In This Issue.Message from Brienne

Events calendar

Did you know?

Learn. Develop. Grow.

Tools

Regional Contacts

ArticlesCustomer connection

What makes us stand out

from our competitors?

Suit yourself – Public

Sector helps grads get

ReadytoWork

The “Pink Ladies” apply a

fresh coat to paint

contracting

SkyBranch pilot

successfully launched

Holiday like a pro: some

practical tips for the April

holidays

Let’s cheer for our

Business Banking

champions

Insights

Agri Trends

Franchise buzz

Analyse your customer’s

needs quickly

Welcome to this month’s edition of Business

Beat!

We promised to hit the ground running in 2017 and that

is exactly what we have done. With the middle of the

year fast approaching, our business is poised to

continue with this momentum and meet our targets in a

way that we can all be proud of.

Given our intention to be the Trade dominant bank by 2020

and to preserve our Agri and Public Sector dominance, our

planning and business activities should already be aligned to

this objective. Achieving, what might be considered by some

as a lofty target, requires a renewed focus on getting our

house in order in terms of processes, people and our client

value propositions (CVPs).

Instant Business

In this regard, I’m glad to report that Instant Business is

rapidly gaining momentum and on track in terms of future

developments. Since our “Go Live” in Q1 2016, more than

7,000 customers have made use of the portal in 2016. After

actively marketing the channel towards the end of last year,

we have already received over 5,000 applications in 2017.

Other planned developments are the Customer Self Fica

functionality and the Call Centre Application. Customer Self

Fica will allow our customers to digitally self-remediate and

the Call Centre Application will improve how our customers

book an appointment with a banker. Want to know how else

we are making banking easier and more convenient for our

customers? Read more about our remote access pilot.

ESP

In terms of ESP, our journey to date has not always been an

easy one. Now, we are finally starting to reap the rewards.

This year we kicked off with various enhancements to create

better efficiencies and to enable quicker turnaround times for

us and our customers.

Coping with a changing business environment

The business environment in which we operate in is

constantly changing. Our customers today have more choice

than ever before. They demand better solutions, better

turnaround times and a better experience. Even more

importantly, I feel that how we approach our customers –

both new and existing – requires a fresh and innovative

outlook. Whatever steps we take next has to meet our

customers’ needs. We want to win that “triple crown”: 1)

increase in revenue, 2) reduction in cost and 3) improvement

in customer experience. In other words: we want

sustainable growth. Read more about the BB Segmentation

Programme that launched earlier this year.

Collaboration is another important driver of success

Given the strategic overlap of business between CIB and

RBB, we cannot operate in isolation. The SA Business

Committee workstream that is focusing on improving our

CVPs is a huge leap in addressing some of our business’

inefficiencies. If you haven’t yet read the message from

Marius, Jan, Phakamani and Temi, catch-up here.

In closing, Business Banking is in an exciting space. We

are adapting, shedding the old way of doing things and

remodelling how we do business. As always, please feel

free to speak to me directly should you have any ideas or

suggestions.

Brienne van der Walt

Head of Business Banking Customer Sectors and Segments

“Business Banking is in an

exciting space. We are

adapting, shedding the old way

of doing things and remodelling

how we do business.”

What makes us stand out from our competitors?

We posed this question to the Business Banking team in Kroonstad, and they

answered: “We build trusted relationships with our customers through

frequent customer engagements and service excellence. We regularly meet

with our customers, and we understand their business”.

A clear example of a long-term relationship built on trust, loyalty and

expertise is the one of Sarel Botha, Relationship Executive (RE), and Kobus

du Toit, Area Manager, with the director of a diesel distribution company with

depots in the Free State and North-West Province.

This customer had recently sold his business, and was considering using the

proceeds to buy another business, but wanted to invest the balance.

He was approached by a competitor bank offering an attractive interest rate

on his investment. However, thanks to his strong relationship with Absa, the

customer rejected the offer, saying that he “trusted the judgement of his RE,

Sarel, and would rather see what Sarel could put together”. The Free State

Business Banking team negotiated a preferential interest rate and effected

the investment without delay.

Congratulations to the team! This is what customer-needs-led service is all

about!

The deal team:

Northern Free State Commercial: Sarel Botha, Sharon Nortje, Kobus du Toit

Coverage: Tshidi Johnson, Jeanette Swanepoel

Pricing: Pine Roux, Johann Strumpfer

Suit yourself – Public Sector helps grads get ReadytoWork

Supporting young people as they embark on that exciting yet nerve-wracking

career journey involves more than just funding and training. ReadytoWear,

born from Absa’s ReadytoWork programme, is a developmental initiative that

aims to empower young people by helping them to dress the part for job

interviews and their first big job.

ReadytoWear has already become a success story. In November last year,

colleagues from Absa Gauteng South collected over 7 000 items of good-

quality ‘pre-worn’ corporate clothing with an estimated value of over R1,2m.

Clothing items were donated to select final-year students who had completed

the ReadytoWork programme and were preparing to enter the working world.

In March 2017, the Public Sector team, together with Gauteng South

leadership and branch colleagues, handed over clothing items to youth at one

of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVETs) we

support: Ekurhuleni West College.

More about TVETs

The result of the consolidation of former technical colleges, TVETs have risen

to the fore in addressing the skills shortage in the country.

TVET curricula span subjects such as financial management, electrical and

mechanical engineering, building, plumbing and entrepreneurship. Built into

the TVET curricula is a 12-18 month internship. This means that, by the time

students obtain their college certificate, they are work-ready.

Our support of TVETs

In 2016, Absa adopted 16 TVETs as part of our Shared Growth strategy, in

alignment with government’s Adopt-a-TVET programme. We now support and

bank 34 of the 50 TVETs in South Africa.

Our strategy to support TVETs includes, among other elements, a work-based

experience programme, internships and the ReadytoWork and ReadytoWear

programmes.

The “Pink Ladies” apply a fresh coat to paint contracting

Picture a team of paint contractors. How many of them are women? In a

typically male sphere, Katlego Mogotsi, Nniki Makgetla and Nokwanda

Shabangu are the exception rather than the rule – but thanks our Franchise

sector, Midek Paint Contractors and their own tenacity and hard work, that is

changing. Known as The Pink Ladies, Katlego, Nniki and Nokwanda won a

franchise through the International Franchise Expo competition at the end of

2016, and plan to use their passion and platform to make a difference for

women across South Africa.

“What this opportunity has shown us is that there is a place for women in the

franchising industry,” says Katlego. “While it is true that the sector – and

paint contracting in particular– is mostly male-populated and there is a need

for women to work harder to break the stereotypes, the support from the

Midek franchise itself has been incredible and given us the opportunity to

change traditional thinking.”

It is impossible to challenge outdated mind-sets without being resilient and

able to bounce back from failure – traits The Pink Ladies have proven they

have in spades. Being curious, driven and will ing to experiment are critical for

young women entrepreneurs looking to succeed, Nniki adds.

Starting your own business – even with the support and backing of a

franchise family – is hard work and requires perseverance and unwavering

commitment. “Patience is probably one of the most important characteristics

young entrepreneurs need: when you start a business, you expect success to

happen quickly, but it doesn’t. We stil l haven’t made a sustainable income

yet, so we have learnt that it is necessary for people who start their own

companies to bend but not break,” Nniki says.

An important part of being able to roll with the inevitable punches is an

openness to learning new skills and ways of doing business – and being part

of a franchise helps by exposing young and inexperienced business owners to

a network of experienced and skilled business people. “What is nice about

being part of a franchise is that you are in business for yourself but not by

yourself,” comments Nokwanda. “You have the support and guidance of the

franchise, as well as the right people to mentor you and assist you through

the challenges of starting a business.”

A robust support network isn’t the only advantage to being part of a franchise,

though. It allows ambitious entrepreneurs to build a business of influence.

Katlego, Nniki and Nokwanda started their business to be agents of change

and to make a difference in tackling unemployment in South Africa, as well as

building strong women-run businesses. The saying that “when you empower a

woman, you empower a nation” is not just a cliché, says Katlego, and the

three have plans to build a women-run organisation that extends to

distribution and manufacturing in addition to painting. Being involved in a

franchise enables this growth.

However, comments Katlego, there is one area that franchising needs to

change: opportunities need to be better publicised to young entrepreneurs.

“Not enough young people know of the prospects available in franchising. It is

important that they be made aware of the advantages of joining a franchise.”

For Nniki, it is equally vital that young female entrepreneurs follow their

dreams of starting their own companies. “If you have an idea, trust and

believe in it and don’t give up. Every person considering starting their own

business worries whether they will make it and be successful, but you should

be bold and take the risk. Go for your dreams,” she concludes.

SkyBranch pilot successfully launched

Shaun D’Maye, business lead for SkyBranch, explains that we are now

making banking easier and more convenient for our clients through the

implementation of SkyBranch — a digital engagement channel for Business

Banking customers.

“SkyBranch recently launched its pilot site in Randburg. This exciting

initiative supports our omni-channel approach. It will allow our customers to

access services via the SkyBranch that historically were only available via our

physical branch channels. The implementation of SkyBranch was carried out

to improve customers’ banking experience through self-service capability,”

says Shaun.

The multi-channel capability enables customers to commence a transaction in

one channel and then complete it in another. It requires a different way of

working, where staff are multi-skilled, work flexible hours, and have intelligent

tools at their disposal to support the customer.

Shaun adds that another benefit to customers is that they will now have the

convenience of an experienced banker wherever they are, and will be able to

interact via email and voice channels. “Providing an improved and consistent

customer experience remotely will become our blueprint for an alternative

relationship model,” he says.

Asked what the next step in this exciting process is, Shaun explains that he

and his team are currently working with the SkyBranch customer base to test

the operating model and identify opportunities to enrich the customer

experience. The pilot will run until the end of April 2017, with a view to roll it

out nationally thereafter.

SkyBranch progress:*

• 7 417 customers earmarked for Phase 2 migrations

• 3 440 emails sent out since 3 March

• 5 850 SMSs sent out since 3 March

• 764 phone calls made since 13 March. Of these interviewees, 51%

expressed an interest in taking up the SkyBranch service.

We would like to thank the team, who worked tirelessly to ensure the success

of the pilot project. We look forward to sharing more information on the

developments and successes of SkyBranch in coming editions.

For more information on SkyBranch, contact the Programme Manager, Jackie

Horn at jackie.horn@absa.co.za.

*Figures as at 20 March 2017

Holiday like a pro: some practical tips for the April holidays

According to a recent post on Traveller 24, many South Africans will

apparently be flocking to Cape Town this April holiday season, which is

largely due to the Two Oceans Half Marathon taking place on the Easter

weekend. Interesting enough, many more South Africans are planning to

travel abroad with flight bookings showing destinations such as London,

Bangkok, Zanzibar, Phuket and Mauritius being clear favourites.

However, if you are doing the “local is lekker” thing this year, our Franchise

sector team has some great tips on how to holiday like a pro.

If you’re travelling:

Being an Absa Rewards member offers some great benefits. Did you know

that you can earn 5% cash rewards when you fil l-up your fuel tank or shop at

a Sasol? You also earn cash rewards if you book a car rental through

Europcar, Bidvest Car Rental or Avis. Accommodation at select Sun

International hotels or the African Pride 15 on Orange Hotel earns you cash

rewards too. Not to mention that even booking an accommodation package

through Good Taste Travel equals rewards. Who knew!

If you’re going to be on the road though, travel safely and do your vehicle

safety checks before you embark on a long journey. Maybe it’s a good time

to fit new tyres at Tiger Wheel & Tyre – another Absa Rewards Partner.

Flying? Don’t forget to book your flights in advance to save money.

If you’re staying at home:

Enjoy your public holidays and long weekends by spoiling yourself a little.

You can book a visit to a Mangwanani Private African Day Spa or buy a spa

voucher from HealthSpas.co.za to earn Absa cash rewards on purchases.

Take the kids to a movie at Nu Metro and receive upfront discounts when

purchasing tickets. Is there anything you don’t earn Absa rewards on?

Get more bang for your buck by looking for promotions and bundle deals at

food retailers such as Pick ‘n Pay and Food Lovers Market.

And if you dining out, try to eat at reputable franchise brands that don’t

elevate their pricing over holiday periods and compromise on the quality of

their food. Moreover, many restaurants and quick service restaurants have

great value food deals such as the family meal through KFC or the burger

meals through McDonalds.

All-in-all, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, it’s about being cost

savvy, practical and most importantly, safe.

Visit absa.co.za for all the information on our Absa Rewards Partners.

Let’s cheer for our Business Banking champions

Congratulations again to our Cheer for Champions winners for 2016 –

especially our Business Banking colleagues who received their boarding

passes to Mauritius. Think of us as you are lounging by the pool or on the

beach. We are green with envy.

Agri Trends

The Agri Trends offer a snapshot of the latest economic trends and their

impact on the agricultural sector. This valuable source of agricultural

economic data can be used as a tool to engage customers, or simply to

develop your personal knowledge of what keeps this crucial sector ticking.

Want to know how the economy will affect the price of your groceries? Or

perhaps you’re interested in how the global market trends will impact your

next braai.

Find out more about these and other related topics in the latest Agri analyses

here.

Franchise buzz

Want to know what’s the buzz in the restaurants, fuel, services and retail

franchise industries? Read the latest Franchise industry insights newsletters

for key developments and news facing these sub-sectors.

Restaurant, Fuel and Services industry newsletters

Retail Franchise newsletter

Analyse your customer’s needs quickly

No doubt you know the importance of conducting a thorough customer needs

analysis to avoid offering them solutions that don’t match what they actually

require. But how often do you do it? The biggest reason why so few

salespeople properly analyse their prospective customer’s needs, is because

it simply seems to be too complex not in terms of the questions we must ask,

but the answers we must give.

Consider a practical example: let’s pretend you have to sell a range of

flooring products, each with a different colour swatch. Your product range

covers tile and sheet floor options, and each category has five ranges which

in turn have slightly different features from being non-slip to being non-

conductive or perhaps coated for easy maintenance. To learn all these

products takes time so it seems far easier to just tell the customer about all

your products than to ask them what they actually need.

But imagine you start the conversation instead with: “Where are you planning

to install this floor?” This may seem like a simple and harmless question, but

you’ll learn valuable information from the answer. The customer may tell you

about the building type (commercial, industrial, residential) and then the area

within that type. Perhaps it’s a reception area or open-plan offices or a

boardroom. Perhaps it’s a showroom or loading bay or washing area. Or

perhaps it’s a kitchen or lounge or bedroom.

Your specific answer should lead to a relevant follow up question and very

quickly, the possibilit ies become exponential. Changing one variable (a

residential kitchen with a wood look rather than stone look) may direct you to

offer a completely different product range, but which is far more suited to the

customer’s requirement.

Compare that to just explaining what products you have and hoping the

customer works out which one suits them best. It may be easier for you, but

your success rates will drop because customers don’t l ike being sold at and

you may choose to speak about a product that doesn’t match their wants or

needs.

The bottom line is that people prefer to buy from trusted advisors; from

people who know what they are talking about, and who are able to match the

solution to their customer’s specific need.

Thanks to the advent of tablet technology, there has been an increase in the

development of smart sales technologies that can help you navigate this

complex minefield like a pro. These technologies automatically prompt the

right diagnostic questions, and identify the right product solutions for you.

They even flag the right cross sale products to offer, and then let you build a

quote or order while talking to your customer. This means that you can now

focus on what you do best, and that is facilitating an excellent customer

experience. Called either Decision-Making Platforms/Expert Systems, these

technologies remove the need for sales professionals to become product

experts before they can sell effectively, and allow you to do more listening

and questioning than talking. The result is more sales with less training.

Now that’s worth considering…

Article by Ryan Falkenberg, co-founder of CLEVVA

Powered by: SALESGURU

Did you know?

1. The term Easter gets its name from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who

symbolises the hare and the egg.

2. It is the oldest Christian holiday and one of the most important days of the year for

Christians.

3. The exchange or giving of Easter eggs actually dates back to before Easter and the

giving of eggs is actually considered a symbol of rebirth in many cultures.

4. The Easter egg is said to symbolise and represent joy, celebration and new life.

5. The idea of the Easter bunny giving candies and eggs is said to have originated in

Germany during the middle ages.

6. There used to be a tradition churches observed that resembled the game of “hot

potato.” Here, the priest would toss a hard-boiled egg to one of the choir boys. The

boys would toss the egg amongst themselves and when the clock struck 12, whoever

had the egg was the winner and got to keep the egg.

7. The art of painting eggs is called pysanka, which originated in Ukraine. It involves

using wax and dyes to colour the egg.

8. The tallest Easter egg chocolate was made in Italy in 2011. It stood at 10.39 metres

and weighed an astounding 7,200kg.

9. Are you an ears, arms or tail person? 76% of people eat the ears on the chocolate

bunny first, 5% go for the feet and 4% for the tail.

~ Courtesy of Elite Daily

Tools

Smart Banker Toolkit

The Smart Banker Toolkit has been built to support and help make life a little easier.

Designed around the “pre”, “on-day” and “post” rationale, the toolkit provides various

useful elements to help you be proactive in your engagements with customers and

prospects.

International Banking Centre of Excellence

International Banking (IB) has launched a first of its kind Centre of Excellence (CoE)

at the Barclays Towers West building in Johannesburg. The IB CoE is intended to be

a ‘one stop shop’ and an alternate point of contact for Business Banking Regional

Executives across the country.

The CoE operates from 08:00-16:30, Monday to Friday, and offers remote advice on all

IB product solutions to help regional colleagues have solution driven conversations

with customers.

Tel 0860 111 416 / Email IBPRODUCTSUPPORT@absa.co.za.

Learn. Develop. Grow.

The art and science of customer solutioning

Developing Business Bankers that are empowered and invigorated to holistically

solution our customers

Launching in Q3 2017, the objective of this training intervention is to build Business

Bankers’ capability across the Business Banking value chain in order to design fit for

purpose customer solutions to improve the customer experience and create value for

our business, and our customers’ businesses.

Who should attend:

◦ Business Banking Sales Managers

◦ Relationship Executives

◦ Transactional Bankers

◦ Credit Analysts

The learning journey:

The programme comprises a number of experiences. Between each experience is

space to allow for practical immersion, application and completion of assignments.

The first experience (launching in Q3 2017) will focus on building business insight and

commitment: kick starting your capability journey. Line Managers will

be responsible for scheduling team members to attend and will communicate

nominations and details with you directly in future communications.

Business Banking onboarding

Business Banking will soon be launching an exciting onboarding programme for new

joiners in Business Banking Frontline. The focus is to empower new joiners to be job

ready as quickly as possible to operate effectively in their respective role.

This programme will focus on understanding the business of Business Banking and our

customers, the BB value chain, your role in achieving success, understanding the

world of compliance (KYC), system enablers (ESTPM, ESP), Products, BB Value

Proposition and managing your career and development going forward.

This will provide new joiners with the confidence to step into their role with the

technical and practical knowledge required to be successful and productive from the

get-go.