Take Proactive Measures to Develop, Manage and Care for Customers

Banks, banks entering the stage of developing retail products and services will bring more efficiency.

3.2.3. Take proactive measures to develop, manage and care for customers.

There is a regular program to analyze customers according to criteria to serve such as: financial potential, ability to use banking services, educational level, level of use of banking services in the past time... According to the experience of banking experts, in the current capital mobilization work, potential customers can be divided into 2 main groups: the group of customers with high income and savings and the group of customers with low income and no savings.

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The group of customers with high income and savings needs focuses on subjects such as senior managers working for foreign management companies and effective Vietnamese enterprises, successful businessmen, retired civil servants, famous artists working in the arts... Banks can contact the local Tax Department to easily find high-income subjects who declare and pay personal income tax. The characteristic of this group of customers is that they have long-term, regular and stable deposit or investment needs. Therefore, suitable deposit products for this group are long-term savings deposits, promissory notes, bonds, or stocks issued by the bank. In addition to having appropriate policies and product designs, banks need to pay attention to their competitors who also aim to attract idle money from this customer group such as other commercial banks in the area, insurance companies, etc. The group of customers with low income and no need for long-term savings focuses mainly on workers, civil servants, and employees with low but stable salaries. Banks can approach these customers through the payroll management department at enterprises and companies with a large number of workers such as Long Bien Post Office, Long Bien Electricity, etc. or administrative organizations such as schools, hospitals, etc. The characteristics of this customer group are that they have low income but need to deposit money for transaction purposes, safety and use of other convenient services of the bank. Capital mobilization products suitable for these customers are personal deposit accounts used to pay salaries or use other utilities such as ATMs, electricity bills, etc.

water and telephone bills through the bank. In addition, non-term savings deposit products or short-term savings are also suitable for this customer group. To attract this customer group, banks should proactively approach large employers to provide salary payment services through the bank. Unlike customers who need to accumulate and deposit money for a long time, the main competitors in this customer group are between commercial banks.

Research and implement appropriate customer incentive policies to focus on attracting new and potential customers. It is necessary to identify target customers to provide more competitive solutions than competitors. Improve service quality for customers by using technology software to bring the highest benefits to customers.

Along with the increasing level of competition in the retail banking service market, customers have more and more opportunities to choose products and services according to their needs, so the level of consumer loyalty to banks also changes in a decreasing direction. Under the influence of mass media, customers' ability to choose products is increasing. Therefore, the need for a customer care policy to retain customers using the bank's services is an extremely important factor in developing a retail banking service strategy. The solution to enhance customer care activities is:

- Research and improve service quality and transaction quality to ensure customer satisfaction when using the service.

- It is necessary to build standards of communication with customers to create professionalism in customer transactions while enhancing the unique culture of Agribank to create a strong impression on customers of a reputable commercial bank, capable of best meeting their needs.

- Organize training on customer care for bank staff. Bank staff always aim to retain old customers and attract new customers to the bank.

3.2.4. Some other solutions

3.2.4.1. Changing concepts and perceptions of modern banking

It is necessary to change the perception of employees about the current concept of banking as soon as possible. This is a prerequisite and a basis for developing new products and services, or in other words, it is impossible to develop products and services effectively if traditional concepts about banks and banking products and services still exist.

3.2.4.2. Plan to increase revenue from non-credit products for science and technology

In the process of organizing business activities, banks all aim to increase scale, ensure capital safety and make profits. The conditions for increasing revenue from expanding business products other than credit for SMEs cannot be implemented in the short term, it is necessary to determine a long-term step-by-step roadmap. The development orientation of the bank must be closely linked to the economic and social development goals and macroeconomic policies of the State. Each bank itself wants to develop, especially modern services, requiring a huge initial investment in technology, human resources, and market research. Therefore, each commercial bank must rely on its advantages and competitiveness to plan its business development strategy, profit and revenue targets appropriately.

To increase revenue from non-credit products for SMEs, Phu Tho Branch needs to actively diversify products and services according to a suitable roadmap. First of all, it is necessary to continue to promote the advantages of the existing network, reputation, and technology to maintain the effectiveness of traditional products and services. Next, it is necessary to complete the development of modern banking products and services that have been deployed on a technology platform in the past. At the same time, research and survey the market to implement products that society and the economy need in the goal of the banking modernization project.

3.3 Some recommendations

3.3.1. For the government

Firstly, the Government has gradually clearly defined the state management authority of the Government and the State Bank in the process of planning and implementing monetary policy, and reformed the organizational structure of the State Bank. In its relationship with the Government, the State Bank of Vietnam needs to have a relatively independent position.

Second, building a complete legal environment to create favorable conditions to ensure that banking services develop in accordance with international practices and standards.

Third, direct ministries and sectors providing services such as post and telecommunications, electricity, transportation, etc. to actively coordinate with the banking sector to promote the acceptance of cards as a form of non-cash payment, contributing to reducing social costs, bringing benefits to consumers, and promoting the use of banking services.

Fourth, strengthen the capacity and role of the State Bank and the Ministry of Finance in managing the non-credit financial services market. Continue to innovate monetary management policies, foreign exchange policies, and exchange rate management mechanisms.

Maintain and develop the domestic market. Develop cooperative relationships, gradually expand service development to markets in countries in the region and the world.

3.3.2. For state banks

Firstly, the State Bank needs to soon issue and complete legal documents on payment with mechanisms that encourage rather than prohibit, such as allowing higher fees for cash transactions than for transfers, and modernizing the interbank electronic payment system to form a unified and safe national payment system.

Second, the State Bank of Vietnam needs to coordinate with the General Statistics Office in developing a list of banking services according to international standards, as a basis for building a periodic reporting system on specific types of services, contributing to improving the quality of management and operation services.

Third, build a modern financial information system to ensure the banking system operates safely, effectively, and is easy to monitor, while establishing a program for international financial integration on the internet to update world financial and monetary information.

Fourth, ensure that the State Bank is independent and autonomous in formulating and operating monetary policies, interest rates and exchange rates, performing the functions of a real central bank, being the bank issuing money, the bank of banks, the national payment center, and operating the monetary market.

Fifth, there needs to be close coordination between the banking system and the system of units in the financial sector such as the state treasury, tax, customs... especially the tax and customs authorities should accept tax collection and payment through the system of personal accounts and business accounts opened at banks.

Sixth, the State Bank of Vietnam must resolutely handle weak banks that pose great risks to the banking system by implementing measures to dissolve and bankrupt banks in accordance with the law, while ensuring that they do not cause major socio-economic impacts.

3.3.3. For banking associations

In the operation of credit institutions and banks, the role of banking associations is quite important, representing members in internal and external relations related to banks and the association. Therefore, to develop the business activities of banks, it is necessary to strengthen the role of banking associations.

It is necessary to expand the cooperation of the Vietnam Banking Association with banking associations of countries in the region and the world. On the other hand, the Vietnam Banking Association also needs to enhance its role in organizing, linking and cooperating between domestic banks in terms of operations, in order to create conditions for banks to support each other, improve the competitiveness of the Vietnamese banking system, contribute to the implementation of monetary policy, ensure the system of Vietnamese credit institutions operates safely, develops healthily, and promotes socio-economic development.

3.3.4. Recommendations to Agribank

- Propose that Agribank continue to assign and implement specific instructions and coordinate with member units in the process of implementing the contents of the comprehensive cooperation agreement with corporations and general companies to enhance cooperation capacity.

Cooperation between branches and member units, facilitating marketing and cross-selling of products.

- Suggest that Agribank study the policy of developing staff both materially and spiritually to create peace of mind for staff and attract potential staff in society. Specifically, Agribank should have a policy of developing staff in two directions: in the direction of developing management staff and in the direction of developing expert staff. Because currently there are staff with leadership capacity who are appointed and enjoy preferential treatment for management staff, but besides that, there are also staff with good working capacity but are not appointed or developed into experts and they still only enjoy the treatment of a normal staff, which can create a feeling of discouragement and discourage staff from working enthusiastically.

- Propose that Agribank consider allowing branches to establish a separate customer information management department. This function should not be performed by the Finance and Accounting department, as this will delay the process of looking up customer information as well as serving customers.

- It is recommended that Agribank, when there are new legal documents issued by the Government or the State Bank related to banking activities, typically legal documents related to taxes on service fees, should promptly issue guidance documents to Phu Tho Branch as well as other branches for implementation to avoid causing inconvenience to customers.

- Propose that Agribank continue to research and implement improvements and enhancements to the quality of existing products and services such as:

+ Quickly stabilize the BDS and ATM systems to avoid network outages and system errors.

+ Speed up program processing especially during peak hours.

+ Improve the quality of Homebanking connection, increase transmission lines to increase the number of customers provided with this service and at the same time fix the errors that still exist in the Homebanking program such as customers still seeing canceled transactions, duplicated transactions...

+ Increase features and utilities for POS devices: increase types of accepted payment cards, not just TC cards and Mastercard cards as at present.

- Agribank also needs to strengthen the promotion and advertisement of new products and services to customers through the media and communication, promote customer care and after-sales customer care, specifically:

+ Develop plans and organize the implementation of marketing programs for TC's strong products and new products such as domestic and international money transfer services, TC Homebanking, card services and value-added services on ATM cards...

+ Develop marketing documents to introduce new products and services.

+ Review and standardize the image of TC on all aspects: transaction counter, leaflet system, uniform, attitude and style of staff directly doing service work, towards a unified image throughout the system.

+ Currently, Agribank has continued to implement a centralized ATM fund, with a higher level of management, TC can cooperate with partners to establish automatic banks, where there are many ATMs of many banks, evenly distributed in the areas, and each location will have a map guiding customers to other locations if needed. This concentration will help customers withdraw money more easily, as well as evaluate the quality of service more accurately. At the same time, it shows the cooperation of banks as well as healthy competition (looking at your bank, each bank must improve its service quality).

+ When a new service is launched, the Departments at Agribank should coordinate to have unified and timely guidance documents, helping branches to understand how to deploy the product as well as account for and manage the development of that product, avoiding the case where a product has many documents from many departments guiding it, making it difficult for branches to fully grasp the implementation of providing that product.

- Developing the financial capacity of the bank

Strengthening financial capacity is considered one of the important solutions to improve the competitiveness of Agribank as well as its branches and

facilitate the implementation of retail banking services because stronger financial capacity of banks will also strengthen customer trust.

- Marketing promotion policy and effective application of marketing in the product supply process

Product promotion is the activity that makes the product attract the most attention from customers and the market. Marketing and product promotion activities of Phu Tho Branch not only aim at new products but also existing products. Because the majority of customers or even staff still do not know all the products that Agribank is providing:

Innovate customer marketing and product promotion to customers with the spirit of making customers know and use the bank's products and services.

Taking advantage of the large staff to promote the bank's products through relatives, friends... This is one of the communication channels that is implemented at a very low cost but is highly effective because it has created trust with customers from the beginning.

Focus on introducing banking products and services with clear, easy-to-understand content and images to encourage customers to use the products.

Carry out direct marketing activities such as sending letters and leaflets to each customer, sending introductions about the bank and products to customers..., increasing sponsorship and charity activities, carrying out promotional activities when providing new products.

In the coming time, marketing activities need to focus on the following solutions:

+ Promote market research activities: this activity includes studying customer attitudes, customer needs in choosing banks, choosing products. From there, find solutions to improve service quality, increase market share, and at the same time, through customer research, find new products that suit the actual needs of customers.

+Customer research: this activity at a more specific level includes researching customer needs, customer satisfaction with the bank's products as well as customer desires.

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