点点滴滴外文翻译.docx

1、点点滴滴外文翻译标题：Bit by bit原文：If segmentation is good, subsegmentation is better. Comerica Bank and others are now beginning to put the results of deep data mining to work. Banks are successfully employing segmenting technology to piece together a picture of their customers needs.By Melanie Scarborough, c

2、ontributing editorKnowledge is power and, for banks, increasingly it is profitable. Although it is a long-standing practice for banks to categorize customers into discrete segments, those groups now can be subdivided into pieces small enough to form a Byzantine mosaic.The availability of information

3、 online and the explosion of social media enables banks to build extensive personal profiles of their customers. Armed with the knowledge that a customer is shopping for a new car, is recently divorced, or has a child who will soon enter college, banks can assign that individual to appropriate segme

4、nts and tailor products and services accordingly.Technology also allows banks to monitor accounts more closely and segment customers according to their relationship with the bank. Daniel McCarty, executive vice-president of treasury management services at Detroit-based Comerica Bank, which has almos

5、t $35 billion in assets, says they recently upgraded their internal tracking of customer transactions. “There is such valuable information in day-to-day processingproduct usage, type of products, trend on payments, where the payments are going,” he says. “Deep, rich data-mining is available because

6、of the new system.”Rise of the subsegmentDetailed profiles let banks use what is quickly becoming the most valuable tool of customer segmentation: subsegmentation. Gathering information from the internet allows banks to know their customers on a granular level, says Sunny Banerjea, global solutions

7、executive for IBM, who has studied customer segmentation for almost 20 years. Instead of merely lumping together all customers over the age of 65, that group might include a subsegment of customers who have grandchildren. The smaller the segment, the better the bank can target that market.Subsegment

8、ation also can dictate how a product is presented. For instance, instead of merely advertising mortgages to prospective homebuyers, a bank might identify a subsegment of young people buying a house for the first time. “You might train people differently to help those customers through that,” explain

9、s Mary Beth Sullivan, managing partner, Capital Performance Group, Washington, D.C. “Need-based segmentation requires not only offering products, but information and support.”Banks increasingly are using transactional segmentation, i.e., tracking whether the customer commonly uses a debit card, goes

10、 to a particular branch, or writes checks instead of paying bills online. “Its important to understand how customers use the distribution system because there could be different ways for building segments and devising treatment standards,” says Sullivan. “Knowing that I write checks instead of using

11、 a debit card may be a way to reach out to mebut you wouldnt want to do that to everyone; you need to target people.”Transactional segmentation isnt an easy process for the majority of banks, Sullivan adds. “Most dont have a good handle on customer transaction data, and its not an inexpensive propos

12、ition to capture, store and make that data mean something.”Knowing your customers well at one point doesnt mean you know them that way forever. Customer segmentation is fluid because customers circumstances change. By monitoring those situations, banks can act in time to protect themselves and retai

13、n their clients. “One of the most potent data points for whether an individual is a potential credit problem is whether theyve recently had a divorce,” says Sullivan.Even within the segment of customers who have had a reversal of fortune, banks might find a profitable subsegment. “If a customer regu

14、larly had direct-deposit paychecks that suddenly stop coming, that should be a trigger event,” says Banerjea. “Likely, it will move the customer into a segment of riskier clients, but it might be an opportunity for a 401(k) rollover. Segmentation drives more action into the customers portfolio. If y

15、our situation is changing and the bank knows that, it can take action.”Finding veins of goldMost banks choose not to devote resources toward risky or unprofitable customers, but subsegmentation enables them to find gems within the dregs. The 18-to-35 age group is one banks dont usually pursue with t

16、he zeal of Eliot Ness. Such customers typically have low balances, may be saddled with student-loan debt and havent reached their peak-earning potential.But a few years ago RBC Royal Bank, which has U.S. headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., used its segmentation data to identify customers in that age rang

17、e who were medical or dental school students or interns. Recognizing their potential value, the bank marketed to them offers for medical-equipment loans and mortgages to purchase their first offices. “If youre creative enough,” says Banerjea, “you can understand the need of any segment.”He cited a b

18、ank in Austin, Texas, that is courting customers most banks diligently ignore: those on the bottom of the economic pyramid. “They do the same as everyone elsepay their billsbut they dont have bank accounts,” says Banerjea. What they do have is cell phones, which provides a channel for the bank to en

19、gage them. By offering free checking to a population that typically relies on check-cashing companies, the bank hopes to build a customer base from an underserved population.Keep up traditionsCustomer segmentation is not just about subsegments. Large community banks, in particular, can benefit from

20、using traditional groupings. Among the three segments Middlesex Savings Bank, Natick, Mass., monitors is the group of customers that provide its top 1% of profits. “We track those relationships and engage in a series of outreaches to them distinct from what we do with our normal base,” says marketin

21、g director James Briand. “Weve found thats been effective.”However, Middlesex Savings identifies that segment only internally because despite being the sixth largest mutual bank in the country, with assets of $4 billion, it is committed to the mutuality ideal that all customers are valuable partners

22、.Middlesex Savings also has identified its segment of small-business owners. “We maintain a mixed-customer segment so we can track them as both business and personal relationships,” says Briand. “Thats a particularly sweet spot.”The third segment Middlesex Savings follows closely is new customers. “

23、We look at what they come in with, what theyre buying and how heavily invested they are in the bank,” he says. In the coming year, new customers will receive particular focus as the bank expands its technological ability to target them online. “Weve used mail and email, but thats somewhat cumbersome

24、,” Briand says. “This will increase more of a unique outreach.”First National Bank Bemidji, a $518 million-asset bank in Bemidji, Minn., queries its mainframe for customer information such as age and products purchased to build segments for specific promotions and correspondence. “We have 50% market

25、 share in our community,” says Sue Engel, director of sales and marketing, “and we look to retain that share and even enhance it with more of these types of efforts using segmentation and CRM.”One traditional segmentation tooldemographicsis now considered by some to be outdated. Others, like Sulliva

26、n, say the value of demographics is irrefutable. “Theyre not as powerful as knowing something about the individual, like age, gender or income level, but you cant deny the power of demographics,” she says. In particular, they help banks know where their best customers are, which can be crucial in de

27、cisions such as branch expansion. “If a neighborhood is filled with Gen Yers, it may not be a market your bank can do well against,” Sullivan explains.Tailor your touchpointsSegmenting customers by age often entails segmenting them by approach. Younger customers are better reached online; theyre unl

28、ikely to be lured into the branch by the offer of a free toaster. “The younger you go, the more technology-savvy the potential customer is,” says Comericas McCarty. When previous generations opened bank accounts, they were handed a book to select their style of checks. “That opening kit is now down

29、to five choices of checks and the rest is online,” he says. “The younger customers never get to the book because they never write a check.”To cultivate the young segment, banks must make sure they offer an engaging online presence. Whereas older customers might want advice in how to manage their mon

30、ey, young people want only the ability to figure it out for themselves. “Add self-service tools to your website,” Sullivan recommends. “Thats a very Gen Y thing.”Small-business owners form another segment that may require distinctive handling. Comerica Banks Donna Berger, senior vice-president, Trea

31、sury Management Services, National Relationship Services, says her group is studying how small businesses react to the banks product and what messages appeal to those customers. “Understanding they might be a lot less tech-savvy, we want to know how they can onboard with us easily,” she says. “Its a

32、 challenge, but one were focusing attention on, hoping that small customers become larger customers.”The segment representing a banks most profitable customers is likely to expect the best service. Comerica actively markets to its commercial customers the advantages of giving the bank more business. “It becomes very apparent in our proposals that the more you have at the bank, the more of us you get,” McCarty says. Customers who meet certain criteria are assigned a service specialist; others are referred to a call center. Surprisingly, the distinction seems to matter more to the bank than