Follow the money

Manoj Pulohit, head of financial services at Cisco Systems, a major US-based IT network company, says banking services any time, anywhere will soon become the new benchmark for competition in the 10-country Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Such a standard can be achieved by customer experience management (CEM), which is changing the way banking and related services are marketed and delivered to customers.

“You could be sitting at a Starbucks outlet and having a coffee while doing your banking, or you could be at the airport and talk to your relationship manager face-to-face via the video conference system. Or you can do phone banking – any of these channels – no matter what the time is or whether you are inside or outside the branches.

“For Thai bankers, the key objective is to differentiate the services and ensure satisfaction among different customer segments.

“For example, some Thai banks have already started the branch innovation process and the use of social media to tap the so-called Generation Y customers [those who are 30 or younger].

“The previous one-size-fits-all strategy doesn’t work anymore. So far, Singapore and Malaysia have led the way among Asean banks in terms of using CEM to boost their competitiveness. Newer economies in Asean can also leapfrog with CEM.

“To differentiate, banks will have to manage their customer experience competitively. For example, it now takes only 48 hours to launch a new product, so it’s easy to replicate the pricing such as the interest rates, but it is more difficult to replicate a good CEM.

Tatchapol Poshyanonoda, managing director of Cisco Thailand, adds that Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank, for example, is implementing a digital media marketing measure as part of the CEM policy that allows specific customer segmentation such as males, females, or high net-worth customers.

“In the older days, they would put marketing messeges on printed brochures, but it’s now a waste to do it that way, or is less effective in this digital era. Meantime, bank branch innovation is also one of the solutions that can transform the customer experience in terms of touch-points.

“For example, a new Bank of Ayuthaya branch in Bangkok’s Siam Square has created a new theme to fit the tastes of customers. The outlet has a video wall of multiple TV screens facing outside the branch.

“All these screens can be triggered when people walk by and they will display various advertising and marketing messages prepared by the banks. In the future, these screens will be even smarter, as they will be able to recongise the different age or income groups among those passers-by, as they could be teenagers, elderly or high net-worth and so on.

“This will allow banks to respond with messages specific to those walking by its branches. The contents could be ads, public relations, information for banking and related services, or even games to engage the customers and change their mindset and perception of banks.

Manoj adds: “In the banking industry, the traditional pyramid would have the private banking customers at the top, then high net-worth customers, then affluent, and then emerging affluent, and the mass market.

“They all have different banking needs. The Gen Y segment can be anywhere on this pyramid, but many of these people probably would not walk to the branches, so we need other channels for them such as social media.

“For example, if I want to buy a car, I’ll ask my friends what the banks are charging for a car loan, so banks have to capitalise on the social media like Facebook and Twitter to reach Gen Y.

“If someone is going to be a father in the coming months, what can the banks do? Besides congratulations and well-wishing messages, banks may offer to sell insurance or other products to him, or he may need a loan for a bigger house. All this will lead to potential new businesses for banks using CEM and social media as the tools.”