The Greek retail-banking sector has generated over the last couple of years excellent revenues with their branches network and expansion strategy to the neighbouring Balkan markets. The private sector and households mainly demanded banking products as deposits, consumer credits, mortgages- and building loans, credit cards and services as customer advisory, phone banking and Internet banking. Especially a strong competition between the traditional Greek retail banks (e.g. National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank etc.) the new retail bank entrants (e.g. Proton Bank, Millennium, Marfin Popular Bank etc.) and the indications for a slowly saturated market will force the Greek retail banks to focus more and more on new perspectives through customer orientation.
The target of the thesis is to give on a transparent and structured way valuable knowledge what new perspectives through customer orientation are and what relation exist between customer-orientation process and a CRM framework in the Greek Retail Banking sector and how this can be used in a practical and methodical way.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Current Situation
1.2 Problem Formulation
1.3 Objectives
1.4 Scope of the Thesis
1.4.1 Limitation Criteria 1: Target market
1.4.2 Limitation Criteria 2: Specific Period
1.4.3 Limitation Criteria 3: Strategic Decision Management Level
1.5 Out of scope
1.6 Methodical Approach
2 Definition of Terminology and Conceptual Clarifications
2.1 Definition of retail banking business
2.1.1 Defining the business segment
2.2 The attributes of retail banking business
2.2.1 In terms of products and services offering
2.2.2 In terms of customer-bank relationship
2.3 What are the Retail Banking Business Drivers?
2.3.1 Management of customer revenue
2.3.2 Cost Management
2.3.3 Decreasing loyalty of the retail clients and higher expectations
2.3.4 Increased competition between traditional banks and new banks
2.3.5 Consolidation in Retail-banking
2.3.6 Introducing Internet as a new channel for e-banking services
2.3.7 Summary of Business Drivers of retail-banking segment
2.4 The analysis of the Retail Banking Market Trends
2.4.1 The EFMA Retail Banking Survey
2.4.2 Methodology and Assessment model
2.4.3 The five pillars of the assessment model
2.4.4 Findings of the report
2.4.4.1 Strategy
2.4.4.2 Business Intelligence and controlling
2.4.4.3 Multichannel Customer Management
2.4.4.4 People and Organization
2.4.4.5 IT and application systems
2.4.5 Conclusion of the report
2.4.6 Mapping EFMA report findings with Retail Banking Business Drivers
2.5 Fundamentals of customer orientation in retail banking
2.5.1 Customer orientation as a originator for successful relationships
2.5.2 Differentiation between market-orientation and customer-orientation
2.5.3 Success chain as an instrument for customer dialog
2.5.4 Problems in implementation of customer orientation process
2.5.5 Designing successful relationships
2.5.5.6 The Content Dimension
2.5.5.7 The Time Dimension – Customer Relation Life Cycle
2.5.6 The CRM Framework as a fundamental for customer orientation
2.6 The analysis of CRM market trends
2.6.1 The CRM 2006 Barometer study
2.6.2 Findings of the study
2.6.3 Conclusion of the study
3 Analysis of Retail Banking in Greece
3.1 Structure of the Greek Retail Banking System
3.1.1 The over-regulation period
3.1.2 Deregulation and Reforms
3.2 Overview of the current Banking landscape
3.3 Indications of a slowly saturated market
3.4 Future Challenges
4 SWOT-Analysis related to customer orientation strategy
4.1 Basic Principle
4.2 Determination of SWOT-Analysis assessment criteria
4.3 SWOT-Analysis of National Bank of Greece
4.3.1 Strength
4.3.2 Weaknesses
4.3.3 Opportunities
4.3.4 Threads
4.4 SWOT-Analysis of EFG Eurobank
4.4.1 Strength
4.4.2 Weaknesses
4.4.3 Opportunities
4.4.4 Threads
4.5 SWOT-Analysis of Alpha Bank
4.5.1 Strength
4.5.2 Weaknesses
4.5.3 Opportunities
4.5.4 Threads
4.6 Discussion of SWOT-Analysis results
5 Conclusion and final recommendation
5.1 Introducing the layer concept for customer orientation
5.1.1 Strategic Layer
5.1.2 Analytical Layer
5.1.3 Operational Layer
5.1.4 Communicative Layer
5.2 Mapping the layers the CRM Framework content
5.3 Final Recommendation and closing
Objectives and Research Focus
The primary objective of this thesis is to examine how the Greek retail banking sector, facing signs of a slowly saturated market and increasing competition, can implement customer-oriented strategies to secure long-term, profitable bank-customer relationships. The research addresses how modern CRM frameworks can be applied to transition from transaction-oriented banking to a comprehensive, customer-focused model.
- Strategic adaptation of retail banking to combat market saturation.
- Implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a holistic organizational framework.
- Comparative analysis of customer orientation strategies among major Greek banks (NBG, EFG Eurobank, Alpha Bank).
- Integration of digital channels and data-driven intelligence for improved customer loyalty.
- Development of a four-layer concept for successful customer orientation implementation.
Excerpt from the Thesis
2.2.2 In terms of customer-bank relationship
In the following chapter, I will analyze which typical attributes exist within a customer-bank-relationship for this segment. As stated above mostly of the retail banking products and services were offered for a broad private customer segment. In contrary to the private banking segment which is based on individual products and services for systematic asset creation and management of individual wealthy customers. The primary demand of the retail-banking segment is to cover the basic financials needs of the private customer with banking products and banking services.
For this reason, the banks use a network of branches, which offer their banking products and services portfolio to the domestic private customers. Each private customer has a direct single point of contact (SPOC) to his client advisor. He knows the customers banking products profile and banking transactions behaviour. Most banks have grouped the retail clients based on specific criteria’s to clusters for example alphabetic order of name, income classes or channels (e.g. Internet).
Therefore, the direct contact between customer and client advisor is a clear characteristic of this segment without any intermediate. The strategy of the bank is to have long-term relationships with the retail clients. Sometimes one client advisor manages more than one cluster. If this is the case, the relationship between client advisor and customer is anonymous because he cannot know every of his retail client personally.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Provides an overview of the current Greek retail banking environment, highlights the indicators of market saturation, and outlines the methodology used for the thesis.
2 Definition of Terminology and Conceptual Clarifications: Clarifies the essential definitions of retail banking, analyzes key business drivers such as customer revenue and cost management, and presents the CRM framework as a fundamental tool for customer orientation.
3 Analysis of Retail Banking in Greece: Reviews the structural development of the Greek banking system, discusses its transition from over-regulation to a more competitive landscape, and identifies future challenges.
4 SWOT-Analysis related to customer orientation strategy: Conducts a comparative SWOT analysis of the three leading Greek banks (NBG, EFG Eurobank, Alpha Bank) to evaluate their internal and external capabilities regarding customer orientation.
5 Conclusion and final recommendation: Introduces a layer-based concept for customer orientation and provides a final recommendation on how a CRM framework can facilitate sustainable, profitable bank-customer relationships.
Keywords
Retail Banking, Greece, Customer Orientation, Customer Relationship Management, CRM Framework, Market Saturation, SWOT Analysis, Customer Loyalty, Banking Products, Business Drivers, Financial Strategy, Bank-Customer Relationship, Business Intelligence, Service Excellence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this thesis?
This thesis examines the Greek retail banking sector's struggle with market saturation and rising competition, exploring how customer orientation and CRM frameworks can be used to improve customer satisfaction and bank profitability.
What are the primary thematic fields covered?
The work covers market trends in the Greek retail banking sector, the strategic importance of CRM, the application of SWOT analysis for major banks, and the implementation of customer-centric organizational structures.
What is the ultimate goal of the research?
The primary goal is to provide a structured solution for Greek retail banks to transition toward customer-centric models that support long-term, profitable relationships with their client base.
Which scientific methods are utilized?
The thesis utilizes a combination of theoretical literature reviews, the analysis of industry-specific studies (EFMA, Capgemini), and a SWOT analysis applied to three major Greek retail banks.
What does the main body of the work treat?
The main body treats the definition of the retail banking business, analyzes market drivers, discusses the theoretical foundations of CRM, and maps findings to a practical layer-based conceptual framework for banking professionals.
What are the characterizing keywords of this work?
Key terms include Retail Banking, CRM Framework, Customer Orientation, Market Saturation, Greek Economy, and Strategic Management.
How does the "Layer Concept" assist Greek banks?
The Layer Concept breaks down complex customer orientation strategies into four manageable pillars (Strategic, Analytical, Operational, and Communicative), allowing banks to align their internal resources with their CRM vision.
What role does the "Chain of Success" model play?
The model is used to illustrate the correlation between customer orientation, satisfaction, and loyalty, showing how these lead to the final goal: economic success for the bank.
- Quote paper
- Niko Mikopoulos (Author), 2008, Retail Banking in Greece - New perspectives through customer orientation in a slowly saturated market, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/186527
