Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Local Banks still focused on garnering new sales at this time!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Local Banks still focused on garnering new sales at this time!

Dear Mr Tan,

With the recent saga over the few structured products and mini-bonds, we would assumed that the banks' role will be focusing on providing assurance to their existing customers and customer retention.

Yesterday, I received a call from a personal banker from a local bank. He was telling me about a fixed deposit promotion and that I should meet him at the branch as the promotion will be ending soon. Fair enough, I went down to check it out but to my surprise, the banker starts to sell me their insurance plans!

Upon further subtle probing, I realised that the bank are still pressuring their staff to sell and to maintain certain target or they may be the next to go. Is this what the local banks should focus on at this point of time? Is it just another convenient excuse to axe their staff? Or is it trying to compete with rival banks for business?

I read in a recent article that most foreign banks have channelled their sales force to focus entirely on customer service and handling all the related enquries. I believed that this is the correct approach and the least that the banks can do now for their customers.

I cannot even imagine that there are still banks imposing targets on their staffs at this time. Are they encouraging them to mis-sell or misrepresent their products to secure their jobs? Does it matter to them what product they are selling to the customers or if the product is suitable? Will history repeats itself all over again when the customers complained about the products they buy at this time?

As more products are being affected, I believed that the whole episode is here to stay thus I sincerely hope that the local banks will know their priority, have more compassion and adopt the correct approach. It would definitely be better if the MAS can intervene and developed a policy to control the industry.

This is an extremely difficult time for Singaporeans, especially so for many uneducated and unsavvy customers who do not know the avenue to check about their current products.

Mr Seow

19 comments:

Anonymous said...: can any1 produce a voice recording via your HP or PDA of the actual sell process...so there is a proof of Trained RM tactics, to prove to the world, Misled is indeed happening.; November 18, 2008 6:38 AM
Anonymous said...: Mr Seow,

Which local bank??

HS; November 18, 2008 7:51 AM
siewkhim said...: People has to make a living. So this is likely to happen.; November 18, 2008 10:47 AM
Anonymous said...: In 1990s, Citibank was the one who started this concept of bancassurance (ie combining banking with insurance). All the supposed gurus hailed this new concept. Every other bank started copying. Look at what happened to Citibank now.; November 18, 2008 11:46 AM
Concerned said...: Banks can't sell structured products and with the falling stock market, nobody wants to buy unit trust, so sell insurance lah!; November 18, 2008 12:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Honestly la

If i am boss and markets are down and everyone has some qualifications, and looks as handsome or pretty, or young or smiling as the other

I would naturally keep the ones who could do good sales in bad times

Dont u agreed; November 18, 2008 12:57 PM
Anonymous said...: i agree with siewkhim. Bottomline for banks is still profit. Financial products are still good money for the banks. They will continue to sell, axe those who cannot sell and hire more and hope that they can sell. Bankers may not want to sell but their heads are on the chopping board. So what solutions are there?
Btw i think i know which bank Mr Seow is talking about.; November 18, 2008 1:17 PM
Unknown said...: Concept of combining insurance and banking services may not be a bad thing, IMO. But execution of such sales of insurance in banks may be wrong. If a bank is to remain collecting deposits only, it will find itself tough to last. If there is transparency of products' risks and returns, at least the buyers are informed and the judgement calls are on their onus.; November 18, 2008 1:26 PM
Anonymous said...: I recently recieved a credit card application form by DBS and 2 cute samples of credit cards. At this point of time, they still want to entice consumers to sign up for credit cards even when news of people incurring credit card debts. I just threw the application form away. I do not trust DBS until they resolved this lehman brothers saga.; November 18, 2008 1:28 PM
Concerned said...: Mr Seow,

If you do not wish to give the name of the bank, at least you can give the locality of the bank and the name of the relationship manager.; November 18, 2008 2:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Selling insurance and investment are two different things altogether. On top of having the relevant insurance qualifications (M5, M8, M9, HI, CGI, PGI and DipLife), the work experience plays an extremely important part too. One needs to have good understanding of the different types of insurances and their needs, only can than advise the client correctly. The banks in Singapore are trying to combine the selling of bother these two products together. Does the bancasurance person knows investment well enough. Does the RM knows insurance well enough to be able to give the correct advice. Very often, I am being approached by bank staff and RM trying to sell to me insurance and investment. As I myself have all the insurance and investment qualifications, I am able to tell that the bank staff/RM has not given me the right advice. How many people is knowledgeable like me who would not fall easily into their "sweet persuasion".; November 18, 2008 3:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Firstly I need to clarify that the banker did not mis-sell. My intention is to point out that the banks' main focus now should not just be on profits. Definitely, their profits will be greatly reduced for that few months but if more time and effort is spent on reassuring and helping their customers through this difficult patch. I am sure that the end results will be more rewarding when appreciated customers remain their faith and loyalty in them.

Pushing their bankers to perform by threatening their job will increase the likelihood of a mis-sell. What a dilemma for them! Almost feeling sorry for them. Its like Devil says "sell more to keep your job" & Angel says "be true to your conscience", eventually the more convincing party wins. Years later, the same fiasco will resurface...

I was just wondering shouldn't the axeing of underperformers be done as an ongoing process during their year end appraisals? It should not be a justification for the banks to cut cost in bad times.

Just imagine this, a banker get axed just because he choose to service his existing customers. At the end of the day, the whole industry will be filled with "salesmen" and not bankers. Is "salesmen" what we, as the customers need? In that case, I would rather choose the banker whom will not forsake their customers in bad times even if I need to shift my assets to another bank.

I hope to have an objective view at the problem thus I am not going to state names. For all we know, this scenario could be happening in most banks. I really urged the banks to reconsider their actions in view of the long term benefits for themselves and their customers.

Mr Seow; November 18, 2008 6:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Just wondering if anyone here who does not have a insurance policy? If most of us do own at least 1 insurance policy, does it really matter if its sold in good or bad times? The term "mis-selling" is just too simply used these days...; November 18, 2008 8:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Yes, don't trust DBS at this time.This is your right to show them they have to bear the responsibility of being cheated the investors.; November 18, 2008 10:06 PM
Anonymous said...: do u think banks are charitable organisations? banks are businesses, and like every profit making business, sales and targets are just part and parcel of it all!

my god. mr seow, can u think a bit before complaining? how typical of consumers these days.; November 18, 2008 10:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Citibank used to like to boast that it is a financial supermarket wat?? They said consumers can walk into Citibank and find any financial product they want: insurance, structured products, dual currency, etc... Just like supermarket, Cavaet Emptor....; November 19, 2008 12:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Agreed. Citibank is the worst. Not only do they try to run a bank like a supermarket. They also pushed the boundary further by running their bank like a pasar malam, setting up roadside stalls..; November 19, 2008 12:12 AM
Anonymous said...: I go to bank to put my saving and keep money safe,not to gamble,if I want to gamble,I will go to the casino,I dont need banks to sell me any of these products,they can buy it themselves or risk getting scold by me.once bitten,twice shy.; November 19, 2008 10:14 AM
Anonymous said...: 8:17 PM
I am using "insurance" as an example. Product is not an issue here. No one is accused of mis-sell as well. I agree with you that the term has been too commonly used. Of course, not all investors has been a victim and I know that there are people who make use of this issue to compensate for their losses, even though they know exactly what they have bought.

10:16 PM
haha.. i presume you must be either a businessman or working in a bank. I wrote this not because I want to complain, just stating my views and I am not asking for agreement. Yes, targets are inevitable in all business but there are other methods to garner them. Not at the expense of their bankers and customers though.; November 19, 2008 10:59 AM