BAI Online
Deborah
L. Bianucci
President and CEO, BAI |
Turning the Corner
The financial services industry has gained a reputation over the years for following?not leading?innovation and change. There are now signs the industry is turning the corner as more organizations proactively look at their businesses with an eye toward innovation to deliver differentiated products and services and, most importantly, value to their stakeholders.
This idea of making clear strategic choices to differentiate organizations within their respective marketplaces can be found in our interview with PNC Financial Services Group CEO James E. Rohr. In the article ?Investing in the Franchise?, in the September/October 2006 issue of BAI?s Banking Strategies, Rohr offers insights into his search for strategic clarity and differentiation of PNC to powerfully drive business performance.
At BAI, our goal is to help more of you in the financial services business see your target markets through different and clearer lenses so you can take advantage of new and attractive business opportunities for the future of your organization. Across our business lines—conferences, educational events, training, research and publishing—we strive to provide objective information and insights to give you high-value information that will help you differentiate your organization and improve your customer experience.
For example, BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo, which will be held in Las Vegas in November 2006, will focus on new opportunities and fresh perspectives to help you thrive in today?s competitive and commoditized market. It will feature leaders in financial services, as well as marquee speakers and entrepreneurs from outside the industry, who will challenge you and help you to look at your business and customers differently.
Our upcoming research study, The Relationship Experience, which will be released in November at BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo, also offers new perspectives on how to create customer loyalty differently by building a retail experience into your banking operations. Committed research sponsors to date are Unisys, SAP, Accenture, ARGO and NewGround.
As the financial services industry continues to contract and bear more competitive pressure from non-traditional banking organizations, we need to be open to new ideas and be willing to really embrace new business models and strategies to expand existing customer relationships and develop new ones. Change, uncertainty and unqualified risk lie in our wake if we choose to accept the challenge of truly looking at our business in a new light. But, having the courage to do so offers opportunities to build more intimate relationships with customers; to learn more about our strengths and weaknesses; and to truly engage our employees in the process of making our organizations more profitable and sustainable in the marketplace. We think it?s worth the risk.
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