Beyond transactions creating value through customer partnerships in banking and insurance

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance
An Economist Intelligence Unit white paper
Sponsored by SAP


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Preface

Beyond transactions: Creating value through customer partnerships in banking and insurance is an
Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by SAP. The Economist Intelligence Unit bears sole
responsibility for this report. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial team conducted the interviews
and wrote the report. The findings and views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the
views of the sponsor. Dan Armstrong was the editor of the report and Dorian Benkoil was the author.
Mike Kenny was responsible for layout and design. Our thanks are due to all of the financial services
executives who responded to the survey.
September 2009

1

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Contents

2

Introduction

3

Key findings

4

Conclusion

8

Appendix 1: Overall survey results

9

Appendix 2: Americas survey results

14

Appendix 3: Asia-Pacific survey results

19

Appendix 4: EMEA survey results

24

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Introduction

Banks are being increasingly challenged by cautious regulators, higher capital costs and challenges to
core business models, while both banks and insurers face weaker demand, hesitant consumers and calls to
rethink both internal processes and customer-facing operations. At the same time, the turmoil offers both
types of firms the incentive to move farther from a transactional mindset. When banks and insurers are
trusted by their customers, they find it easier to tap into the knowledge and emotions that drive customer
behaviour. By rebuilding trust, financial services firms can work consultatively with customers to help
them meet their personal goals in a tumultuous economic environment.

About the survey
In July 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed
86 executives at 86 financial services firms on the
challenges of getting customer-facing departments to
work together consistently and effectively. Fifty-five
percent were from banking, 17% from insurance, and
3

the rest from brokers, asset managers and other types
of firms. Respondents spanned the globe, with 40%
from the Asia-Pacific region, 30% from the Americas

(primarily the US) and the rest from EMEA. Finance was
the best-represented function (37%), but marketing
(19%) and customer service and sales (24%) were also
well represented.
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Key findings

Presenting a consistent face to the consumer
The banks and insurers surveyed feel that they need to work more effectively with customers, providing
a consistent customer service approach in person, on the phone, on websites and any other means.
Financial services firms are more than twice as likely to cite customer service as a core strength than
operational excellence or product innovation. Nevertheless, they acknowledge room for improvement to
keep nervous customers on board and build long-term relationships.

The need for personal contact
The role of personal contact and relationships has never been more crucial. Consumers have
unprecedented levels of choice and access to information. They have come to expect more transparency
than ever, with real-time data and financial advice available from free or low-cost websites. Stronger
consumer protection laws and the rise of consumer-oriented websites suggest that prices and sales terms
will become more transparent as well.
Survey respondents acknowledge this reality when 52% say that customers see their products more
as commodities than five years ago. Although most say that price is not the most important factor that
customers consider, they admit that price is becoming more important. Even commodity sellers have some
pricing flexibility; competitive prices are the price of admission, but the ability to compete on service,

convenience and other non-price factors allows some wiggle room.

Increasing customer satisfaction
Most respondents say higher customer satisfaction is a top-priority objective, second only to improving
efficiency. Higher satisfaction leads to more opportunities to cross-sell and upsell, two areas most in need
of improvement. Another way to ensure more satisfied customers is to target the right ones—those who
respond to the firm’s value proposition—at the start. Approaching the right customers allows the firm to
close more sales and do a better job holding onto the customers once they have purchased.

4

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

The view from financial services organisations
More respondents disagree

More respondents agree

Customers view my organisation’s products and services
more as commodities now than five years ago
We are more engaged in developing products or services
collaboratively with customers than we were 12 months ago
Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened
customer relationships over the past 12 months
My organisation has more flexibility than

its competitors in pricing its products
Compared to our competitors, my
organisation’s customers are more loyal
My organisation prioritises sales and marketing
resources based on each customer’s lifetime value
My organisation has an accurate way to
estimate the lifetime value of customers
We are currently developing a social media strategy
In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the
single most important factor most customers consider
-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 2009.

The press for efficiency
The companies surveyed also want to make their operations more efficient: 65% say this is their highest
priority. All report having at least ad hoc co-ordination and integration among customer-facing
units—marketing, sales and customer service—but few are at the highest levels of integration. Whether
in gauging customer satisfaction, responding to demands or complaints, tracking leads or planning and
executing campaigns, only a small minority of executives claim broad and systematic integration among
departments.

The problem of metrics
If the old management saying, “What gets measured gets done”, is accurate, most banks and insurers
are not doing enough to serve their most valuable customers. Fifty-eight percent of executives say that
customer relationships have improved over the past year despite the global economic downturn. But
it is not clear that the right relationships have been improved. Fewer than three in ten have devised an
accurate way to measure the lifetime value of customers, and about the same proportion say that they
prioritise resources based on lifetime value.
In other words, 70% do not know which of their customers account for the bulk of their profits (and also
5

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

How well do customer-facing departments—sales, marketing, customer services—work together?
Ad hoc integration

Broad and systematic integration

Responding to customer demands or complaints
Planning and executing campaigns
Gauging customer satisfaction
Developing and launching new products
Generating, tracking and measuring leads
Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
Analysing and segmenting customers
Measuring effectiveness of processes

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 2009.

offer the highest potential for cross-selling and upselling). Firms that cannot scrutinise customer-level
data and model the value of customers—not just customer segments, but individual customers—will fall
short in their efforts to improve both efficiency and customer satisfaction.

How the three regions differ
In terms of core strengths, institutions in all regions put customer service first, operational excellence
second and innovation third. But relatively speaking, EMEA puts the most focus on customer service, AsiaPacific on operational excellence and the Americas on innovation.
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific institutions are more likely to point to core strengths in operational excellence.
But this strength is not always apparent to the customer: Asia-Pacific institutions rate themselves
relatively poorly in terms of gauging customer satisfaction and following up on complaints. They also fault
themselves on their ability to cross-sell, upsell and provide a consistent customer experience. And more
so than in other regions, they believe that their customer-facing units live in silos. When asked for the

biggest benefits of integration, they say “Making each unit aware of how others have interacted with the
customer” and “Helping each function support the others”.

6

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

EMEA, Americas and Asia-Pacific regions see different benefits in integrating customer-facing functions
EMEA wants to know the customer more intimately
EMEA

Americas

Americans wants to direct resources to the most valuable customers
Knowing the customer
more intimately
Directing resources to the
most valuable customers

Asia-Pacific

Breaking down internal
silos

Asia-Pacific wants to break down internal silos

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 2009.

EMEA EMEA institutions are most emphatic in saying that customer service is their core strength.
EMEA institutions are good at following up on complaints, gauging customer satisfaction and building
long-term relationships. They are intensely curious about customers. When asked about the benefits of
integrating customer-facing silos, they are most likely to cite the ability to develop a rich and deep profile
of customer behaviour. Of all the regions, EMEA is most focused on personal service.
Americas More so than other regions, institutions in the Americas focus on measurement: they say
that they are good at targeting the right customers measuring the results of promotional campaigns.
However, they are frustrated by their inability to forecast the lifetime value of customers, and believe that
the biggest benefit from integration will be the ability to identify and prioritise these customers. At the
same time, as big institutions get bigger, many mid-size and smaller institutions in the region are having
difficulty finding the capital to invest in measurement.

7

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Conclusion

With incomes starting to inch up again and the financial markets stabilising, consumers are ready to
trust the banks and insurers that have shown themselves worthy. In the US, many banks—as well as a few
insurers—are battling the perception that they have violated their social contracts by taking government
money while acting unfairly towards their customers. To retain customers, banks and insurers must
present a consistent experience and message with every interaction. They need to use those interactions
to identify key prospects, while gathering information to improve service and sales.
In particular, these firms need to:
l Align the sales, marketing and customer services departments to provide a consistent experience to
customers.
l Accept the realities of commoditisation and price transparency. Give customers a value proposition
that goes beyond economic self-interest.
l Do a better job of analysing customers, measuring lifetime value, and providing a high level of service
to high-value customers.
l Gain experience with social media (only 30% of institutions are doing so). Many customers, especially
older customers, may not belong to online communities. But the customers of the future do, and small
efforts applied consistently today can make a big difference tomorrow.
In simple terms, banks and insurers need to listen to individual customers and effectively use what
they’ve learned. A study published recently in the Journal of Financial Services Marketing finds that
customer perception of listening effectiveness is positively and strongly associated with service quality,
trust, satisfaction, purchase intentions and sales performance. By listening carefully and integrating what
they learn across internal channels, financial services firms will better meet the needs of their customers,

rebuild trust, and improve their own performance.

8

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Appendix: Overall survey results
Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding or the ability of respondents to choose multiple responses.

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients

53

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

22

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services

15

Other

9

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads
7

18

22

36

9

7

Developing and launching new products
5

19

22

35

16 2

Planning and executing campaigns
2

17

23

40

14

3

Analysing and segmenting customers
8

16

27

37

10 1

39

9 2

Gauging customer satisfaction
7

16

26

Measuring effectiveness of processes
8

26

33

27

5 1

Responding to customer demands or complaints
5

11

22

46

14 1

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
9

21

26

28

15 1

Other
5

9

5

11

11

11

58

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)

Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider
33

66 1

Compared to our competitors, my organisation’s customers are more loyal
44

37

19

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers
30

57

13

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer’s lifetime value
31

51

18

We are currently developing a social media strategy
33

48

19

My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products
44

42

13

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
61

32

7

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were 12 months ago
54

33

13

Customers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
51

39

10

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
31

47

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

22

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Cross-selling or upselling customers
35

Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation

35

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers,
behaviour and preferences

Providing a consistent customer experience

42

Segmenting and profiling customers

40

33

Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects
33

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
27

Generating qualified leads
26

Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service
26

Building long-term relationships
24

Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales)
22

Maximising the number of repeat sales
20

Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty
20

Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly
15

Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation)
13

Creating effective collateral
8

Prioritising resources directed towards customers
by total value over life of customer
37

Making each unit aware of how the others have
interacted with a given customer
35

Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others
33

Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service
30

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
26

Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales,
and using these scores to guide sales
16

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
1

Other
0

Don’t know/Not applicable
0

Other
0

Don’t know
0

10

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Which customer characteristics does your organisation most
use to segment your customer base and prioritise marketing
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Global economic downturn
80

Number and type of products used

Changing customer requirements

41

Household net worth (even if held with other institutions)

40

Finding access to credit/capital

37

Length of relationship

33

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

37

Average balance

26

Emergence of new competitors

30

Age

18

Focusing on sustainability efforts

22

Primary channel used to deal with bank (online, teller, call center)

18

Emergence of new markets for our products and services

19

Gender

16

Disruptive technology developments

10

Ethnicity

5

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

5

Other

5

Other

11

Don’t know

6

Don’t know

8

0

If you expect changes in financial regulations, what do you
expect the impact will be?

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

More customer education to inform them about the
portfolio choices and associated risks

Improving online or self-service product support tools
47

Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites
43

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
41

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels

(eg, web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)

23

32

No impact yet on front-office customer management processes
13

We do not expect changes in financial regulations
37

Building or supporting online customer communities

39

Re-alignment of internal product development and
marketing units to address financial regulations

11

Other
4

Other
3

Don’t know
13

11

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with these statements about the channels used by your customers.
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

The role of the branch channel and personal advisors facilitating in-person customer meetings has increased due to the financial crisis
64

36

64

36

The channel(s) used by customers depend(s) largely on the age of the customer
Our customers are increasingly using automated channels (rather than in-person channels) not just for transactions, but to resolve problems as well
64

36

Social networking sites ( eg, Twitter, Facebook) are influencing choices made by customers of financial services institutions
33

67

Regardless of the channel used to contact us, our customers receive a consistent brand message and quality of service
68

32

How important will each of the following objectives be to your institution over the coming year?
(% respondents)
Top priority objective

Medium priority objective

Low priority objective

Not an objective

Don’t know

Cut costs
36

50

12 2

Raise efficiency
64

31

4 1

Increase fee-based revenues
40

36

12

9 2

Increase interest margins
18

33

26

21

3

Increase customer satisfaction

54

32

13 1

Achieve or maintain regulatory compliance
47

37

12

3 1

Improve supplier relationships
26

26

29

18 2

In which region are you personally based?

In which area of financial services do primarily work in?

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Asia-Pacific
41

North America
23

Western Europe
15

Middle East and Africa

Banking

55

Insurance

18

Other

27

9

Latin America
7

Eastern Europe
4

12

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Board member
1

CEO/President/Managing director

$500m or less

22

$500m to $1bn

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
6

$1bn to $5bn

CIO/Technology director
1

Other C-level executive

44
7
11

$5bn to $10bn

8

$10bn or more

29

10

SVP/VP/Director
24

Head of Business Unit
8

Head of Department
5

Manager
18

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?

Other

(% respondents)

5

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

Business-to-business 44

(% respondents)

Consumer/retail

24

Both

32

Finance
35

Risk
34

General management
33

Strategy and business development
29

Marketing
19

Customer service
14

Operations and production

Which perspective—consumer/retail or
business-to-business—are you sharing in this survey?
(% respondents)

9

Sales
9

Information and research
8

Consumer/retail

54

Business-to-business 46

IT
6

Legal
5

R&D
4

Procurement
2

Human resources
2

Supply-chain management
1

Other
3

13

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Appendix: Americas survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients

43

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

20

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services

20

Other

17

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads

3

13

37

40

7

0

20

0

Developing and launching new products
23

33

23

Planning and executing campaigns
10

30

40

17

3

Analysing and segmenting customers
7

30

27

23

13

0

Gauging customer satisfaction
10

13

23

43

7

3

Measuring effectiveness of processes
13

23

37

20

7

0

13

0

20

0

Responding to customer demands or complaints
3

3

33

47

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
7

13

30

30

Other
33

14

67

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider
30

67

3

Compared to our competitors, my organisation’s customers are more loyal
40

43

17

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers
23

67

10

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer’s lifetime value
32

46

21

We are currently developing a social media strategy
30

47

23

My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products
41

45

14

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
48

34

17

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were 12 months ago
62

28

10

Customers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
50

43

7

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
30

40

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

30

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects
43

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers,
behaviour and preferences

40

37

Providing a consistent customer experience
37

40

Segmenting and profiling customers
27

Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation

27

Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service

37

Cross-selling or upselling customers

37

Building long-term relationships
23

Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales)
23

Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty
23

Generating qualified leads
20

Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation)
17

Maximising the number of repeat sales
13

Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service
13

Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly
10

Creating effective collateral
0

Prioritising resources directed towards customers
by total value over life of customer

Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others
33

Making each unit aware of how the others have
interacted with a given customer
17

Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales,
and using these scores to guide sales
17

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
13

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
0

Other
0

Don’t know/Not applicable
0

Other, please specify
0

Don’t know
0

15

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2

Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Which customer characteristics does your organisation most
use to segment your customer base and prioritise marketing
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Global economic downturn
80

Average balance

Finding access to credit/capital

40

Number and type of products used

47

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

40

Household net worth (even if held with other institutions)

30

Changing customer requirements

37

Length of relationship

27

Focusing on sustainability efforts

30

Age

17

Emergence of new markets for our products and services

17

Primary channel used to deal with bank (online, teller, call center)

13

Emergence of new competitors

17

Gender

10

Disruptive technology developments

3

Ethnicity

3

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

3

Other

3

Other

20

Don’t know

13

Don’t know

7

0

If you expect changes in financial regulations, what do you
expect the impact will be?

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Re-alignment of internal product development and
marketing units to address financial regulations

Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites
57

Improving online or self-service product support tools
43

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
37

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(eg, web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
30

Building or supporting online customer communities
23

38

More customer education to inform them about the
portfolio choices and associated risks
31

No impact yet on front-office customer management processes
14

We do not expect changes in financial regulations
3

Other
14

Other
10

Don’t know
7

16

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with these statements about the channels used by your customers.
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

The role of the branch channel and personal advisors facilitating in-person customer meetings has increased due to the financial crisis
60

40

The channel(s) used by customers depend(s) largely on the age of the customer
70

30

Our customers are increasingly using automated channels (rather than in-person channels) not just for transactions, but to resolve problems as well
73

27

Social networking sites ( eg, Twitter, Facebook) are influencing choices made by customers of financial services institutions
37

63

Regardless of the channel used to contact us, our customers receive a consistent brand message and quality of service
63

37

How important will each of the following objectives be to your institution over the coming year?
(% respondents)
Top priority objective

Medium priority objective

Low priority objective

Not an objective

Don’t know

Cut costs
37

47

13

3

3

3

Raise efficiency
57

37

Increase fee-based revenues
59

10

17

14

Increase interest margins
13

33

30

23

Increase customer satisfaction

50

33

13

3

7

3

Achieve or maintain regulatory compliance
53

37

Improve supplier relationships
17

27

40

17

In which region are you personally based?

In which area of financial services do primarily work in?

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

North America
77

Latin America
23

Asia-Pacific
0

Eastern Europe

Banking

40

Insurance

27

Other

33

0

Western Europe

0

Middle East and Africa
0

17

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Board member
0

CEO/President/Managing director

$500m or less

28

$500m to $1bn

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
3

CIO/Technology director
0

Other C-level executive

54
4

$1bn to $5bn

0

$5bn to $10bn

11

$10bn or more

32

7

SVP/VP/Director
28

Head of Business Unit
7

Head of Department
3

Manager
17

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?

Other

(% respondents)

7

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

Business-to-business 40

(% respondents)

Consumer/retail

33

Both

27

Risk
40

Finance
37

Strategy and business development
37

General management
33

Marketing
20

Customer service
17

Sales
13

Which perspective—consumer/retail or
business-to-business—are you sharing in this survey?
(% respondents)

Operations and production
10

Information and research
7

Legal
7

Business-to-business 63
Consumer/retail

38

IT
3

R&D
3

Procurement
3

Human resources
3

Supply-chain management
0

Other

0

18

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Appendix: Asia-Pacific survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients

50

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

28

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services

15

Other

8

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads
8

25

20

35

10

3

Developing and launching new products
10

18

20

40

13

0

40

8

0

44

8

0

33

8

0

23

8

0

13

0

8

0

Planning and executing campaigns

5

20

28

Analysing and segmenting customers
10

13

26

Gauging customer satisfaction
5

23

33

Measuring effectiveness of processes
8

30

33

Responding to customer demands or complaints
10

15

23

40

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
13

28

28

25

Other
14

19

14

14

290

29

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider
33

68

Compared to our competitors, my organisation’s customers are more loyal
40

40

20

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers

28

63

10

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer’s lifetime value
33

55

13

We are currently developing a social media strategy
40

50

10

My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products
45

40

15

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
65

33

3

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were 12 months ago
55

38

8

Customers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
58

30

13

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
36

54

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

10

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in

integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Providing a consistent customer experience
43

Cross-selling or upselling customers

Making each unit aware of how the others have
interacted with a given customer
43

40

Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation

Segmenting and profiling customers

40

38

Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service

Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others
38

30

Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects
28

38

Generating qualified leads
25

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
25

Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales)
25

Maximising the number of repeat sales
23

Building long-term relationships
20

Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty
20

Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly
18

Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation)
10

Creating effective collateral

8

Prioritising resources directed towards customers
by total value over life of customer
Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service
30

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers,
behaviour and preferences
30

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
28

Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales,
and using these scores to guide sales
15

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
3

Other
0

Don’t know/Not applicable
0

Other
0

Don’t know
0

20

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

0


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Which customer characteristics does your organisation most
use to segment your customer base and prioritise marketing
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Global economic downturn
80

Number and type of products used

Changing customer requirements

43

Length of relationship

43

Finding access to credit/capital

40

Household net worth (even if held with other institutions)

25

Emergence of new competitors

38

Age

25

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

25

Average balance

25

Focusing on sustainability efforts

25

Primary channel used to deal with bank (online, teller, call center)

20

Emergence of new markets for our products and services

25

Gender

15

Disruptive technology developments

18

Ethnicity

8

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

5

Other

5

Other

5

Don’t know

5

Don’t know

8

0

If you expect changes in financial regulations, what do you
expect the impact will be?

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

More customer education to inform them about the portfolio
choices and associated risks

Improving online or self-service product support tools

48
53

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability

Re-alignment of internal product development and marketing
units to address financial regulations

45

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(eg, web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
40

Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites
38

Building or supporting online customer communities

33

No impact yet on front-office customer management processes
15

We do not expect changes in financial regulations
5

Other
0

20

Other
0

Don’t know
18

21

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with these statements about the channels used by your customers.
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

The role of the branch channel and personal advisors facilitating in-person customer meetings has increased due to the financial crisis
65

35

The channel(s) used by customers depend(s) largely on the age of the customer
69

31

Our customers are increasingly using automated channels (rather than in-person channels) not just for transactions, but to resolve problems as well
58

43

Social networking sites ( eg, Twitter, Facebook) are influencing choices made by customers of financial services institutions
35

65

Regardless of the channel used to contact us, our customers receive a consistent brand message and quality of service
70

30

How important will each of the following objectives be to your institution over the coming year?
(% respondents)

Top priority objective

Medium priority objective

Low priority objective

Not an objective

Don’t know

Cut costs
30

50

20

Raise efficiency
63

30

8

8

8

Increase fee-based revenues
38

48

Increase interest margins
20

30

25

20

5

Increase customer satisfaction
55

33

13

Achieve or maintain regulatory compliance
40

38

18

3

3

20

3

Improve supplier relationships
30

25

23

In which area of financial services do primarily work in?

In which region are you personally based?

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Asia-Pacific
100

Latin America

Banking

75

North America

Insurance

10

0

Other

15

0

Eastern Europe
0

Western Europe
0

Middle East and Africa
0

22

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Which of the following best describes your title?

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Board member
3

CEO/President/Managing director

$500m or less

18

36

$500m to $1bn 10

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
5

$1bn to $5bn

CIO/Technology director
0

Other C-level executive

13

$5bn to $10bn

8

$10bn or more

33

8

SVP/VP/Director
28

Head of Business Unit
8

Head of Department
8

Manager
23

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?

Other

(% respondents)

3

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

Business-to-business 43

(% respondents)
General management

Consumer/retail

28

Both

30

33

Finance
33

Risk

33

Strategy and business development
28

Marketing
20

Operations and production
13

Sales

Which perspective—consumer/retail or
business-to-business—are you sharing in this survey?
(% respondents)

10

Customer service
10

Information and research
8

IT

Consumer/retail

63

Business-to-business 38
5

Legal
5

R&D
3

Supply-chain management
3

Human resources
3

Procurement
0

Other
5

23

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 4
EMEA survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in banking and insurance

Appendix: Europe Middle East and Africa
survey results
In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients

68

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

18

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services

11

Other

4

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely

separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads
11

14

11

32

11

21

Developing and launching new products
4

18

14

39

18

7

21

7

Planning and executing campaigns
21

11

39

Analysing and segmenting customers
7

7

29

43

11

4

15

4

41

4

19

4

21

4

Gauging customer satisfaction
7

11

19

44

Measuring effectiveness of processes
4

22

30

Responding to customer demands or complaints
15

7

56

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
7

21

18

29

Other
11

24

11

78

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009