S.O.B….
Save Our Bankers…?
With the acceleration in digital adoption now forcing banks to play catch up in digital transformation, and the financial services landscape undergoing a revolution rather than evolution, there’s still time to pause for thought- Where does this leave the Business Relationship Manager?
Now before anyone groans- “Not another article on robots replacing us, virtual reality the new reality, data the oxygen and algorithms our sustenance”… I’ll front…
…Relationships matter more than ever…
Relationships create experiences and experiences create relationships. People more so than machines can evoke emotion, create trust, inspire confidence and offer hope, and given robots haven’t “yet” learned to care then until that day comes there will always be a need for great people building lasting connections.
State of play today
Banks have long set themselves up through the three P’s of Product, Policy & Process, attempting to adopt the most efficient channels to mass originate and distribute product. A customer could have any level of personalisation as long as they chose product A or product B with perhaps a side of features ABC. Relationship Managers as the fourth P- “People”- were there to act as the conduit between the client and the bank, waiting for the need, selling product and then taking it through the process in line with the policies set. For decades this business model worked incredibly well for the industry, as through lack of choice, transparency and asymmetric information the banks held all the cards and the clients had to accept what they were being given and the way it was being delivered.
The power balance has now shifted however…. Consumers and businesses are benefitting from the proliferation in fintech with improved experiences, slicker user journey’s, less friction and hyper personalised solutions increasingly having become table stakes. In a short space of the time the majority of business owners and leaders will be from the Millennial generation, and having grown up with and appreciating technology, the internet and digital services being interwoven into their lifestyles, simply will not accept experiences marred by friction, exposed processes or a lack of transparency and customisation. With video on demand through streaming services such as Netflix ubiquitous, no Millennial would now if offered the choice choose to go to Blockbuster to rent their movie, nor would they travel to a store to make all their purchases when knowing that through the click of a button Amazon will have it at their door the following day. Gen Z’s who have grown up entirely digitally native such that they don’t necessarily appreciate technology but rather just expect it be there integrated as part of their day to day lives will have even less tolerance for experiences with even the hint of friction.
Right now the incumbent banks are facing into their own Blockbuster moment. Whereby initially a bank was somewhere you had to go, then became something you had to do, and then optimistically an experience to be had, today consumers and businesses for the most part want their banking to be an invisible enabler to their aspirations. The product itself or the way it is delivered is irrelevant as they simply want to get done the things they need to, in order to take take their businesses forward in line with their ambitions and aspirations. Banks have strived to create relationships to help business owners do just that of course, and the role of the Relationship Manager or Director was intended as the conduit and enabler to helping clients realise those ambitions.
But where a relationship (if it can indeed be called that) is transactional, then it exposes and magnifies a banks processes, systems and inserts whether consciously or not the client into these. This creates a negative experience and negative experiences create (de)relationships.
The answer has often been.. Go harder on the relationship angle.. “Love your client more”, “add as much value to them as you possibly can even if you dont know what that value is”… and yes “Do more transactions with them” and “support with more products”. Focus becomes less on clients emotional needs but more on their transactional ones, and again that creates (de)relationships.
Everyone needs a hug though?
By definition the titles of Relatioship Manager or Relationship Direct imply they are there to act as the link between the client and the bank, but increasingly more time is being spend on the “manage” rather than the “relationship”. Th more clients are inserted into a banks processes the more of the managing rather than the relationship bank staff end up doing. Consistent and persistent pain points lead to the manger becoming more internally focussed and locked into the three P’s- Product, Process and Policy.
Transactional needs of course matter, but its important to see these through the principles of Jobs To Be Done. No business wants to open a bank account.. They want to start a business. Nobody wants a mortgage…They want to buy a property, and nobody (at least i hope) wants to use the correspondent bank network to make an international payment via Swift… They want to send money to someone. Seen through Jobs to be done and the problems clients are solve it becomes much easier to see what a true relationship should look like.
Banks are commodities just like electricity or water providers, and as technology drives finance to become more open, embedded, automated and intelligent, the reality is many of the experiences banks want customers to benefit from are increasingly not being provided by a bank. Whether its payments, account opening or access to credit, the core of bank activities are being done better by non-banks and technology companies.
Where does this leave the role of the Relationship Manager then….?
I fronted earlier that relationships matter more than ever and they do. Humans of course need and value social interaction, and its through connections that emotions are feelings are created, Feelings and drive behaviors and decisions. Businesses still choose to bank with a provider because of how the Relationship Manager or Director has made them feel. They went beyond the transactions to create an emotional connection built on trust, understanding and friendship.
No business owner wants a loan or for someone to process their overdraft. They want to feel and believe that the person sitting across the table from them, over the phone, via Zoom or Messaging is going to be the person that is going:
- To help solve their problems
- Tell them something they don’t know
- Create and open up opportunities
- Challenge them to learn and grow
- Ask the probing and challenging questions
- Help them look to the future and map out a plan for success
- To be the first person they call when they want to sense check their thoughts and instincts
- Connect them to like minded individuals and business owners to share stories and exchange ideas.
For many Relationship Managers letting go of the safety and comfort that has come from living inside the P’s of Product, Process and Policy will not be easy, but the role can be more important than ever if people focus more on the Human and less on the Transaction….
