Strengthening BPI’s Position as a Leading Financial Services Provider through Proactive Marketing Activities

To further help fuel Philippine economic growth, and make this growth more inclusive, by encouraging the participation of as many individuals and as much funds as possible, BPI should engage in proactive marketing activities that will also help in the perpetration of financial literacy among clients.

Part of the execution programme should be the determination of a minimum maintaining balance for clients who will be tapped to participate in the pilot. Start with a sample population of those who bank with us, from the low to the mid to the upper tier of depositors. The end goal of the exercise should be to graduate part of their deposits to relatively higher yield products, such as mutual funds, hedge funds, trust funds, and time deposits from the vanilla variety of plain savings accounts.

The education programme must be customized to fit the target market, based on their educational background, primarily, lifestyle, and banking habits (data to be gathered through confidential surveys administered with the help of information technology). Expect to spend a considerable amount of time educating the clients before seeing concrete results (but they will come).

Start with email blasts and mobile ads that provide brief and easily comprehensible financial advice (i.e. how to sustain savings), short anecdotal videos released into social and traditional media (we can even screen them during free movie screenings in Ayala Malls developments) to clients who have reached the minimum threshold for graduating to intermediate and more sophisticated financial products.

Organize educational seminars and invite qualified individuals. Encourage attendance by holding them in venues people comfortable in (some may not appreciate five star hotels, while other may expect it, include the question in the survey), and giving prizes that showcase BPI’s products such as a 10,000 time deposit instrument, a cash gift card for shopping in Ayala malls, a BanKo account, the possibilities are limitless.

DO NOT PUSH SPECIFIC PRODUCTS DURING THE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY. Place booths outside the venue for those who wish to inquire, but keep the content strictly neutral and really focus on building financial literacy among the participants. Invite speakers from various government and private institutions, the academe, and even celebrity advisers (such as Suze Orman) to talk during these events to lend credibility to the exercise. Remember, the goal is to eventually graduate depositors to higher yielding products, thus they should be made to feel that the exercise is mainly to benefit them. But also make them feel that BPI is grateful for their business and stands to benefit from their financial literacy as well.

Part of the soft marketing activity should be to make sure the participants are well fed (free flowing coffee, am/pm snacks, three course lunch), give out thoughtful and useful giveaways (Jacinto y Lirio products without company logos). These things may seem insignificant, but clients who remember they were well cared for during a bank event are certain to create an emotional memory and hopefully establish loyalty for BPI.

Partner with insurance companies within the Ayala group to further expand BPI’s financial portfolio. Give these partnerships a further push through advertising (see above for preferred media) and provide avenues for further information gathering for clients.

When a client expresses interest in graduating part of their funds to other financial products, schedule an appointment AT THEIR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE. Arrange the meeting in a BPI branch, a special meeting room that is private and comfortable so that the client would not feel intimidated and inhibited to ask questions. Do not force them into signing up for anything or tell them they are expected to just because they asked for a meeting. Always make them feel that you are just informing them of their other options and that you have their best interests at heart.

If clients seem hesitant, encourage a follow up by emailing them (with their consent) a computation of yields and earnings, should they graduate to other products based on the funds they have in the bank.

Reminders during the meeting: BPI representative (let’s call them Financial Services Officers) should be presentable and well groomed, decorous and well mannered, sincere and warm (it takes a certain type of personality to be one). Offer refreshments (TWG tea blends, brewed coffee, perhaps invest in a coffee machine, and low sugar pastries from Purple Oven or Conti’s. make sure there’s a selection of sweet and savoury). Start with small talk and always start by asking “Now, how can we help you?”

Put safeguards against abuse of these meetings by making it clear that the inquiry meeting is a one off deal and further queries must be coursed through email for documentation purposes. Trust your gut. Always have two officers present during a meeting and make certain the client is informed that the meeting is being recorded via CCTV and sound gathering equipment.