Course Overview

This course explores the “world-class” approaches of leading banks to organising & managing their branch networks, and how delegates' banks could emulate them to boost profitable growth:

• To provide a comprehensive review of modern branch network strategies
• To assess alternative branch network marketing strategies
• To explore how leading banks boost selling and upgrade credit risk management across their branch networks
• To examine modern approaches to organising, planning and controlling branch networks
• To practice the use of a range of analytical methodologies which are key to managing branch networks successfully
• To assess ways that participants’ banks could upgrade their own approaches to branch network management in order to increase market shares, profits and profitability

Benefits of the Course: What Delegates Will Take Away

This 4-day, general management level course will help delegates to:

• Understand how to formulate branch network strategy for generating higher profit
• Segment the banking and financial services markets in which their networks are active
• Develop successful marketing strategies and guide their practical implementation
• Reorganise their banks in a way that supports branch network management
• Restructure their branch networks to improve selling, customer service and profitability
• Refocus branch planning, budgeting and control systems on to marketing priorities
• Calculate correctly the profitability of products, customers, segments and branches
• Set priorities for upgrading branch network strategy and management in their banks

Methodology

The course is intensive and participative. Various methods are used:

•  Formal presentations, including many real case histories, with discussions
• Case studies and “question and answer" plenary discussion sessions
• Discussion group sessions followed by presentations developed by participant
• Presentations are delivered in English with simultaneous translation, if required.

Learning Level

This is an advanced course for top bankers who need to advance the organization structure and management of their branch networks with the aim of increasing market share and profitability.

Who Should Attend

This seminar is for the top executives of banks, senior managers who are expected to reach this level soon, and those who support directly the top management teams of their banks:
Executive chairmen, CEO’s, and members of boards and top executive committees

• General managers, executive vice presidents, executive directors responsible for "profit centre" divisions and subsidiary companies involved in:
• Branch network management
  - Personal (“retail” or “consumer”), premium and private banking
  - SME, commercial and corporate banking
  - Other financial services such as investment and insurance
• Senior executives responsible for support divisions, including those involved in:
  - Strategy, planning and financial control
  - Marketing and sales support
  - Credit and other types of risk management
  - Human resources and information technology management

Day 1

Theme 1: Strategies for Banks and their Branch Networks

Introduction and Overview

• Programme Overview: Themes and Topics
• Introduction of Delegates

Strategies for Increasing Branch Network & Bank Profitability

• Setting Priorities Across Market Segments, Products,
• Services and Locations
• Fixing Service Quality Levels, Pricing Policy and
• Branding Strategy
• Harmonising Strategies for Marketing, Credit and Asset & Liability Structure
• Adjusting Organisation Structure to Reflect Network
• Marketing Priorities
• Focusing Selling on to the Best Customers and Business

Phases in the Evolution of Branch Networks

• Marketing Focus and Selling Intensity
• Credit Management
• Network Organisation Structure and HR Management
• Operations
• Planning, Budgeting & Control

Theme 2: Focusing Branch Network Marketing

Market Segmentation in Branch Banking

• Nature of Market Segmentation in Branch Banking
• The Need for Clear Market Segmentation
• Formulating Branch Market Segment Strategies
• Organising Banks and Networks to Serve Priority Market
• Segments

Group Work: Segmenting the Markets of Delegates’ Banks

• Choosing & Defining Market Segments and Sub- Segments
• Estimating the Sizes and Contributions of Market Segments
• Technical and Political Barriers to Market Segmentation
• Practical Steps in Segmenting a Bank’s Whole Customer Base
• Training Bank Personnel and Customers About Segmentation

Case Histories: “Winning” Branch Network Marketing Strategies

• Methodology for Deciding Marketing Priorities
• Case History: Setting Marketing Priorities Across All Businesses
• Case History: Formulating Retail Banking Marketing Priorities
•  Case History: Fixing International Development Priorities
•  Important Practical Lessons from the Case Histories
  

Day 2

Case Study: Formulating a “Winning” Network Strategy

• Choosing Which Mutually-Exclusive Market Segments to Use
• Assessing the Attractiveness of the Different Market Segments
• Assessing the Bank’s Competitive Strength in Each Market Segment
• Setting Priorities Among the Market Segments and Developing Action Plans

Case Answers: Formulating a “Winning” Network Strategy

• Strategic Development Priorities
• Priority Tasks and Action Plans
•  Implementation Timetable

Theme 3: Intensifying selling across Branch Networks

Modern Sales Channels for Branch Networks

• Segmented Branches and Point-of-Sale (POS) Offices
• Mobile or Direct Sales Forces
• Outbound Call Centres and Direct Mailing
• Campaign Management

Case History: How One Bank Intensified Network Selling

•  The Meaning of “Selling” and the Importance of Increasing Selling Time
• The Link Between Selling Time, Cross-Selling Successand Profitability
• The Case History Bank Before and After Reengineering
• Specific Jobs Removed and Added, and the Impact on the Bank’s Performance

Group Work: Intensifying Selling Across Delegates’ Branch Networks

• Creating New Types of Selling Job
•  Increasing Existing Types of Selling Job
• Moving Staff Into Income-Generating Jobs and the Retraining Needed
•  Increasing the Time Spent Selling in All Selling Jobs

Theme 4: World-Class Credit Management in Branch Banks

Group Work: World-Class Credit Risk Management in Branch Banks

• The 250 Elements of Credit Risk Management
• World-Class Standards of Credit Risk Management
• Case Histories: How Some Banks Became World-Class at Credit Management
• Discussion: Advancing Credit Policy and Processes in Delegates’ Banks
  

Day 3

Group Work: Characteristics for Assessing Personal Credit Risk

• Financial Characteristics of Retail Borrowers
• Non-Financial Characteristics of Retail Borrowers
• Choosing the Best Combination of Characteristics for Assessing Risk

Credit Scoring for Modern Branch Network Banks

• Nature of Credit Scoring Schemes
• Steps in Developing a Credit Scoring Scheme
• Uses of Credit Scoring Schemes
• Practical Problems and Solutions

Case Study: Target Risk-Adjusted Pricing of Loans

• Explanation of Target Risk-Adjusted Pricing of Loans
• Calculating Margins Needed to Meet the Bank’s
• Target Return on Equity
• Estimating Margins to Cover Funding and Opportunity Costs
• Building in Margins to Pay for Credit Operating Costs
• Calculating Margins Needed to Cover Bad Debts
• Adjusting Margins to Exploit Competitive Dominance

Case Answers: Target Risk-Adjusted Pricing of Loans

• Loans to Accept With More Cross-Selling
• Loans to Accept if Bad Debts Can be Reduced
• Loans to Accept if Operating Costs Can be Cut
• Loans to Reject

Theme 5: Organising Modern Branch Networks

 Reorganising Banks and Their Branch Networks

• Design Principles for Bank and Network Organisation Structures
• Organisational Options: Territorial, Product, Segment and Functional Structures
• Choosing the Best Organisation Structure for Branch Networks

Day 4

Case Answers: Reengineering Networks for Marketing, Sales and Quality

• Alternative Strategies for the Branch Network
• Option 1: Refocusing the Branch Network and Down-Sizing the Bank
• Option 2: Refocusing the Branch Network and
• Expanding the Customer Base
• Comparison and Evaluation of the Strategic Options

Theme 6: Planning & Controlling Branch Networks

World-Class Branch Planning, Budgeting & Control

• Effective Approaches to Market-Focused Strategi Planning
• Using Action Planning in Implementing Network Marketing Strategies
• Segmented Key Performance Indicators and Budgeting
• Segmented Financial Control Reporting
•  Measuring & Rewarding Branch Performance

Group Work: Choosing Key Performance Targets for Branch Managers

• KPT’s for Branch Managers
• Deciding the Relative Importance of KPT’s
• 52 Examples of KPT’s Commonly-Used by Leading Branch Banks

Theme 7: Priorities for Progress

Group Work: Priorities for Upgrading the Branch Networks of Delegates’ Banks

• Setting Priorities for Upgrading Networks
• Defining the Actions to be Taken
• Proposing Timetables for Moving Ahead

Course summary and close

• Chris Batt

  Chris Batt is an acknowledged top adviser to the owners, leaders and senior managers of banks about strategy, reorganisation and best practices. He is an experienced banker and strategist, and has served over 150 banks in more than 50 countries. He designs and leads workshops & seminars for the boards and top executive teams of banks around the world.
  
  He was elected a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Bankers in recognition of his status in UK banking and training services to senior bankers.
  
  As a banker, he has held senior positions in the UK, USA and Middle East:
  • Jordan Ahli Bank in Jordan, Chief Operating Officer (CEO)
  • Visa International in the USA - Member of Visa’s top Executive Committee, Head of Global Strategy
  • Grindlays Bank in the UK - GM of Specialised Finance, GM of Group Planning
  • NatWest Bank in the UK - Group Planning Manager
  
  As a consultant to banks, he has worked for:
  • A.T. Kearney - Partner, Head of the Global Banking Group
  • Booz Allen & Hamilton - Partner, Head of the European Banking Group
  • Mckinsey & Company - Senior Engagement Manager, European Banking Practice
  
  Chris Batt has master degrees from Cambridge and London Universities, and the Diploma of Imperial College.

  Courses run by this instructor

  • Best Practice Management of Banks

Branch Banking Strategies

London School of Retail Banking

Retail Credit Risk and Credit Scoring