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Case Studies

Improve Business Processes for Sustainable Growth: A Case Study

August 10, 2023 | Revenue Growth

At a Glance

  • With improved customer service, in-branch processes and growth management, a banking client achieved 15% new to bank (NTB) sales growth, surpassing external market growth
  • The Renoir project turned an ROI of 241% for the client, including actual year-on-year growth of 49% over the 6-month base period against the contracted target of 5-8%
  • The client improved its branch loans capacity by 42% and 86% of its customers reported they would promote the bank to their friends and co-workers

Background

The client was founded in the 1960s as a thrift bank, with the majority of its revenues coming from loans to teachers. In the 2010s, it experienced a rapid expansion, increasing its number of branches from 34 to 51, and continues to expand at a high rate to this day. The CEO wanted to develop and implement a Management Control System that would enable the bank to effectively manage its dynamic growth.

The Challenge

One of Renoir’s initial projects with the client delivered a 32% increase in New to Bank (NTB) Loans from new customers or customers recaptured from competitors, far surpassing the initial agreed upon target of 7-13% in five pilot branches.

Following this success, a second project was initiated with a national roll out and sustainability focus, and an agreed upon target of 5-8% increase in NTB Loans. The project had 2 full-time Renoir consultants and a Project Manager onboard who were engaged in both the branch and Corporate Centre Operation workstreams.

Project Approach

The initial 14-week phase focused on identifying and training new Area Managers within the bank. With the support of Renoir, they were given the responsibility for the full installation of the new Management Control System (MCS) within one region of the Philippines. Following this installation, the full MCS would be implemented throughout the rest of the branch network.

Meanwhile, an alignment initiative was developed and driven from the Corporate Centre to ensure that operational systems fully leveraged the benefits of the new MCS. A Management Action Team (MAT) was formed to identify opportunities to enhance the corporate department functions, including reviewing the bank’s existing organizational structure, revising reporting processes, and rolling down and translating the annual strategic goals into branch deliverables.

This allowed Renoir and the MAT to identify coaching and development opportunities, as well as enhancements to the MCS that would facilitate alignment of the branch network with Corporate Centre Operations.

It was of key importance that these changes would be sustainable. System coaching audits and continuous improvement tools were implemented to ensure that the new MCS had become part of day-to-day operations.

The objectives agreed by the MAT were then implemented as the MCS was simultaneously rolled out nationally by the Area Managers.

The Results

Through implementation and application of changes to business processes, systems and skills, the minimum 5-8% growth target was surpassed to reach a 15% increase in NTB loans. The changes ensure that branch processes are effective, efficient and customer centric, and will drive sustained benefits for years to come.

The project executed the following deliverables over a 40-week Project:

Installation of a Management Control System (MCS) to drive new sales nationally

Renoir introduced enhanced Direct Sales Planning and a Monthly Activity Planner to focus on helping the client gain additional market share. These systems reinforced the need for proper planning of resources and prioritizing customers, increasing the frequency and higher quality of prospect qualification, which in turn led to a 10% average capture rate for sales efforts, compared with the industry average of 5.4%.

These initiatives increased the quantity of loan transactions by 15%, surpassing external market growth.

Improved in-branch processes

The project introduced new operational standards and targets, utilizing a newly developed Customer Processing Tracker, alongside cascading performance dashboards to monitor KPIs throughout the branch network. This monitoring system, coupled with regular review meetings, resulted in branches optimising their individual loan application processes to reduce average customer time-in-branch from entry to exit by 42%.

In addition, tools were introduced to facilitate indirect sales activities within the branch, such as bulk mailing and SMS texting, to monitor effectiveness. This had the effect of increasing branch loan process and sales activities productivity from 55% to 89%.

Financial Sales Processes
  • Achieved 15% NTB sales growth over and above external market growth. 
  • Achieved actual year-on-year growth of 49% over the 6-month base period against a contracted target of 5-8%. 
  • Returned a project investment ROI of 241%. 
  • Substantially increased frequency and quality of face-to-face sales through improved planning and prospect qualification processes, resulting in a 10% average capture rate for sales efforts compared with the industry average of 5.4%. 
  • Increased customer base of Total Outstanding Borrowers by 19%. 
  • Introduced Penetration Planning & Sales Capacity Planning systems to support allocation of sales resources to increase NTB loans. 
Behaviors In-Branch Processes
  • Achieved 89% utilization of branch staff. 
  • Provided 1000+ hours of formal training and coaching in Sales, Customer Service Excellence, Active Leadership. 
  • Introduced Active Management behaviours in both branches and Corporate Centre to enable management effectiveness, visibility, awareness and decision-making confidence. 
  • Improved branch loans capacity by 42%. 
  • Introduced customer standards, productivity tools, action planners & process controls to establish a continuous improvement culture. 
  • Introduced improved customer service monitoring, resulting in 86% of customers reporting they would promote the bank to their friends and co-workers. 

Developed a higher operational capacity

To manage the growing branch network, a new tier of Area Managers was installed. These Area Managers were coached on tools to evaluate sales effectiveness and develop opportunities for the branches within their regions.

Using the newly installed MCS, they were able to remain adaptive and continuously adjust sales tactics to respond to changes in local market conditions.

The new managers were also supported by changes in the Corporate Centre, ensuring alignment of branch goals with corporate strategy and clarification of role accountability moving forward. As a result, branches had increased transparency, enabling them to understand their contribution to overall strategy, and empowering employees to make decisions that supported both individual and group success.

Coupled with skills assessment tools to enhance talent development, this now drives a culture of continuous improvement, enhancing the systems and processes installed through the MCS.

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