Alistair Jessiman is Featured at Wealth Managment Symposium, Speaks on Customer Alignment

October 29, 2007

BOSTON – Rather than focusing on building operational bridges between product silos, banks should focus on aligning wealth management capabilities with priority customer groups, Alistair Jessiman told attendees at the Source Media Wealth Management & Retirement Planning Forum.

A Managing Director in the New York offices of Novantas LLC, Jessiman led a session titled "Realigning Distribution around Target Customers." While it is true that various strengths in wealth management still lay fragmented in product silos at many banks, he said, the problem can't be solved by treating it as an internal production issue.

Instead, Jessiman said, progressive banks are placing the first priority on target customer groups, and assembling internal capabilities within the context of marketing, sales and service. In turn, he said, leading banks are achieving break-through growth rates by looking beyond product silos to customers.

Jessiman said it's important to remember that wealth management strategy ultimately is reflected in the behavior of front-line representatives. Significant opportunities can be unlocked when highly–talented field executives delegate the traditional investment aspects of the business to the company, he said, and focus wholly on nuanced responsiveness to customers, including the critical "onboarding" process for new clients, and the adoption of best practices in sales.

The institution also must recognize that various wealth management customer segments vary markedly in their expectations, Jessiman said, explaining why uniform outreaches often fall short. As it methodically identifies top priorities among various customer groups, he said, the bank can build structured marketing and sales approaches that in turn become competitive differentiators — especially if they are designed to leverage the cross-selling priority paths unique to the institution.

The co-presenter for the conference presentation was Jeffrey W. Durkee, President of M&T Investment Group, a division of M&T Bank Corp., Buffalo, New York.

Novantas is the acknowledged leader in customer science and revenue strategy in the financial services industry. The Firm specializes in investigating and interpreting customer needs, attitudes and behaviors in ways that help companies to refine marketing decisions, customer strategies, and sales and service activities.