These customers are often worth 20 25% more than other bank cus- of them are in the $25k $75k range, relative tomers in terms of balances held for deposits and to 55% of Virtually Domiciled and 53% of Ultra- investments, and are generally skewed toward Connected). They are invariably reliant on the the younger age demographic (31% of these Well-Established Company ATMs Near Home branch (75% believe having a branch nearby is customers are 18 29, compared to 20% of the 7
Virtually Domiciled customers can be up to 66% cheaper to serve than their branch-centric peers. Figure 7: Virtually Domiciled Customer Distributions 7a: Percentage by Bank Category A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Direct Credit Union National Regional Community 41% 37% 29% 27% 7b: Percentage by Bank (Disguised) * 57% 42% 37% 37% 36% 33% 33% 32% 29% 26% 25% 23% 20% 13% 81% 99% *Credit Unions and Community banks have been excluded from figure 7b due to individual bank sample sizes. remaining segments being 18 29). The strategy with this segment is similar to that of the Branch Traditionalist in that shifting branch transactions to other channels may reduce cost. These customers should be easier to migrate as they are already familiar with (and using) these other channels. Thus, the task becomes understanding which of their branch transactions can be migrated (i.e. those who did deposits in the branch because it was a habit, but may be willing to change) and which transactions are still branch dependent (i.e. they withdraw at the teller because they need more than the ATM limit). The Virtually Domiciled. The last segment, and arguably the most important segment to understand in this current environment, is the Virtually Domiciled. They represent between 25 35% of the banking population today, showing very low usage of the branch for their core transactions (such as deposits, withdrawals, etc.) and generally a high interest in using new technologies for their everyday banking needs. Given their lower branch utilization, it would make sense that Virtually Domiciled customers can be up to 66% cheaper to serve than their branch-centric peers. Accordingly, the more customers with these characteristics, the better marginal customer profitability becomes. In addition, it is clear that while all segments like to have branches nearby, the Virtually Domiciled have higher priorities with alternative channels, such as the website and mobile channels (see figure 8). The biggest opportunity for this segment comes not from their relatively low cost but from the fact that they are similarly wealthy to the branch-centric segments and generally underpenetrated in terms of products and balances. As banks think about the best ways to grow within their current customer base, this segment should be the prime target. The distribution of the customer base varies dramatically from bank to bank (see figure 7) depending on the types of technology each bank has available (e.g. RDC, peer-to-peer payments) and demographics of their specific customer base. We would expect that many of the banks towards the bottom of this list would start to see an increase in their Virtually Domiciled customer base as they invest in new technologies. Particularly, banks who are able to offer a variety of virtual options for their customers to do their banking that is as functional as walking into the branch will be the ones who are able to capture more of this segment. This would include mobile phone and tablet applications, online website and chat functionality, as well as enhanced call center capabilities (such as video chat). RESEARCH
Figure 8: Demographics of U.S. Customer Segments Branch Traditionalist Ultra-Connected Virtually Domiciled Percentage of Population 25 40% 30 45% 25 35% 18 29 30 54 55+ Age 22% 47% 31% 24% 44% 32% 20% 45% 35% Household Income 25 75k 75 150k 150 250k 250k+ 60% 28% 8% 4% 57% 33% 7% 55% 33% 9% 3% 3% Primary Bank Type National Regional Community Credit Union Direct 53% 22% 14% 14% 49% 26% 12% 12% 53% 19% 9% 13% 1% 1% 6% Average Transactions (per month) Visit a Branch 3.0 3.6 0.2 Use the Call Center 0.7 1.2 0.3 Write a Check 2.7 4.3 2.6 Review Online Statement 3.5 4.0 3.9 Average Balances ($k) Short-Term Deposits 36 45 36 Long-Term Deposits 43 47 35 Loans 58 64 54 Investments 130 165 154 9
Figure 9a: Channel Preferences for Opening a New Banking Relationship Percentage of respondents who prefer the following channels, by year (all respondents) 2006 2011 2012 Branch 86% Remote* 14% 77% 71% 23% 29% *Remote represents Call Center, Mobile and Online channels The result of the changes in customer behavior and consumer economics creates a potential sales crisis As these trends continue and more transactions move out of the branch, banks may find that up to 25 30% 1 of their branch network may hit minimum staffing levels based on traditional branch configuration models (i.e. too few transactions for the smallest staffing model a branch could have) and will ultimately end up with branches that are too big for the demand. At the same time, the decline in traffic across all types of locations is already creating excess sales capacity and lower productivity. These effects are taking their toll on a bank's return on sale force investment (RSI). From 2005 until now, Novantas estimates that RSI has declined from a positive 37% to a negative 12%. The entire branch sales infrastructure has been built around marketing led and service--first reactive models. Actions need to be taken now to recognize that this approach must evolve from reactive to proactive sales model. Goal setting, performance expectations, incentive systems, and customer management systems all need to evolve faster to avoid the looming crisis. Shopping and research preferences for bank products have long since left the branch, as only 9% of customers today consider the branch their primary source of new product information (compared to 11% last year). This speaks to the fact that when customers open a new account, research is done mainly through the online channel (preferred by 72% of customers in 2012). The branch, though, is still the main channel preferred for opening a new relationship (see figure 9a), though this preference is declining more and more as people become comfortable opening their accounts online and with the call center. The same trend can be seen for cross- 1 Novantas Comparative Branch Productivity Survey 2011 sold accounts (see figure 9b), though channel preferences for additional accounts are already more towards remote channels. Continued growth in preference for sales in non-branch channels will be driven by the bank's capabilities to provide good customer experiences in these channels, with appropriate support in case customer have problems or issues. Cross-sales for segments like the Virtually Domiciled will be even harder as they only visit the branch once every four months, compared to 3.4 times per month for the rest of the population (nearly fourteen times less opportunities to cross-sell products through branch-based sales programs). Demographics of the Virtually Domiciled and the rest of the population are not dramatically different, yet their average balances with their primary bank are generally lower (see figure 8); this implies more opportunities for deeper penetration. In addition, Virtually Domiciled customers are more likely to have second accounts at other institutions 64% of Virtually Domiciled customers have secondary banking relationships vs. 59% for the rest of customers. Selling to these customers will require proactive outreach. The process and technology barriers to selling bank products across the multitude of channels are still high. Functionality and customer experience are key aspects of the sales process to perfect. For example, we found that people who believed a bank's call center was adequately empowered to solve their problems were almost two times more likely to start a new banking relationship via the call center. Additionally, ensuring that customers are able to finish the account opening process where they started is very important to having a smooth customer experience. For example, of those that RESEARCH
Figure 9b: Channel Preferences for Opening a New Account with an Existing Relationship Percentage of respondents who prefer the following channels, by year (all respondents) 2006 2011 2012 Branch 78% Remote* 22% 68% 32% 53% 47% *Remote represents Call Center, Mobile and Online channels have started the account opening process online in the last three years, our research found that only 60% of these applications were able to be completed online the remaining 40% had to be completed in the branch or call center due to difficulties in the process (such as requiring a physical signature, or errors with the form). If migration of sales to automatic, lower cost channels is to continue, banks must ensure that the technology associated with sales in those remote channels is up to par. Sales processes and infrastructure must be capable of supporting accelerated sales in non-branch channels. In many cases, this means investment in new technologies and processes as soon as possible. In the market today, experiments are already underway. For example, many banks are quickly re-deploying on-line account opening technologies as the mechanism for in-branch and contact center account opening. Using the most customer friendly technology across the employee base can help the transition to a single and efficient experience. Taking no action is not an option. Brokerages and direct banks are already tuned to market, sell, and serve virtually-based customers and are gearing up programs to do so before the traditional banks do in order to continue to grow their portfolios. With the appropriate product offering and the right hook (e.g. no ATM fees), this may be one of the most opportune times to compete heavily and poach historically branch-reliant customers to a more virtuallyoriented bank. [As] more transactions move out of the branch, banks will ultimately end up with branches that are too big for the demand. 11
Figure 10: Major Transformation Steps Major transformation will be needed at banks to adapt to and take advantage of these changes 1 2 3 4 Re-evaluate current distribution network and remove excess cost Invest in technologies that support a natural transition to self-service Identify distinct customer segments (such as the Virtually Domiciled) and use a more segmented sales approach across channels Invest in tools and capabilities that will position the bank to transform and adapt as their customers change The issues banks are dealing with today will not be solved overnight. Many banks will need to radically transform the way they view their customers, their network, and how their channels interact in order to succeed in this shifting bank environment. Banks can start down the path today by working to identify Virtually Domiciled customers in their portfolio, and then focus on developing the capabilities and technologies to support this segment going forward. Given these changes, banks will need to re-evaluate their distribution network and determine what the best structure will be, taking out as much cost today as possible in order to fund these other ventures. Lastly, banks will need to find ways to make the channel experience more seamless, which will involve getting channels to interact in ways they may not be built for today. In the near term, banks will re-evaluate their current distribution network and make adjustments that remove as much excess cost in their network as possible (i.e. close structurally unprofitable branches and rationalize staffing) in order to free up capital for investments into lower-cost alternatives for service and sales. Banks should also continue to move transactions and costs out of the branch by investing in technologies that support their customer base's natural transition towards self service enhancing ATMs to support image capture and immediate fund availability, developing and enhancing mobile applications to include remote deposit capture, and simplifying the sales and service process to be as self-service as possible. At the same time, banks should begin to develop the infrastructure to identify the Virtually Domiciled customer base, which in many cases involves not only gathering information from many internal tracking and transaction systems, but also building in new capabilities which may not have been considered in the system s design. This work will help set the stage for the migration of sales capabilities across channels and in the move towards a proactive sales force. Banks should be enhancing their call center capabilities to use a more segmented approach, allowing them to modify sales and service easily by segment. Customers should be given the freedom to accomplish their needs and goals across any channel they choose and the bank should provide them with that flexibility. In addition, sales forces across the bank should be given more proactive cross sales mandates, systems, and incentive plans to support building of a stronger sales program that can hold, acquire, and expand customer relationships in the face of increasing competition. The branch network is an asset in the new environment but only if it is used accordingly. Ultimately, once banks have enhanced their channel capabilities and facilitated as much transaction migration out of the branch system, focus should be placed on how to best utilize the network that remains, both in terms of planning future investments as well as developing various distribution strategies based on market itself (e.g. dense-urban, thin-urban, rural, etc.) to best position the bank for the opportunity available and to utilize the most effective structure. Banks need to spend time today getting agreement on what they expect to happen in the future and invest in the tools and capabilities that will position them to grow as their customers grow. We live in a multi-channel world and as customers are becoming much more multi-channel in their behaviors (and in many cases, remote channel), banks must transform and adapt to meet the challenge in order to succeed. RESEARCH
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About Novantas Multi-Channel Customer Research The Novantas Multi-Channel Research aims to better understand the current state and ongoing shifts of customer attitudes, preferences, and behaviors around the many ways one can interact with the bank, and ultimately to provide insight into what the bank channel landscape will look like in the future. The research is conducted through an online survey provided to a panel of customers which is statistically significant across age, income, and geography. In the last two years, we have performed this survey in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., with the recent U.S. survey having over 3,500 responses across a wide variety of segments. The current instrument focuses on understanding customer channel preferences across a wide variety of bank interactions in service (e.g. deposits/withdrawals, problem resolution), sales (e.g. research, account opening), and financial advice. This information is married with a variety of attitudinal and behavioral questions to better understand the reasons and mindsets of the customers in the sample, as well as their actual usage of the many bank channels. In addition, the research seeks to understand the priority and importance of various factors in starting or ending a banking relationship, usage of new technologies like RDC, methods used for researching and opening their accounts, as well as the reasons why they behave the way they do today versus migratable alternatives (i.e. why use the teller for deposits when the ATM is available). Other questions in the survey include demographic profiling questions, such as deposit and investment holdings, profession, education, and marital status. While this research has proven valuable in understanding the current dynamics of the industry as a whole, many clients have also found value in relating the channel preferences and attitudes identified in the survey to actual transaction behavior in their customer base, both to understand why customers behave the way they do, but also to identify customers for potential and opportunity going forward, such as those with low branch dependence and high cross-sell opportunity (such as the Virtually Domiciled). As mentioned in this report, understanding who your customers are and what they are doing is paramount to maximizing the value and return of your portfolio, and the multi-channel research provides an important lens into customer behavior. As customers and the industry evolve, so should the questions we aim to understand about channel preferences and behaviors. The survey will continue to adapt to these new trends and behaviors observed in the bank environment today, but as you may also have questions about these changes (and potential changes), feel free to contact us to discuss including them in the next iteration of the research. RESEARCH
Contributors Kevin S. Travis Kevin is a Partner at Novantas in the New York office and head of the distribution practice. He is an expert in commercial and retail banking strategy, distribution and customer experience and is an advisor to senior bankers in North America and Europe. Darryl M. Demos Darryl is a Partner at Novantas in the Boston office. He is an expert in productivity, with a specialty in sales and service optimization for financial services. Ethan G. Teas Ethan is a Principal at Novantas in the Chicago office. He is a specialist in retail FSI strategy. Ethan is particularly focused on multi-channel distribution strategy, customer experience, and sales and incentives. Alex J. Lee Alex is a Manager at Novantas in the New York office. He is a specialist in physical distribution strategy, performance management, and customer segmentation analytics. About Novantas Novantas, LLC is a leading consulting services and information services company to the financial services industry. The Firm s consulting services are focused on issues of revenue strategy, which we describe as "customer science." Customer science encompasses the disciplines of defining, building, managing and measuring revenue-generating capabilities branding, market mix management, segmentation, product design, pricing, distribution management, sales execution effectiveness, and customer experience. To contact these contributors, call 212.953.4444 or email info@novantas.com. 15
RESEARCH Published by Novantas, LLC, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017. 2012 Novantas, LLC. All rights reserved. "Novantas" is a trademark of Novantas, LLC. No reproduction is permitted in whole or part without written permission from Novantas, LLC.