CEE banking: Connecting markets and people
How to connect markets and customers sustainably? Building a good customer relationship often requires many years of service and hard work. Rudi Lercher and Michael Chwatal are responsible for RBI’s cross-border business and know that this work pays off. Some of these relationships have developed into friendships.
International market expansion needs reliable connections. When asked what makes RBI’s cross-border business so successful, Rudi Lercher and Michael Chwatal (both in the Corporate Customers team Real Estate, Public Sector & Group Corporates at RBI) mention collaboration and trust as the most important keywords.
Back when Rudi began to refer the first companies from Western Europe (being served by partner banks) to the RBI network in CEE in 2005, they had to do a lot of convincing: “We had to explain to our partners in Austria and abroad that we were not ‘taking away’ their customers, but wanted to serve them in the best possible way through our network.” The “why” also had to be clearly explained first. “We repeatedly emphasized why ‘service beyond banking’ is crucial and that this is exactly what sets us apart from other banks,” Rudi says, emphasizing that ultimately, it is precisely this added value for customers that is the game changer in a successful relationship.
Hub for a wide variety of customers
Rudi Lercher and Michael Chwatal, who joined the team in 2009, now convey more than 100 corporate, SME and even one or two private clients every year, either from Western Europe to CEE or from there to the Western markets. “We are a hub for a wide variety of customers. It can happen that a major British bank uses us to transfer its customer, who wants to open a branch in Prague, to Raiffeisen Bank in the Czech Republic. We also serve Raiffeisen Landesbank customers who need a bank to enter the Hungarian market, for example,” explains Michael.
s.To summarize this, renowned banks entrust their customers to RBI, which represents a win-win situation for all parties involved. “The advantage for RBI and our network banks is obvious: we get in touch with customers that we wouldn’t have access to,” explains Rudi.
The partner banks, in turn, benefit from the fact that RBI also provides them with companies that are looking for a bank in Western Europe. And for the customers, it brings the opportunity to expand to new markets. In all these arrangements, the International Desks of RBI Group are always the first point of contact on the way to the specific network bank. If customers want to go in the other direction, for example to Western Europe, there is close cooperation with RBI’s representative offices and branches, which, like the International Desks, are closely linked to the head office in Vienna. The partner bank model is also characterized by cross-divisional cooperation with colleagues from our Institutional Clients division. “We have fully implemented a ‘One Business Bank’ concept in our daily activities for the benefit of the bank and our customers,” emphasizes Rudi Lercher.
From cooperation to friendship
Rudi and Michael both confirm that the many years of collaboration have also led to friendships. “I remember that we initially had to prove to the Raiffeisen sector in Austria that we didn’t want to ‘steal’ their customers but were genuinely interested in finding the best service for them together.
Through sustained relationship work, we were not only able to convince our colleagues – we even built up friendships. One example is an incident with Raiffeisenverband Salzburg: when our direct contact there retired, I was invited to the farewell party,” recalls Rudi and Michael adds: “We also have a close relationship with Rabobank that goes beyond purely business matters. We still like to talk about a joint mountain bike tour up the Kahlenberg.”
Success factor: taking your counterpart seriously
According to the two, there are also a few factors that should be considered to ensure that such relationships are successful. The top priority is to take the other party seriously. “All customer enquiries are important to us,” stresses Michael Chwatal. The service concept takes center stage: “Cherry picking doesn’t work.
You also must be prepared to provide services from time to time that do not make a direct monetary contribution. For a network bank, partner bank or for a customer, however, the most important thing is that precisely this problem is solved on the spot,” says Rudi Lercher, who points out that taking this seriously is the key to building stable relationships.
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