Sherief Meleis is Featured at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference, Speaks on Branch Network Optimization

November 14, 2007

LAS VEGAS – Retail banking has entered a new plane of competition that requires tailored responses to local markets, Sherief Meleis told participants at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo. The conference is the largest gathering of retail banking executives in the United States, attracting thousands of attendees annually.

A Managing Director in the New York offices of Novantas LLC, Meleis led a session titled "Winning in Micro–Markets." He said that while previous decades of consolidation and centralization have improved branch banking efficiency, many of the largest institutions have seen declines in local responsiveness and market share.

To reverse this trend, he said, progressive banks are learning to methodically detect salient differences between the markets they serve, and adjust according to local conditions. Using centrally–generated analytics and strategies, he said, it's possible to pinpoint situations within the overall branch network where regional and local refinements will significantly improve growth in balances and revenues.

Meleis said there are four specific performance improvement opportunities that can be unlocked through local responsiveness, including pricing, marketing, goal–setting and branch network configuration. But to capture these advantages, he said, banks must go beyond obsolete market definitions based on political boundaries, and base their outreach on micro–markets, which are defined according to the commuting patterns of target customers, including where they live, work and shop.

Once the various micro-markets within an overall franchise are defined and assessed in a way that reveals network strengths and local potential, Meleis said, the bank can accurately set priorities and establish an overall strategy for branch performance improvement. Finally, he said, each micro-market should be individually analyzed and have its own improvement plan, including de novo branches, closures, relocations and renovations.

The co–presenter for the BAI Retail Delivery conference session was Chan Peterson, Executive Vice President and Head of Community Banking at Banco Popular.

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.