News

How much is too much?

April 13, 2005

It's easy to get overwhelmed when attacking customer relationship management at the ATM. Cost, database integration and the kind of customer relationship management information that should be used could easily leave any banker's head swimming.

But according to Bob Usner, director of marketing and product management for Nexus Software, most banks and credit unions would be better served if they implemented CRM campaigns incrementally. Doing so keeps costs contained in phases and gives leaders of such financial institutions a chance to figure out what works and what doesn't.

"When some of the big guys put CRM out there, they do stuff that is incredibly expensive and incredibly complex," Usner said. Looking in from the outside, smaller FIs know they can't afford or support a structurally complex CRM program.

But big is not necessarily better when it comes to CRM, because the customer often gets lost in the process, Usner said.

"What they need to consider is what is practical from the customer's point of view," Usner said. "The customer needs to know when he goes up to the ATM that the bank is working for him. He doesn't need to think that the bank is trying to get more transactions out of him."

For example, he explained, an FI should not require a customer at a drive-up to go through screens that ask questions about services the customer isn't interested in. "It's a waste of time and it holds up the line," he said.

Scott Anderson, an executive account manager for London, Ontario-based Phoenix Interactive Design, agrees with Usner that CRM needs to be implemented over time.

"The Big Bang approach is never going to work, and no (mid-sized or small) bank would get a capital request like that approved," Anderson said.

Phoenix Interactive, like Nexus, provides ATM software solutions that work to integrate and improve the ATM customer's experience. Both companies agree that as more ATMs move to Windows-based platforms, launching CRM campaigns will be easier, but Windows won't be a cure-all.

In fact, Usner said high-function networks with CRM databases will have to be based on middleware. "Unless you're a site with a million (software) licenses, it's difficult to get everything integrated," he said.

Windows has enabled the integration of CRM processes and data, Anderson said, but it won't solve design issues or ensure the translation of data as that information crosses channels.

Jerry Silva, TowerGroup's senior analyst of delivery channels, said failing to buy into CRM at the ATM will separate the strong FIs from the weak ones.

"The ATM, for most banking customers, is already a differentiating factor," he added.