点点滴滴外文翻译.docx

点点滴滴外文翻译.docx

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点点滴滴外文翻译

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Ifsegmentationisgood,subsegmentationisbetter.ComericaBankandothersarenowbeginningtoputtheresultsofdeepdataminingtowork.Banksaresuccessfullyemployingsegmentingtechnologytopiecetogetherapictureoftheircustomers’needs.

——ByMelanieScarborough,contributingeditor

Knowledgeispowerand,forbanks,increasinglyitisprofitable.Althoughitisalong-standingpracticeforbankstocategorizecustomersintodiscretesegments,thosegroupsnowcanbesubdividedintopiecessmallenoughtoformaByzantinemosaic.

Theavailabilityofinformationonlineandtheexplosionofsocialmediaenablesbankstobuildextensivepersonalprofilesoftheircustomers.Armedwiththeknowledgethatacustomerisshoppingforanewcar,isrecentlydivorced,orhasachildwhowillsoonentercollege,bankscanassignthatindividualtoappropriatesegmentsandtailorproductsandservicesaccordingly.

Technologyalsoallowsbankstomonitoraccountsmorecloselyandsegmentcustomersaccordingtotheirrelationshipwiththebank.DanielMcCarty,executivevice-presidentoftreasurymanagementservicesatDetroit-basedComericaBank,whichhasalmost$35billioninassets,saystheyrecentlyupgradedtheirinternaltrackingofcustomertransactions.“Thereissuchvaluableinformationinday-to-dayprocessing—productusage,typeofproducts,trendonpayments,wherethepaymentsaregoing,”hesays.“Deep,richdata-miningisavailablebecauseofthenewsystem.”

Riseofthesubsegment

Detailedprofilesletbanksusewhatisquicklybecomingthemostvaluabletoolofcustomersegmentation:

subsegmentation.Gatheringinformationfromtheinternetallowsbankstoknowtheircustomersonagranularlevel,saysSunnyBanerjea,globalsolutionsexecutiveforIBM,whohasstudiedcustomersegmentationforalmost20years.Insteadofmerelylumpingtogetherallcustomersovertheageof65,thatgroupmightincludeasubsegmentofcustomerswhohavegrandchildren.Thesmallerthesegment,thebetterthebankcantargetthatmarket.

Subsegmentationalsocandictatehowaproductispresented.Forinstance,insteadofmerelyadvertisingmortgagestoprospectivehomebuyers,abankmightidentifyasubsegmentofyoungpeoplebuyingahouseforthefirsttime.“Youmighttrainpeopledifferentlytohelpthosecustomersthroughthat,”explainsMaryBethSullivan,managingpartner,CapitalPerformanceGroup,Washington,D.C.“Need-basedsegmentationrequiresnotonlyofferingproducts,butinformationandsupport.”

Banksincreasinglyareusingtransactionalsegmentation,i.e.,trackingwhetherthecustomercommonlyusesadebitcard,goestoaparticularbranch,orwriteschecksinsteadofpayingbillsonline.“It’simportanttounderstandhowcustomersusethedistributionsystembecausetherecouldbedifferentwaysforbuildingsegmentsanddevisingtreatmentstandards,”saysSullivan.“KnowingthatIwritechecksinsteadofusingadebitcardmaybeawaytoreachouttome—butyouwouldn’twanttodothattoeveryone;youneedtotargetpeople.”

Transactionalsegmentationisn’taneasyprocessforthemajorityofbanks,Sullivanadds.“Mostdon’thaveagoodhandleoncustomertransactiondata,andit’snotaninexpensivepropositiontocapture,storeandmakethatdatameansomething.”

Knowingyourcustomerswellatonepointdoesn’tmeanyouknowthemthatwayforever.Customersegmentationisfluidbecausecustomers’circumstanceschange.Bymonitoringthosesituations,bankscanactintimetoprotectthemselvesandretaintheirclients.“Oneofthemostpotentdatapointsforwhetheranindividualisapotentialcreditproblemiswhetherthey’verecentlyhadadivorce,”saysSullivan.

Evenwithinthesegmentofcustomerswhohavehadareversaloffortune,banksmightfindaprofitablesubsegment.“Ifacustomerregularlyhaddirect-depositpaychecksthatsuddenlystopcoming,thatshouldbeatriggerevent,”saysBanerjea.“Likely,itwillmovethecustomerintoasegmentofriskierclients,butitmightbeanopportunityfora401（k）rollover.Segmentationdrivesmoreactionintothecustomer’sportfolio.Ifyoursituationischangingandthebankknowsthat,itcantakeaction.”

Findingveinsofgold

Mostbankschoosenottodevoteresourcestowardriskyorunprofitablecustomers,butsubsegmentationenablesthemtofindgemswithinthedregs.The18-to-35agegroupisonebanksdon’tusuallypursuewiththezealofEliotNess.Suchcustomerstypicallyhavelowbalances,maybesaddledwithstudent-loandebtandhaven’treachedtheirpeak-earningpotential.

ButafewyearsagoRBCRoyalBank,whichhasU.S.headquartersinRaleigh,N.C.,useditssegmentationdatatoidentifycustomersinthatagerangewhoweremedicalordentalschoolstudentsorinterns.Recognizingtheirpotentialvalue,thebankmarketedtothemoffersformedical-equipmentloansandmortgagestopurchasetheirfirstoffices.“Ifyou’recreativeenough,”saysBanerjea,“youcanunderstandtheneedofanysegment.”

HecitedabankinAustin,Texas,thatiscourtingcustomersmostbanksdiligentlyignore:

thoseonthebottomoftheeconomicpyramid.“Theydothesameaseveryoneelse—paytheirbills—buttheydon’thavebankaccounts,”saysBanerjea.Whattheydohaveiscellphones,whichprovidesachannelforthebanktoengagethem.Byofferingfreecheckingtoapopulationthattypicallyreliesoncheck-cashingcompanies,thebankhopestobuildacustomerbasefromanunderservedpopulation.

Keepuptraditions

Customersegmentationisnotjustaboutsubsegments.Largecommunitybanks,inparticular,canbenefitfromusingtraditionalgroupings.AmongthethreesegmentsMiddlesexSavingsBank,Natick,Mass.,monitorsisthegroupofcustomersthatprovideitstop1%ofprofits.“Wetrackthoserelationshipsandengageinaseriesofoutreachestothemdistinctfromwhatwedowithournormalbase,”saysmarketingdirectorJamesBriand.“We’vefoundthat’sbeeneffective.”

However,MiddlesexSavingsidentifiesthatsegmentonlyinternallybecausedespitebeingthesixthlargestmutualbankinthecountry,withassetsof$4billion,itiscommittedtothemutualityidealthatallcustomersarevaluablepartners.

MiddlesexSavingsalsohasidentifieditssegmentofsmall-businessowners.“Wemaintainamixed-customersegmentsowecantrackthemasbothbusinessandpersonalrelationships,”saysBriand.“That’saparticularlysweetspot.”

ThethirdsegmentMiddlesexSavingsfollowscloselyisnewcustomers.“Welookatwhattheycomeinwith,whatthey’rebuyingandhowheavilyinvestedtheyareinthebank,”hesays.Inthecomingyear,newcustomerswillreceiveparticularfocusasthebankexpandsitstechnologicalabilitytotargetthemonline.“We’veusedmailandemail,butthat’ssomewhatcumbersome,”Briandsays.“Thiswillincreasemoreofauniqueoutreach.”

FirstNationalBankBemidji,a$518million-assetbankinBemidji,Minn.,queriesitsmainframeforcustomerinformationsuchasageandproductspurchasedtobuildsegmentsforspecificpromotionsandcorrespondence.“Wehave50%marketshareinourcommunity,”saysSueEngel,directorofsalesandmarketing,“andwelooktoretainthatshareandevenenhanceitwithmoreofthesetypesofeffortsusingsegmentationandCRM.”

Onetraditionalsegmentationtool—demographics—isnowconsideredbysometobeoutdated.Others,likeSullivan,saythevalueofdemographicsisirrefutable.“They’renotaspowerfulasknowingsomethingabouttheindividual,likeage,genderorincomelevel,butyoucan’tdenythepowerofdemographics,”shesays.Inparticular,theyhelpbanksknowwheretheirbestcustomersare,whichcanbecrucialindecisionssuchasbranchexpansion.“IfaneighborhoodisfilledwithGenYers,itmaynotbeamarketyourbankcandowellagainst,”Sullivanexplains.

Tailoryourtouchpoints

Segmentingcustomersbyageoftenentailssegmentingthembyapproach.Youngercustomersarebetterreachedonline;they’reunlikelytobeluredintothebranchbytheofferofafreetoaster.“Theyoungeryougo,themoretechnology-savvythepotentialcustomeris,”saysComerica’sMcCarty.Whenpreviousgenerationsopenedbankaccounts,theywerehandedabooktoselecttheirstyleofchecks.“Thatopeningkitisnowdowntofivechoicesofchecksandtherestisonline,”hesays.“Theyoungercustomersnevergettothebookbecausetheyneverwriteacheck.” 

Tocultivatetheyoungsegment,banksmustmakesuretheyofferanengagingonlinepresence.Whereasoldercustomersmightwantadviceinhowtomanagetheirmoney,youngpeoplewantonlytheabilitytofigureitoutforthemselves.“Addself-servicetools[toyourwebsite],”Sullivanrecommends.“That’saveryGenYthing.” 

Small-businessownersformanothersegmentthatmayrequiredistinctivehandling.ComericaBank’sDonnaBerger,seniorvice-president,TreasuryManagementServices,NationalRelationshipServices,sayshergroupisstudyinghowsmallbusinessesreacttothebank’sproductandwhatmessagesappealtothosecustomers.“Understandingtheymightbealotlesstech-savvy,wewanttoknowhowtheycanonboardwithuseasily,”shesays.“It’sachallenge,butonewe’refocusingattentionon,hopingthatsmallcustomersbecomelargercustomers.”

Thesegmentrepresentingabank’smostprofitablecustomersislikelytoexpectthebestservice.Comericaactivelymarketstoitscommercialcustomerstheadvantagesofgivingthebankmorebusiness.“Itbecomesveryapparentinourproposalsthatthemoreyouhave[atthebank],themoreofusyouget,”McCartysays.Customerswhomeetcertaincriteriaareassignedaservicespecialist;othersarereferredtoacallcenter.Surprisingly,thedistinctionseemstomattermoretothebankthan