anabatic technologies 10th anniversary

Hello Monday!!

Today we are celebrating Anabatic Technologies 10^th Anniversary!!

Berdirinya Anabatic Technologies pada tanggal 3 Juni 2002 dimulai dengan kantor yang hanya seluas300m² dengan total 14 karyawan. Bermodalkan mimpi dan 2 project awal dengan memiliki motto Always Think Better Ways, Anabatic Technologies menjadi perusahaan IT yang berkembang pesat, dikenal luas dan menjadi partner terpercaya dari berbagai Principal di indiustri  IT seperti IBM, Temenos, FinArch dan masih banyak lagi, sampai akhirnya Anabatic Technologies bisa menjadi seperti sekarang dan memiliki 350 karyawan yang berdedikasi tinggi terhadap perusahaan.

Perayaan ulang tahun Anabatic Technologies dilaksanakan di PT. Anabatic Technologies lantai 7 Graha BIP yang diawali dengan menyanyikan lagu kebangsaan Indonesia Raya dan Mars Titan, kemudian acara dilanjutkan dengan sambutan dari Bpk. Handojo Sutjipto selaku Presiden Direktur dari Anabatic Technologies, lalu sambutan berikutnya dari Bpk. Handoko Tanuadji yaitu Presiden Komisaris Titan Group disampaikan dalam bentuk video message.

Dalam perayaan ulang tahun Anabatic Technologies, adanya acara pemberian Penghargaan kepada karyawan Anabatic Technologies yang telah berkerja selama 10 tahun dengan loyalitas tinggi yang juga ikut serta di dalam membangun perusahaan, Kemudian acara dilanjutkan dengan pemotongan tumpeng, berdoa bersama dan ada pula pemutaran video kegiatan Anabatic Technologies yang menampilkan kegiatan Anabaticians dari awal berdirinya perusahaan ini hingga mencapai usia 10 tahun. Acara pun berlangsung dengan meriah, dan ditutup dengan sesi foto-foto bersama seluruh Anabaticians.

Kami Anabaticians mengucapkan Selamat Ulang Tahun yang ke 10 untuk PT. Anabatic Technologies dan mendoakan semoga Anabatic Technologies semakin sukses, berkembang, menjadi lebih baik dan terdepan.

why would a bank change its core system?

There are lots of reasons why a bank would change its core system. Here are top 5 reasons based on Chris Skinner’s ‘The Complete Banker: It’s Banking, Jim, But Not As We Know It’ published by Searching Finance

Legacy constraints

This is the most obvious one, but it does not create a reason for changing a core system in or of itself. After all, I know of plenty of banks that continue to operate processors and applications developed in the 1960s and 1970s because the view is: ‘if it ain’t broke, leave it’. That’s why many City institutions still have a need for FORTRAN and ASSEMBLER programmers, and why some banks process transactions converted to pounds, shillings and pence (pre-decimal systems should have been dropped in 1971!). It is because these systems worked and were too expensive to change back in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, 50 years later, they have the problem that they are too incomprehensible to change. After all, many of the folks who developed these systems didn’t document them and the developers are now retired, suffering from dementia or dead. So the bank keeps them running as they can’t dump them. However, if the legacy is causing them to be uncompetitive and to lose business, then that may finally prompt the change of core system that has been so strategically required for decades but ignored. This leads us to the next major reason for change: competitors.

Competition

A bank will often change systems if competitive pressures force it to. For example, no bank wanted to launch call centre or online banking services until someone launched it first and started taking accounts away from them. This is why banks are variously described as sheep or lemmings, because they all follow each other around and copy what each other is doing. The result is that if a new core system capability delivers significant competitive differentiation for a financial institution, then all the other institutions will either buy the same system, buy a similar one from the provider’s competitors or will copy it.

Regulations

All of the regulations that have been introduced over the past few years such as MiFID, the PSD, Faster Payments, the Capital Requirements Directive, RegNMS, MT202 Cover Payments and more, have required significant change to systems, structure and processes for the banks and operators in those market sectors impacted. Therefore, every time there’s a legislative change, it will more than likely prompt an assessment as to the fitness for purpose of the existing system to meet and comply with the new obligation and, if it doesn’t comply or if it is too difficult to adapt, then the bank will change core system.

Merger and acquisition

Every time a bank merger occurs, there has to be a rationalisation of systems as that is a core rationale for justification of a merger. In other words, cost savings… there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why a bank would run two parallel core systems as that would mean twice the cost. Therefore, one of the core systems will change. Unfortunately, it usually means that the core system changes by throwing out the system of the acquired bank and converting it across to the acquirer’s platforms. This has little to do with effectiveness or efficiency and is more to do with ego and power. For example, NatWest’s systems were forced onto Royal Bank of Scotland’s when RBS took over NatWest a decade ago and, more recently, Abbey’s were dumped and converted to Santander’s. In retrospect, it would make more sense for a fuller review to take place before such decisions are made to ask: (a) which is the best system, and (b) is there a better one outside the bank overall? Having said that, I cannot imagine any bank converting both their own and their acquired bank’s systems across to a new platform at the same time but, when acquiring a bank, it would be a good time to consider converting the acquired bank’s core system to the best in the market and, if that means buying externally, then convert your own core systems across to the same platform thereafter.

New management

Again, it is often just a case of ego and power, but when new management takes over a bank, the first thing they want to do is to stamp their authority on it. This can be done in two ways: first, sack all of the sycophants who worked for the previous management team; second, replace all of their decisions with new ones that show how ineffective their decisions were. The latter means finding things they did or did not do, and then showing how stupid they were. For example, not replacing an old legacy system may be a good way to highlight this; or the fact that they replaced core systems but didn’t choose a good one is another. Either way, a new management team, given the right prodding, could easily be convinced to change core systems if they thought the previous management had been shirking their responsibilities by not changing it or changing it for a poorer one.

So there you have five good reasons to change core systems: legacy constraints, competitive forces, regulatory mandate, merger and acquisition and new management requirements.

Thinking about these things, the post-crisis fallout means that all of the above are rife. Many banks have new management teams, are going through a tumultuous acquisition, have been forced to change due to regulation, and have new competitors and new customer needs that put a strain on their legacy operations. This means that 2010 onwards is a great time to see core systems change in many European and American banks.

However, there’s one point that is not made above that is just as critical. No bank will change a core system because of new technology.

New technologies are great. They may be sexy, interesting, create differential and be very compelling, but new technologies in and of themselves will never justify a core systems change.

It is only when the new technology can demonstrate that it will support the needs to be compliant with new legislation; or to eradicate legacy overhead for operational efficiency; or to improve management and business processes that the bank can maintain competitive parity now and into the future; that the systems are purchased. In other words, the debate about core systems has nothing to do with the features and functionality of the technology itself, but is triggered by a burning platform that means that if the bank does not change the core system they will flounder.

That is the key to why banks change core systems and the sooner providers get off the feature, functionality and technology platform and get on to the business need, management drivers and strategic platforms, the better.

source: QFinance Article

by Agus Muljady – Director

10 best practices for successful project management (Part 2 – end)

In the previous part, we had already discussed about the 3 big parts that consist of Planning, Project Work Plan, and Project Management Procedures. Now, in the 2nd part (last part), we will discuss about how to manage the scope, risk and issue that always occur in every project. Here are the details about the next 3 Big Parts:

4. MANAGING SCOPE

F. Ensure that the sponsor approves scope-change requests.

After the basics of managing schedules, managing scope is the most important activity required to manage a project. Many projects failure are not (majorly) caused by estimating schedule or team skill sets, but by the project team working on major and minor deliverables that were not part of the original project definition or business requirements. Even though you have good scope-management procedures in place, there are still two major areas of scope-change management that must be understood to have a successful project, such as understanding who the customer is and scope creep.

In general, the project sponsor is the person funding the project. For infrastructure projects like an Exchange migration, the sponsor might be the CIO or CFO. Although there is usually only one sponsor, a big project can have many stakeholders, or people who are impacted by the project. Requests for scope changes will most often come from stakeholders – many of whom may be managers in their own right. One manager might want chat services for his or her area. Another might want an exception to the size limits you have placed on mailboxes. It doesn’t matter how important a change is to a stakeholder, they can’t make scope-change decisions, and they can’t give your team the approval to make the change. In proper scope-change management, the sponsor (or a designate people) must give the approval, since they are the only ones who can add funds to cover the changes and understand if the project impact is acceptable.

G. Guard against scope creep.

Most project managers know how to invoke scope-change management procedures if they are asked to add a major new function or a major new deliverable to the project. However, sometimes the project manager doesn’t recognize the small scope changes that get added over time. Scope creep is a term used to define a series of small scope changes that is made to the project without scope-change management procedures being used. With scope creep, a series of small scope changes—none of which appear to affect the project individually—can accumulate and have a significant overall impact on the project. Many projects fail because of scope creep, and the project manager needs to be diligent in guarding against it.

5. MANAGING RISK

H. Identify risks up front.

When the planning work is occurring, the project team should identify all known risks. For each risk, they should also determine the probability that the risk event will occur and the potential impact on the project. Those events, that identified as high-risk, should have specific plans put into place to mitigate them so they do not, in fact, occur. Medium risks should be evaluated to see whether they need to be proactively managed. (Low-level risks may be identified as assumptions. That is, there is potential risk involved, but you are “assuming” that the positive outcome is much more probable) Some risks are inherent in a complex project that affects every person in the company. Other risks may include not having the right level of expertise, unfamiliarity with the technology, and problems integrating smoothly with existing products or equipment.

I. Continue to assess potential risks throughout the project.

Once the project begins, periodically perform an updated risk assessment to determine whether other risks have surfaced that need to be managed.

6. MANAGING ISSUES

J. Resolve issues as quickly as possible.

Issues are big problems. For instance, in an Exchange migration, the Exchange servers you ordered aren’t ready and configured on time. Or perhaps the Windows forest isn’t set up correctly and needs to be redesigned. The project manager should manage open issues diligently to ensure that they are being resolved. If there is no urgency to resolve the issues or if the issues have been active for some time, it may not really be an issue. It may be a potential problem (risk), or it may be an action item that needs to be resolved at some later point. Real issues, by their nature, must be resolved with a sense of urgency.

Source : Tech Republic Article

by Hendra Halim – Head of Project Management Office (Infrastructure Team)

You can follow him on his twitter @takhada

social media

Nowadays Social Media is becoming a trend, not only for personal but also for companies or businesses. As other companies started their Social Media, Anabatic also started its Social media Marketing from 2 years ago, but it is not optimized yet. Started in Q4/2011, Anabatic Marketing team is optimizing more its Social Media, which are Twitter (@AnabaticTech) and Blog (anabaticblog.wordpress.com). In this article, I want to share how important these 2 Social Media for Anabatic.

Anabatic had been working together with some Online and Printed Media several times, and now it will strengthen its position by adding these 2 Social Media. It becomes so important for Anabatic and becomes Anabatic Marketing Team’s one of their main focuses to increase Brand Image of Anabatic.

Twitter

As we all know, one of the very popular Social Media in the world now is Twitter. Why does Anabatic want to be active through Twitter? Anabatic Marketing Team realize that Twitter not only be able to be used for personal Social Media, but lots of companies also use Twitter as their tool / media to do their Marketing Campaigns. The closest samples that we can have are IBM Partner World – Singapore (@ibmpw_asean) and Temenos (@temenos). They do their promotions, marketing campaigns, or sharing some news related to them, through their Twitter accounts. They also sometimes invite all there customers and partners to their events through it.

Twitter is becoming Anabatic’s interest because it can give information and even share some news related to its businesses in Enterprise IT industries. So the Big picture is to make Anabatic becomes a benchmark for all international IT vendors in the world, about the latest Enterprise IT trends, especially in Indonesia. This all Twitter things is also supported by Anabatic new website (anabatic.com) that has been re-designed to give great information, especially on Anabatic’s businesses.

Blog

Besides Twitter, Anabatic also has a blog that is used for Knowledge Sharing media to all people in IT industries. This blog is made for Anabaticians (that’s what we called for Anabatic’s employee) to share some knowledges that they have and to proof that Anabaticians are the chosen people who have real knowledges and real experiences on implementing solutions that Anabatic has.

All articles in Anabatic’s blog are written only by Anabaticians (at least for now) to share their knowledge to the world, so everybody can see Anabatic’s capability in delivering the best solutions and services to customers and partners / principals.

From these 2 social media, Anabatic Marketing team wants to make Anabatic to become one of the foremost IT company in Indonesia and region, in line with its vision. Anabatic is always aiming to exist for more and more decades, but this is only one of other many ways to bring Anabatic to be a bigger company. The most important factor for Anabatic is Anabaticians’ spirit that will bring Anabatic grows each year, so it can become the most trusted partner for its customers and principals.

Hope this article is useful and motivating to all of us in developing IT businesses in the world.

by Eko Priyanto – Head of Marketing & Communications

You can follow him on his twitter @EkpLo

10 best practices for successful project management (Part 1)

10th years of Anabatic Technologies is not a short term to work in IT world that has had major principle partners, supporting all the strategic medium scale up to large projects.

Therefore, in running the projects until reaching its success, it will need the project management to support all the project process life cycle. Based on Tech Republic article, I would like to share 10 Best Practices for Successful Project Management which will be grouped into 6 BIG parts as below:

1. Planning
2. Project Work Plan
3. Project Management Procedures
4. Managing Scope
5. Managing Risk
6. Managing Issues

Studies prove that most projects, especially large ones, do not end successfully. You might think that companies would be happy to just have their project finish with some degree of success. However, in spite of the odds, organizations also expect projects to be completed faster, on schedule and with higher quality. The only way that these objectives can be met is through the use of effective project management processes and techniques. Consider the size, complexity, and other characteristics of your project, and build the right project management processes to manage and control your project.

1. PLANNING

A. Plan the work by utilizing a project definition document.

There is a tendency for IT infrastructure projects to shortchange the planning process, with an emphasis on jumping right in and beginning the work. This is a wrong approach. The time spent properly planning the project will result in reduced cost and duration and increased quality over the life of the project. The project definition is the primary deliverable from the planning process and describes all aspects of the project at a high level. Once approved by the customer and relevant stakeholders, it becomes the basis for the work to be performed. For example, in planning an Exchange migration, the project definition should include the following:

• Project overview: Why is the Exchange migration taking place? What are the business drivers? What are the business benefits?
• Objectives: What will be accomplished by the migration? What do you hope to achieve?
• Scope: What features of Exchange will be implemented (i.e., e-mail, chat, instant messaging, conferencing)? Which departments will be converted? What is specifically out of scope?
• Assumptions and risks: What events are you taking for granted (assumptions), and what events are you concerned about? Will the right hardware and infrastructure be in place? Do you have enough storage and network capacity?
• Approach: How will the migration project unfold and proceed?
• Organization: Show the significant roles on the project. Identifying the project manager is easy, but who is the sponsor? It might be the CIO for a project like this. Who is on the project team? Are any of the stakeholders represented?
• Signature page: Ask the sponsor and key stakeholders to approve this document, signifying that they agree on what is planned.
• Initial effort, cost, and duration estimates: These should start as best-guess estimates and then be revised, if necessary, when the workplan is completed.

2. PROJECT WORK PLAN

B. Create a planning horizon.

After the project definition has been prepared, the work plan can be created. The work plan provides the step-by-step instructions for constructing project deliverables and managing the project. You should use a prior work plan from a similar project as a model, if one exists. If not, build one the old-fashioned way by utilizing a work-breakdown structure and network diagram.

Create a detailed work plan, including assigning resources and estimating the work as far out as you feel comfortable. This is your planning horizon. Past the planning horizon, lay out the project at a higher level, reflecting the increased level of uncertainty. The planning horizon will move forward as the project progresses. High-level activities that were initially vague need to be defined in more detail as their timeframe gets closer.

3. PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES

C. Define project management procedures up front

The project management procedures outline the resources that will be used to manage the project. This will include sections on how the team will manage issues, changes of scope, risks, qualities, communications, and so on. It is important to be able to manage the project rigorously and proactively and to ensure that the project team and all stakeholders have a common understanding of how the project will be managed. If common procedures have already been established for your organization, utilize them on your project.

D. Manage the workplan and monitor the schedule and budget

Once the project has been planned sufficiently, execution of the work can begin. In theory, since you already have agreement on your project definition and since your work plan and project management procedures are in place, the only challenge is to execute your plans and processes correctly. Of course, no project ever proceeds entirely as it was estimated and planned. The challenge is having the rigor and discipline needed to apply your project management skills correctly and proactively.

• Review the work plan on a regular basis to determine how you are progressing in terms of schedule and budget. If your project is small, this may need to be weekly. For larger projects, the frequency might be every two weeks.
• Identify activities that have been completed during the previous time period and update the work plan to show they are finished. Determine whether there are any other activities that should be completed but have not been. After the work plan has been updated, determine whether the project will be completed within the original effort, cost, and duration. If not, determine the critical path and look for ways to accelerate these activities to get you back on track.
• Monitor the budget. Look at the amount of money your project has actually consumed and determine whether your actual spending is more than originally estimated based on the work that has been completed. If so, be proactive. Either work with the team to determine how the remaining work will be completed to hit your original budget or else raise a risk that you may exceed your allocated budget.

E. Look for warning signs.

Look for signs that the project may be in trouble. These could include the following:

• A small variance in schedule or budget starts to get bigger, especially early in the project. There is a tendency to think you can make it up, but this is a warning. If the tendencies are not corrected quickly, the impact will be unrecoverable.
• You discover that activities you think have already been completed are still being worked on. For example, users whom you think have been migrated to a new platform are still not.
• You need to rely on unscheduled overtime to hit the deadlines, especially early in the project.
• Team morale starts to decline.
• Deliverable quality or service quality starts to deteriorate. For instance, users start to complain that their converted e-mail folders are not working correctly.
• Quality-control steps, testing activities, and project management time starts to be cut back from the original schedule. A big project, such as an Exchange migration, can affect everyone in your organization. Don’t cut back on the activities that ensure the work is done correctly.

If these situations occur, raise visibility through risk management, and put together a plan to proactively ensure that the project stays on track. If you cannot successfully manage through the problems, raise an issue.

To be continued… 

Source : Tech Republic Article

by Hendra Halim – Head of Project Management Office (Infrastructure Team)

You can follow him on his twitter @takhada

the eight stages of core banking transformations

Anabatic Technologies is one of the IT system integrator companies in Indonesia that has been doing some Core Banking System implementations. Based on George Cowell blog about eight stages of core banking transformation, I would like to share these eight stages where the most banks will go through for undertaking a core banking transformation. Hopefully it can be useful for all the banks. Here are the eight stages of core banking transformations:

Stage One – The Excitement of Something New

Most banks go through an extremely detailed, time consuming, and costly RFP process when assessing core banking solutions, integrators, and other peripherals required for their transformation project. The elation at the end of the RFP process with the selection of a solution (Vendor), integration partner (Integrator), and the other required hardware components normally generates an amazing amount of excitement. The bank is over optimistic at this point and the new project kicks off, all parties land on the ground… it’s the excitement of taking on the new!

Stage Two – Why is this so hard? It’s the integrator!

The excitement only last so long until the bank realizes that this is harder then they assumed. Gaining traction and momentum on the implementation takes longer than expected. All of the parties don’t seem to play well together. The bank assumes that the problem has to be the integrator they hired to help them implement the system. They rethink the strategy, they look back at the contract the bank and the Integrator descend into a renegotiation, the Bank looks for alternatives, time and money are wasted sorting out the blame game. In the end there is normally a replacement of the integrators senior management on the project some sort of concessions made and the project continues.

Stage Three- The Vendor’s product is defective and full of gaps!

Ill-defined processes start to come out of the woodwork. The capabilities and standards of the purchased solution start to be understood by the bank. Enhancements, extensions, and configurations start to be identified, effort and duration start to increase. “The solution was oversold, “ says the Bank! “You have asked for non-standard processes or functionality that was identified to you in the RFP” responds the vendor.  This creates noise and uncertainty within the project as suddenly scope is in question, the Bank and Vendor relationship is in question. Again the Bank looks for alternatives, time and money are wasted sorting out the blame game. In the end there is normally a replacement of the Vendors senior management on the project some sort of concessions made and the project continues.

Stage Four – Maybe we should cancel the project and sue!

The Bank is still upset! They feel cheated and betrayed. Pride takes over and leads a Bank right to the edge of canceling the project and letting the lawyers sort it out. Thankfully extreme actions normally also lead to extreme introspection. The healthy self inspection normally takes the bank back to the strategic decisions made related to the selection of the solution, the understanding that the need to transform is still in front of them. This normally pulls them back from the edge and the project continues.

Stage Five – Maybe we don’t know our processes?

Stage four’s introspection normally leads the Bank to question their own understanding of their processes. The understanding that a complete view of processes is missing within the organization allows them to question their status quo and opens their process up to true transformation

Stage Six – Maybe it’s our organization?

The natural progression to question the status quo of the processes normally leads to an epiphany related to the banks overall organization structure and questioning their management by silo mentality. Internally a power struggle over the definition and ownership of the business processes starts as the business realizes this isn’t an IT project it is a dramatic transformation of the business with the core banking transformation acting as a catalyst.

Stage Seven – All Hands on Deck!

The organization wakes up. The executive sponsor realizes that they actually need to do something other than sitting in status meetings. An all hands on deck mentality manifests as the Bank realizes internal infighting will not solve their problems. Normally there are some drastic changes in the Bank’s senior management structure at this point.

Stage Eight – Successful go live all is forgiven

Two or three years have passed, with multiple releases, and the final transformation is ready to go live. There will always be issues to resolve but for the most part the go-lives are successful. The core-banking platform has been replaces, processes redesigned, and the organization transformed for the better. The Bank has forgotten the trials and tribulations and normally becomes a supporter of the Vendor and their solution, and considers the Integrator a trusted business partner going forward.

Banks concerned with saving time and money in transformations will do the work required early on to address their own processes and organization issues (moving steps five and six ahead of step number one). They will also diligently work to remove steps two through four from their transformational journey. I would be interested to hear from others that have seen this pattern.

Source: Core Banking Blog

by Eko Priyanto – Head of Marketing & Communications

You can follow him on his twitter @EkpLo

 

banking transformation

Sejak dimulainya era global market, interaksi antar sesama dapat dilakukan tanpa harus berinteraksi secara langsung (face to face). Hal ini dikarenakan hubungan interaksi bisa saja diselesaikan melalui dunia maya atau yang sering disebut internet. Maraknya jejaring sosial atau social network adalah merupakan ciri dari kemajuan teknologi berbasis internet atau online seperti facebook, twitter, linkedin dan masih banyak lagi yang semuanya mengandalkan kemajuan teknologi terkini.

Dukungan teknologi yang berkembang pesat memungkinkan semua aktifitas bisnis maupun non-bisnis dapat dilakukan tanpa dibatasi oleh ruang dan waktu dengan sangat cepat. Konsep transformation ini juga sangat berdampak kepada perkembangan sektor bisnis perbankan.

Beberapa bank kelas dunia seperti BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, dan lain-lain sudah mulai melakukan transformasi core banking sejak tahun 1999 dimana terjadi pembenahan aplikasi dari sebelumnya banyak aplikasi stand alone, menjadi integrated application dalam satu core banking.

Beberapa alasan yang menyebabkan bank melakukan transformasi bisnis adalah :

1. Legacy system tidak lagi dapat mendukung perkembangan bisnis bank
2. Komponen aplikasi yang tidak memungkinkan untuk melakukan efisiensi terhadap seluruh kebutuhan perbankan
3. Kehilangan kesempatan untuk berkompetisi dengan bank lain
4. Adanya issue terkait dengan perubahan regulasi dan resiko bisnis

Survey yang dilakukan oleh Ernest & Young Global Consumer Banking Survey tahun 2011 di beberapa Negara seperti Eropa, Amerika, Amerika Latin, Jepang, Kanada, Cina, India dan Afrika Utara menunjukkan tingkat kepercayaan nasabah kepada institusi keuangan atau bank tidak lebih dari 55%.

Dan hasil survey yang dilakukan oleh beberapa lembaga lain juga menunjukkan kompleksitas aplikasi menyebabkan dukungan terhadap growth suatu bank menjadi terhambat. Oleh karena itu untuk menunjang perkembangan teknologi seiring dengan kompetisi meraih pasar, perlu dilakukan proses transformasi.

Hasil survey yang di lakukan oleh IBM Institute pada tahun 2009 kepada sejumlah bank menunjukkan statistic data sebagai berikut :

Dampak positif yang dirasakan oleh bank secara langsung pada dengan proses transformasi adalah sebagaimana digambarkan dalam gambar berikut ini.

3 hal yang penting dalam melakukan proses transformasi teknologi untuk mendapatkan hasil yang maksimal adalah sebagaimana digambarkan dalam diagram di bawah ini.

Inilah yang dinamakan Banking Transformation. Merubah paradigma dunia perbankan bagi customer dengan memberikan kemudahan tanpa batas yang disertai dengan dukungan teknologi yang memungkinkan suatu bank dapat melakukan segala aktifitas bisnis dan berkompetisi serta berkembang seiring kemajuan teknologi terkini.

Keuntungan customer terkait dengan adanya proses transformasi di dunia perbankan diantaranya adalah :

• Semua elemen pengalaman nasabah terhadap investasi, inovasi produk dan pelayanan serta etos kerja di bank menumbuhkan keinginan untuk tetap mendapatkan yang terbaik dari bank tersebut (Brand enhancement programs).
• Hubungan personal terhadap kebutuhan terhadap produk perbankan yang bisa disesuaikan dengan kebutuhan nasabah akan lebih bisa memberikan persepsi yang baik terhadap brand tertentu (Personalizing banking).
• Transparansi dan penempatan nasabah sebagai salah satu kekuatan sales yang dimiliki oleh bank serta model insentif yang mungkin bisa diterapkan oleh bank merupakan penghargaan tersendiri kepada nasabah yang merasa menjadi bagian dari bank itu sendiri. (Create brand ambassadors).
• Adopsi social media dengan pendekatan improvisasi persepsi terhadap brand dan sistem konsultasi online untuk setiap kebutuhan nasabah menjadi bagian penting dalam menjamin kemudahan nasabah mendapatkan layanan perbankan (Embrace online innovation).

by Eko Priyanto – Head of Marketing & Communications

You can follow him on his twitter @EkpLo

what do sales people need?

Maintaining Self-Confidence

This is the absolutely the most important skill a salesperson can cultivate. Why? Because all the other skills are based on persistence. If you have every other sales skill listed below but you give up at the first hint of a “no,” then you’ll never have a chance to use those skills. The first time you speak to a prospect, they might not want to talk to you because they’re having a bad day… but if you call back a week later they’ll be eager to buy.

Self-confidence doesn’t end with persistence; if you believe in yourself and your product, your prospects will be inclined to believe as well. Self-confidence will also incline you towards a more assertive closing approach, which is vital to your selling success.

Good Listening 

Most salespeople are natural talkers. Unfortunately even a great speaker will only get so far without a little listening. Taking the time to ask your prospect questions and really listen to the answers shows respect for them, and gives you a clearer idea of what they want. So how can you tell if you’re doing enough listening? The next time you cold call a prospect, ask an open-ended question and then hit the mute button and leave yourself muted for at least a minute (or until you are absolutely sure the prospect is finished). By forcing yourself to be quiet, you will notice right away how strong your urge is to jump in and say something before the prospect has stopped talking.

Persuasiveness

Emotion plays a major role in sales. There’s an old saying that “features tell, benefits sell.” Features are the facts about your product or service; benefits are their emotional connotations. For example, a 0% interest rate on a credit card is a feature… being able to save money while buying the things you need is a benefit! Persuasiveness is the skill that allows you to convey these emotions to the customer. If you can make your prospect feel how great it will be to own your product and how much their life will be improved when they have it, you can sell it to them.

Building Strong Relationships

This sales skill is just as important to a salesperson’s business life as it is to their personal life. Building and maintaining healthy relationships is the key to developing a strong network. And networking will allow you to reach far, far more prospects than you could manage on your own.

Remember the theory of “Six Degrees of Separation?” Let’s say you’re trying to reach the decision maker at a major company but you don’t know anyone who works there. A call or two to your network contacts yields someone who knows someone who works for your target; armed with that person’s name and direct phone number, you now have access to the prospect.

Self-Motivating

Even the best salesperson is a work in progress. You can always find a way to develop your skills, work on your pitch, and learn more about the products and services you sell. But the drive to constantly improve yourself has to come from within. Your manager might direct you to make some changes if your sales start to plummet, but if you are constantly working to become a better salesperson you can start working on the issue before it affects your numbers.

Find the Fun

Sales works best when you treat it as a game. Treat each stage of each sale as a challenge that brings you closer to winning, and you’ll find a lot more fun in your work. Setting up a bunch of appointments or sinking your teeth into a juicy new lead list are just as important to the game as the final, closing stages, so don’t fixate on your closing numbers alone. Remember, if you’re enjoying yourself, your prospects will notice and appreciate it.

Treat Yourself

Set a few reasonable, attainable goals for yourself and decide on appropriate rewards. For instance, you might set a goal of 10 meet new contacts/customer this week and treat yourself to dinner at your favorite restaurant if you make them all. Always choose goals that are within your control, not ones that depend on someone else’s actions. In other words, deciding to spend five hours a week doing door-to-door calls or sending 10 emails a day to existing customers are controllable goals. Deciding to close five sales a week is not, because closing sales is dependent on the prospect’s decisions and isn’t something you can control. If you set smart goals for your activities and achieve them, the sales will come.

Learn to Love “No”

Salespeople hear the word “no” a lot. If you take them personally, you will burn out fast. When a prospect turns you down it often has nothing to do with you! He might be having a bad day, or he just bought a similar product from a competitor, or he can’t afford your product, or he’s just not a good fit. None of these things are your doing and they will happen regularly to every salesperson regardless of skill. So every time a prospect says “no” just remind yourself that they’re rejecting your product offering, not you.

Don’t Skimp on Preparation

Feeling nervous before a big presentation? Putting in some preparation time beforehand can really ease your stage fright. The more research and preparation you do, the better you’ll feel heading into a meeting. Preparation is most important before a sales pitch, but it can help with every stage of sales – for example, having a list of common objections and your best responses in front of you while you cold call can make you feel better armed to get the appointment.

Take Risks

It may sound crazy to talk about taking risks when you’re trying to build up confidence in yourself, but it works surprisingly well. When you operate outside your comfort zone, you stretch your mind and learn new things. If you try a new sales tactic – like selling via social media or reaching out to a new type of prospect – you’ll win every time. If you don’t succeed in making sales, you won’t feel too bad because, after all, it’s your first time trying. And if you do succeed right off the bat, you’ll feel terrific. In either case, once you return to your regular sales techniques you’ll find them much easier in comparison to the new methods you just attempted.

Source: http://sales.about.com

by: Edy Yulius – Business Manager

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