Ian Buchanan

Relationship Marketing In B2B Backed Citigroup

Introduction

The Company to be examined is Citigroup. This is an internationally recognized banking institution. It was listed among the top ten banking Companies in the world in 2006. The Company provides banking services to 200 million clients coming from all corners of the world. Its 300 branches are located throughout South and North America, Asia, Europe and even Africa. Citigroup was started in the year 1817 and has continued to grow since then. It formed the Bank Hand Lowy in 1870 and Salomon Brothers in 1910. Today, there are plenty of brands that are synonymous with this banking institution. Some of them include; The Citi-Capital, Citigroup Private Bank, Diners Club, Primerica, Citi-Insurance, Citi-Mortgage, Citi Financial, Citi Cards and many others. Most B2B Companies fall under the Information technology sector. However, there are a few exceptions; Citibank is one such company. Although it belongs to the banking sector, it is backed up by B2B. It did this with the hope of integrating more technology into their business ventures. Their strategy was to engage in more e-commerce and reap the benefits of this approach. (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1991)

The report will examine some of the relationship marketing tools used by the Company in its operations. In this case, relationship marketing can be defined as the use of marketing techniques to retain pre existing clients. This form of marketing gained a lot of interest in the corporate world (including Citigroup) because they realized that traditional marketing had some loopholes. The latter type of marketing focused on acquisition of new clients and did not have a strategy to retain them. Relationship marketing shifts from individual transactions with clients and instead deals with a customer's cycle. Most efforts are directed towards satisfaction of customer's needs such that they may keep coming back for more business.

Application of Relationship marketing at Citigroup

Three elements are necessary for the successful implementation of relationship marketing. These are;

• when consumer demand for a product is continuous
• when consumers make the choice of one commodity
• when the customer has a wide range of products and services to choose from

Citigroup's relationship managers have realized that the Company met all these three aspects. First of all, the Company offers both investment and commercial services which means that clients have a lot of services at their disposal. Some of them include; Mortgages, priority banking for high net worth clients, loans, investment banking, telephone banking and card products. Secondly, clients in the banking sector are in continuous need of these services. Lastly, those customers who decide to do business with the Company normally select one service or product. In the case of Citigroup, some customers strictly come to obtain loans, some would like to save their money there but access it conveniently when need arises (commercial services and card facilities).  (Jackson, 1985)

The organization has implemented relationship marketing through consumer tracking. Since Citigroup is B2B backed, then it was able to use a comprehensive data base to analyze what consumer tastes and preferences are. It has been a leader in business communication with the client. Citigroup has been asking its clients about their thoughts on the institution. It found that certain services were preferred over others. It also realized that consumer kept coming back for certain products during definite seasons. It was able to establish a pattern and focused its energies on products that gave them maximum returns. This was also topped up by improving services that clients were dissatisfied with. One such service was provision of housing loans. The Company found out that many clients were happy with their rate of loan processing. This made the organization very keen on this service. Clients who came for this type of service received special attention, consequently, the product kept selling and more customers were retained. (Fornell & Wernerfelt, 1987)

Personalized marketing is one of the cornerstones of relationship marketing and Citigroup was quick to notice this. It involved the use of customer profiling techniques to market the organization's products. Here, a customer's details are noted down by the organization of interest including what type of items they prefer buying. The organization can then establish a trend and recommend certain commodities to them based on the pattern. Besides this, organizations can be able to identify what types of customers are responsive and focus on providing them better services. By doing this, companies will be improving their performance rate and solidifying their market performance. Citigroup did this effectively through the use of its ‘First 30 days' relationship marketing strategy. This was an idea pioneered by its relationship marketing manger in the year 1987. The basis behind this consumer strategy is that new customers are followed up through personalized marketing. This is done for a period of one month such that the bank can obtain useful data about their new consumers. After that period, they have full information about a customer's responsiveness and can therefore deal with customers who will give them adequate return rates.

Relationship marketing is something that cannot be dealt with alone. It is a marketing strategy that involves the use of all departments in the sale of products or services. Good marketers know that one must integrate marketing functions into all aspects of the business. It should not simply be left to certain departments or groups. Citigroup has been very astute in the implementation of this. They have included relationship marketing in the investment banking sector. They have also included it in consumer loans and mortgagees. The latter two services are particularly sensitive because lending to clients with bad credit history spells doom for any bank. Citigroup realized this and was quick to establish trends in these departments. Although functions within the bank differ from others in one way or another, The Company was bale to interlink all these elements through relationship marketing. (Gordon, 1999)

How Citigroup used the different approaches to relationship marketing and benefits obtained

During interactions with their clients, Citigroup normally asks clients through email whether they would like to participate in a survey. If the client accepts to take part, they ask them what services they prefer within the Company and what services they would like to see improved. A survey is also done on prices of services on offer and suggestions noted. The bank is then able to determine what consumer preferences are and therefore acts accordingly. Clients were content with the level of service provision compared to other banks. This meant that the Company now solidified the relationship between consumers and the bank. Such a strategy put Citigroup ahead of the competition because it had already determined exactly what consumers are looking for through relationship marketing. Other banks that may not have a very stable relationship with their clients do not have the ability to determine specific details that consumers require in their services. Such banks are subject to the theory of economics called ‘the leaking bucket'. Here such banks spend most of their time and efforts in the acquisition of new clients and very little in the retention of existing ones. Consequently, newer clients only purchase items/ services once and never come back. This means that the firm may get increased profits as it gets new clients, on the other hand, it keeps loosing profits from the departure of old clients. In the end, minimal profits are made. This sort of behavior is synonymous to a leaking bucket that never actually holds much content. Citigroup did not ignore their old clients and this was the reason why they have been identified as one of the most profitable financial institutions in the world.

Citigroup has been able to benefit from relationship marketing because of the following reasons. It has had to invest less in conducting the business. This is because very little amounts of money are required to convince a long term buyer to purchase a certain product. On the other hand getting a consumer to change their minds about conducting business with another bank and choosing Citigroup can prove to be very costly because the Company has to be very convincing. By retaining old clients, the bank was able to save up on some of its losses and maximize profits. Citigroup's relationship marketing has also worked wonders for the Company because the bank can convince long term customers about certain complementary services on offer. For example, it is possible to inform a customer using the Bank's fixed trading services about some of the mortgage loans on offer. Old clients are more responsive than new clients because most of the time, new clients will only be looking for one particular service. They may not know the bank well enough to trust them for other complementary services. New clients are more cautious that long term ones hence less likely to bring in more profits. (Prahalad et al, 1998)

Old clients obtained through relationship marketing have themselves become marketers for Citigroup. This is because the bank has already met all their needs and they are satisfied with the services on offer. They have voiced their contentment to other new clients and this increased Citigroup's client base indirectly.

Citigroup has benefited greatly from relationship marketing because of the level of predictability of long term customers. The bank can know before hand what kind of services a particular consumer will require and when this will occur. Consequently, it has become very convenient for the bank because they can plan ahead or increase efficiency. On top of that, the Company has to invest minimal amounts in the education of clients about the goings on in the Company. Most of them are familiar with all the processes required before consumption of a service and little time is wasted. For example, long term customers who may have been engaging in capital market trading with the Company may also be familiar with the procedures required to obtain a consumer loan from the Company. This comes by virtue of the fact that interactions with the Company allow consumers to know much about the Company's product offerings.

Because Citigroup has established some long term customers, this has prevented entry of new players in the market. When clients have firm support for the services provided by a particular Company, chances are very minimal that clients will leave that Company to go and purchase services from another. This means that new entrants in the market normally have a difficult time and will therefore get discouraged from participating in the trade. This has been highly beneficial for Citigroup because market saturation has been kept low.

Citigroup's relationship marketing strategy has contributed to its growth due to the high volume sales registered by the Company. This was brought about by its long term clients. Whenever a company has invested in long term clients, the latter party will have a strong sense of loyalty towards them. This means that even minor changes in service costs are less likely to cause a shift in their purchasing behavior. On the basis of this principle, Citigroup has a stable sales volume since most of its clients are loyal to the Company.

Citigroup has been conducting customer valuation. This means that the Company can reap the benefits of determining what category a client will belong to. Some of these categories include the following in order of importance;

• prospective
• customer
• client
• supporter
• advocate
• partner

Citigroup realizes that their most important customer is the partner because he has the highest sense of loyalty. This type of consumer will normally approach the firm and not any other whenever he has a baking need. Such customers engage in all the commercial and investment services provided by the bank. Citigroup has made it the main responsibility of its relationship manager to make sure that most of the clients in the firm are converted from prospective to partner. A prospective client is one that has not made up their minds about doing business in the firm. All the other types of clients are listed in order of priority. Customer valuation is done in order to place clients in any of the six groups. The bank then knows which type of customers to take seriously and which ones to neglect. This is quite important in the mortgage sectors and loan provisions. Placing customers in categories has helped the Company avoid potentially harmful transactions in their business. Clients who have very little potential will be avoided at all costs and their contracts terminated. (Berry, 1983)

Citigroup has also placed customers in market segments through the use of customer retention rates. The organization normally calculates this amount by getting the ratio of clients who stuck with the firm after one year to the ones that started with the Company at the beginning of the year. The percentage is then calculated. What normally occurs is that the bank uses the values of their retention rates to determine which services are the most valuable among them. This also forms the basis of market segments. Such a strategy was implemented under the leadership of John Wheat; a relationship marketing director of the firm. Market segmentation on this basis has become one of the cornerstones of conducting business on Citibank.

Citigroup chose to offer credit card services in certain branches after conducting a thorough analysis of customer preferences. In a country such as Malaysia, Citibank examined the population's capability both financially and socially to take up the use of credit cards. After the bank realized that its market was ready for change, it introduced credit cards to the market. Analysis of underlying issues also helps in the process of determining whether or not to expand. For example, Citigroup established five branches in Malaysia after it realized that customers there were ready for them. The bank was only aware of these issues after determining the underlying issues within the consumer markets- an exercise that is only possible through relationship marketing. Overly, analysis of underlying issues has helped Citigroup determine what customer's root problems are and what to do about those problems.

The bank has implemented the relationship marketing strategy by ensuring that staff members are treated well. It has put in place good employment practices and has also ensured that most of the employees have a favorable working environment. This implies that when those employees are communicating with clients about relationship marketing, they can do this thoroughly since there are no underlying issues to prevent them form working well. Staff members have access to special holiday packages, insurance offers, pension schemes and others. These offers have boosted employee morale and have contributed towards better service provision. Consequently, customer satisfaction has increased. (Gale  & Chapman, 1994)

Citigroup has also implemented corrective measures during relationship marketing. After the bank has analyzed the underlying issues behind a consumer's preference, it normally undertakes a plan of action. Some of the activities that the Company has used to implement some of its action plans are;

• enhancing employee practices
• enhancing reward systems
• benchmarking
• utilizing recovery teams

Most of the time, the bank normally benchmarks. It determines what customer preferences and then uses those preferences as standards in performance improvement. In addition to this, the bank has also used the issue of recovery teams. For example, after Citibank begun recording sub prime losses in its mortgage sector, the Company realized that something drastic needed to be done in order to put the financial giant back in business. It did this through the implementation of a recovery team. This has helped the Company to get back on track because there is more focus during problem solving. Normally when tasks are assigned without specificity then chances are they will not get completed. This is because members of an organization need to be given specific responsibilities in order to concentrate on them. Generalization causes members of the organization to become complacent. Citigroup saw this and prevented it by using recovery teams. (Reichheld & Sasser, 1990)

The Company has used product bundling as an action plan in its operations. Product bundling occurs when a given organization lumps up some the services they offer into one package which aims at improving performance of some of them. By doing this, customers will feel as though they have obtained a huge bargain and will be tempted to come back for more. Citigroup did this through the use of a basic bank offer to be included in service improvement strategy.

Another action plan that has been taken up by this bank is cross selling. After analyzing consumer preferences, the bank has sold some services that seem related to certain clients. For example, when a customer has come to apply for a credit card facility, the bank informs them about telephone banking and some of them may be convinced to take up this offer too.

Similarly, the Company has also engaged in some cross promotional strategies as a reaction to relationship marketing. Here, the bank has offered a similar service to one that a client may be purchasing but this is done through a discount.

The Company has also improved its computer systems through networking. All the branches located throughout the world are interlinked and they can share information. The purpose of such an approach is that the Company can very easily be able to assess consumer tastes and preferences in other parts of the world and use that knowledge to their advantage. This is also related to relationship marketing because the latter concept requires increased contacts and communication between an organization and the client. Some clients may be located outside the country but can still benefit from the services offered by the bank through network interlink. Consequently, customers will derive satisfaction from services offered no matter where they are located. (Kotler et al, 1999)

It should be noted that the reason why this strategy was adopted by the Company was that switching costs are rather high in the banking sector. One has to close their account before they move on to another bank. Relationship marketing is ideal for such a scenario. However, if the switching costs were low, then it would have been more suitable to use direct marketing rather than relationship marketing. It should also be remembered that relationship marketing works best when the making of a certain service involves its customers. This is quite applicable to Citigroup because most of their services are like that. For example, the issue of priority banking for high net worth individuals involves clients, therefore using relationship marketing is quite appropriate in this scenario.

Ways in which relationship marketing can be applied

Relationship marketing can be applied through a number of methods. Some of them include;

-internal markets

-supplier markets

-recruitment markets

-referral markets

-influence markets

-customer markets

Relationship marking is not applied to the typical consumer alone. It should be incorporated in dealings with all the above mentioned markets. (Buchanan & Gilles, 1990)

Referral markets refer to relationship marketing tailored to provide such intense satisfaction to the consumer to the point of making an advocate of the Company. When considering this type of marketing, Citigroup gave very efficient and comprehensive services to its customers to the point that they started talking about it to other clients. This meant that more customers were recruited by the Company even without any investment into it.

Supplier markets need relationship marketing too. Here, Citigroup forged a good relationship with its suppliers who happen to be internet service providers. By doing this, the Company became more efficient; the IT Companies always delivered their services on time and in good quality. For example, they coordinated automated card services very well. Relationship marketing in this area also boosted the way the Company dealt with its clients because the good relationship with its suppliers increased efficiency of the banks service delivery. Consequently, the customer was satisfied. For example, customers are able to withdraw cash for automated machines efficiently.

Relationship marketing can also be injected into influence markets. Here, influence markets involve all the people who affect service provision within the organization in one way or another. Some of them include; government regulators, standard bodies, lobbyists, stockholders, venture capitalist, financial analysts, consumer associations, environmental associations and labor associations. All these groups are instrumental in the operations of Citigroup. By establishing a clean reputation with them, the Company has enhanced efficiency and exceeded customer expectations most of the time.

Lastly, relationship marketing is applied to consumer markets. These markets are the most crucial ones in the running of the Company. Citigroup has divided consumer markets into two groups; the ones that are yet to buy services from them and the ones who have. The methods used to deal with these two types of customers are quite different. New clients are not familiar with Citigroup's product offerings, processes and the way they conduct business. Old clients are aware of what must be done to access certain services. Therefore, minimal efforts are directed to thee types of clients. (Carrol & Reichheld, 1992)

It should be noted that relationship marketing is best achieved hen there is adequate communication between a give Company and the respective client. Clients need to feel appreciated by the Company. Companies should not show them that they are using them to boost their sales. This aspect has been incorporated in Citigroup through its effective customer service section where clients can air out their likes and dislikes of the services provided by the Company. It has also achieved this through the feedback channels it has on its websites. Here clients who give their comments on issues relating to the bank's operation get a chance to receive feedback from their clients.

Companies need to incorporate ideas generated by customers on the design of their products and services. This will go a long way in ensuring that customers are satisfied. It will also increase their sense of loyalty of the organization after seeing that their suggestions are now part of the products on offer. Citigroup did this during provision of consumer loans. The Company received suggestions that during the summer, there was assort of melt down in the credit markets. It noted this and changed the way it offered its credit to clients. (Gale  & Chapman, 1994)

Needless to say, relationship marketing should only be implemented after consumers have consented to the activity. Organizations must not do this forcefully. Citigroup has adhered to this principle through the requests that it makes to consumers before it asks for feedback from the internet.

Conclusion

Citigroup has implemented relationship marketing through a number of pathways. These can be summarized in four ways. Firstly, the bank has predicted consumer behavior in the future through the analysis of present trends. Secondly, relationship marketing in the bank involves retaining the client by keeping them active. This can only be achieved by satisfying their needs and by keeping them active. Thirdly, the bank has created a life cycle for some of its services. It starts by asking customers certain questions, when customers respond to those queries; it sends them feedback and the cycle goes on and on. Lastly, Citibank has allocated resources towards achievement of relationship marketing; where resources in this case apply to the financial and time aspects of business operations. The Company has had to plan how to obtain information concerning customer preferences and has acted on those plans. By adhering to these four aspects, Citigroup is a front runner in the relationship marketing sector. (Fornell & Wernerfelt, 1987)

References

Prahalad, C. et al (1998): The end of corporate imperialism; Harvard Business Review

Berry, L (1983): Relationship Marketing; a journal by American Marketing Association, Chicago

Jackson, B. (1985): Build customer relationships that last; Harvard Business Review

Fornell, C. & Wernerfelt, B. (1987): Defensive marketing strategy by customer complaint management: a theoretical analysis, Journal of Marketing Research

Gale, B. & Chapman, W. (1994): Managing Customer Value: Creating Quality and Service That Customers Can See New York; Free Press

Butterworth-Heinemann (1991): Relationship Marketing, Oxford University Press

Gordon, Ian (1999): Relationship Marketing: New Strategies, Techniques and Technologies to Win the Customers You Want and Keep Them Forever; John Wiley and Sons Publishers

Reichheld, F. & Sasser, W. (1990): Zero defects: quality comes to services; Harvard Business Review

Kotler et al (1999): Principles of Marketing; Prentice Hall

Buchanan, R. & Gilles, C. (1990): Value managed relationship: The key to customer retention and profitability; European Management Journal

Carrol, P. & Reichheld, F. (1992): The fallacy of customer retention; Journal of Retail Banking

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