CREATESPACE Bank Marketing Challenges, Risks and Control

I have encountered a number of bankers who said that they did not have to read any book to do their marketing jobs. All that they needed to succeed, according to them, were the flair, ability to network, personal contacts, and entreaty. They also talked about doing things that gratified the expediency of the marketing situation in which they found themselves. I do not, of course, agree with these erroneous views. The factors they identified only relate to, and could be useful in, only certain personal selling assignments. Otherwise, in executing complex marketing tasks, such factors would hardly be relevant. Of the twenty-two chapters of this book, for instance, such factors gained value in only one and a half chapters (see chapters five and twenty-two). This implies that bank marketing transcends the picture of it portrayed by those bankers.Unfortunately, while the erroneous views persist, there are observed skills gaps in customer service and managing banking relationships. The irony of this situation is that marketing provides structure for, and nourishes, these important functions. In fact, customer service and relationship management are the major building blocks of bank marketing. In writing the book, my intention is to demonstrate the practical issues, lessons, and solutions with which the bankers and customers must contend, with suggestions on how to meet their mutual expectations and needs. Enriched with market researches, empirical data, literature reviews, and theoretical analyses, the book underscores the interdependence of knowledge of theory and practice for the success of marketing in banking. Written to appeal to particular segments of readership, its target market includes practising bankers, the banking publics, business schools and students. The book is divided into five sections, and covers the major aspects of bank marketing.