Zoot Enterprises, TowerGroup Host Successful Executive Forum
Attendees presented with customer acquisition strategies during volatile market
May 7, 2008
BOZEMAN, Mont—Zoot, a leading provider of advanced instant credit decisioning and loan origination solutions based in Bozeman, Mont. and TowerGroup, the leading research and advisory services firm focused exclusively on the financial services industry, recently hosted an executive forum in Atlanta, Ga. presenting strategies on acquiring and retaining customers in an increasingly volatile market.
During the forum, executives from financial institutions were presented strategies for leveraging technology to support effective customer acquisition and retention – specifically instant prescreen. As the financial services industry evolves most traditional acquisition strategies, such as direct mail prescreen, require large investments and are increasingly ineffective and inefficient. Instant prescreen strategies, defined as the ability for an institution to pre-approve a consumer in realtime and offer an appropriate credit product, yield higher acceptance rates, strengthen customer relationships, grow wallet share and increase cross-sell opportunities.
Dennis Moroney, a senior analyst in TowerGroup’s Bank Cards practice, examined the top 10 business drivers for the bank cards industry in 2008. “Successful lenders will examine the new cards landscape and adapt their strategies accordingly. As the industry continues to feel the effects of the sub-prime credit crisis, strategies to mitigate risks, reach customers and cross-sell within institutions must evolve. Additionally, the industry will experience innovation in terms of emerging payments models, processes and functions as well as international opportunities. Successful lenders will respond to these changes with well-defined technology and business initiatives.”
According to a report released by Research and Markets, the saturation of the credit card market combined with the increasing costs of customer acquisition are driving factors behind banks’ increasing focus on existing customers.
Lauren Loden, vice president of marketing planning for consumer lending for SunTrust bank, said, “In today’s market, it is critical to offer customers the right product at the right time. We want to not only meet but exceed our customers’ needs by offering them a variety of products. During the executive forum we were presented several strategies for deepening customer relationships and better serving our growing customer base. I look forward to implementing the knowledge gained during the forum to better serve our customers.”
Attendees discussed new techniques for acquiring qualified customers for credit products in a challenging market, including real-time booking of accounts, use of multiple data sources including non-traditional sources, relying on sophisticated offer management systems and leveraging all channels to accept applications.
”When a customer requests credit at the point of sale, the speed with which you approve that customer is crucial. It’s equally important to understand the customer’s unique banking needs in order to present the most relevant banking product or services. Zoot’s Enterprise Cross-Sell engine provides fast credit decisions, coupled with the benefit of targeted cross-sell offers which result in more profitable, long-term customer relationships”, said Andy Callen, executive vice president at CG2 Direct, a leading bank database marketing firm and Zoot business partner.
During the executive forum, Zoot’s Chief Innovator, Tom Johnson, presented a case study example of how one top-five U.S. bank was able to achieve acceptance rates of more than 20 percent for one line of business while using instant prescreen, significantly higher than the previous batch prescreen rate of .5 percent.
“We work in the trenches with financial institutions on a daily basis,” said Johnson. “We understand first-hand the challenges banks are facing in today’s market. As a result, we are committed to developing and presenting technology solutions designed to automate processes, drive efficiencies and in the case of instant prescreen, yield a swift ROI. The executive forum series gives us the opportunity to gather seasoned industry executives in a relaxed setting to share best practices and successful initiatives, as well as discuss industry trends and the current regulatory climate.”
About Zoot
Bozeman, Mont.-based Zoot Enterprises provides credit decisioning and loan origination solutions through a configurable, scalable and reliable platform to large and innovative U.S. financial services institutions. Visit http://www.zootweb.com or call 406.556.7555 for more information.
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