ATB Financial
ATB Financial is a leading, full-service financial institution based in Edmonton, Alberta. With assets of $20.3 billion, ATB is the largest Alberta-based financial institution. ATB is a leading financial services provider, serving over 600,000 Albertans in 244 communities through 155 branches, 134 agencies, as well as a Customer Contact Centre in Calgary, Alberta. Services are also available through Automated Banking Machines (ABMs) across Alberta, Internet and Telephone. A full range of wealth management products and services are provided under the banner of ATB Investor Services.
The Challenge
Financial “Pain Point” Identification to Support Product Development
ATB Financial was interested in talking to companies in the Micro-Business segment – those with 5 or fewer employees – about their financial “pain points”, concerns and needs in several areas, including:
- Cash Flow/Profitability
- Planning and Management
- Taxes
- Debt/Debt Management
- Accounts Receivable/Payable
- Order Payment/Processing/Inventory
- Payroll
- Foreign Currency
- Accounting/Insurance
Feedback around financial “pain points” was required so that product and service development could be advanced built off the direct input of representative firms within the Micro-Business segment.
The Solution
It was determined that research in two phases would be the best way execute the Project. Phase One – pain point identification and analysis. Phase Two – gather feedback on proposed product and service solutions to these pain points to drive product and service development.
Phase One
Working closely with ATB Financial Senior Management, the first step was to design a carefully worded six-page questionnaire based on outcomes and information required by the client. From there, the survey was mailed to targeted to three thousand existing and outside business customers across a wide range of industries. To drive response, the print portion was supplemented with telephone contact and an appropriate incentive was offered.
Response and Key Findings
A response rate of nearly 6% was achieved, sufficient to give ATB Financial insight into pain points and challenges as well as product and service needs and preferences of the Micro-Business segment. Rankings of Micro-Business’s pain points, needs and preferences as they relate to the specific areas under investigation (as above) were captured – in other words, the areas of most pressing importance to Micro-Business owners.
In addition to providing insight into the nature of the critical Micro-Business market – including findings around stage in the business life cycle, and implications – the data collected and datasets created in Phase One set the tone for Phase Two of the research: gathering feedback around proposed product and service solutions to Micro-Business’s pain points.
Phase Two
In Phase Two, a separate questionnaire, but similar approach was used to gather feedback from Micro-Businesses: mail plus telephone plus incentive. Five thousand businesses were carefully selected and in addition to questions around proposed product and service solutions designed to deal with pressing pain points captured in Phase One, questions were included to gather feedback on communications preferences, loyalty and attrition, “switch ability” potential, sub-segment requirements (e.g., female business owners), personal banking (bundling) opportunities and the like
Response and Key Findings
A sufficient response – though less than in Phase One – was gathered giving ATB Financial insight into product and service solutions that are most likely to resonate with the Micro-Business segment. Additionally, communications preferences, data around loyalty, bundling opportunities and like were captured. A report outlining recommendations and marketing implications built around findings above was delivered to ATB Financial at the conclusion of Phase Two.
Next Steps
ATB Financial now possesses rich insight into desired product and service solutions, financial preferences and needs, communications preferences, loyalty and the like within the Micro-Business segment. Insight that will enable them to not only develop product and service solutions that Micro-Businesses value most, but also to communicate new offerings – methods and messaging – more efficiently to the Micro-Business segment.
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