Strategy Consultant Market Development

ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO is a leading player in retail, private and corporate banking in the Dutch market. Growth opportunities in the Dutch market are limited by its current leading position. To maintain this position under the changing conditions, the bank needs to invest in customer loyalty. The bank has identified five strategic priorities in the Annual Report 2014: Enhance client centricity; Invest in the future (IT systems, sustainability, employer image); Strongly commit to a moderate risk profile; Pursue selective international growth and Improve profitability.

Enhancing client centricity

Corporate Communications recently replaced the proposition “Anno nu” with “What’s your story?” Roland van Maanen, Head of Marketing Communication: “It shows that we care about the dreams, wishes and ambitions of our customers. And that we’re here for them every day, to help them make those dreams, wishes and ambitions come true.”

Retail organization

But client centricity is much more than a marketing campaign; it’s deeply embedded in the Retail organization and its relationship with the 5 million individuals and 300,000 small businesses. The Marketing department has been transformed into the Customer Experience department, consisting of four teams focusing on customer relations, campaigns & publications, need-based client segmentation and customer experience. They all contribute to improving ABN AMRO’s Net Promoter Score for retail services. A recent example of how the bank responded to changing client needs is that they extended opening hours to evenings and weekends and expanded the webcam advisory services.

In a world where the only constant is change, it’s not enough to be flexible. One needs to read the future – and get ahead of it. For ABN AMRO Retail, this continuous cycle of anticipation and preparation is in capable the hands of the Strategy Consultant Market Development. Running customer experience projects with a change horizon of over 18 months, this consultant reports to Director Market Development Bjorn Niels and is a member of his MT (5FTE).

The consultant will extrapolate consumer, technological and regulatory trends to determine which are relevant. For example, changes in the student loan system mean that ABN AMRO needs to review the portfolio for this market segment.

Insights are translated into strategic and tactical plans such as new products, services or business models.

The consultant will convince all stakeholders and lead large, multidisciplinary project teams to safeguard future customer experience, which will ultimately affect their profitability.

An unusual consulting exit opportunity

Considering the complexity of the financial industry, seven years of experience at a management consulting firm is an excellent background for this role. The opportunity is especially interesting for these candidates because they can skip the traditional route via corporate strategy. As they will have huge impact on the future of (many parts of) the organization, there will be plenty of next steps to come.