To sell the credit card like selling shampoo
Bea Teh-Tan
Bea Teh-Tan was appointed consumer business manager for Citi Philippines in March 2013. She will add another feather to her cap, having been appointed recently as consumer business manager for Citi in Indonesia.
Teh-Tan was earlier recognized as one of the most promising young talents in the financial services industry by The Asian Banker.
She shares here the factors that helped her transition from marketing products to marketing services.
Q1: You moved from brand management of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to banking. What adjustments and challenges did you encounter in the shift and how did you manage these?
A: Yes, they are definitely two different worlds and it took me a few months to adjust.
It is a known fact that FMCG heavily invests in above-the-line advertising: TV, radio, print, billboards. Whereas, banking does a lot more customized and below-the-line communications by directly reaching out to their customers.
Marketing a “tangible” good versus marketing a service is very different as well. I would say consumer goods have a shorter “courting” period because as soon as one tries the product, one can immediately conclude whether there will be a lasting relationship or not.
In banking, the “courting” or “engagement” period is longer. A customer will need to have a longer experience with the product to be able to decide if he/she wants to retain the relationship or not.
In order to manage these challenges, I committed to getting my hands dirty in order to learn the business. Although I entered as an assistant vice president, I worked closely with my team to learn the systems, secure meetings with partners and understand the details behind the product construct and financial calculations. I went through the systems testing, negotiated with partners and did other tasks that are usually done by more junior officers.
I was blessed to have a supportive boss who was very patient in teaching and mentoring me. I also had a very supportive team. As a newbie, they spent time introducing me to key cross functional players and provided me the necessary guidance to accomplish my tasks.
Q2: What lessons from the FMCG world were you able to bring into banking?
A: When I joined Citi, my first project was to launch an installment payment plan built into our credit card product. I did a deep dive to understand what are currently on offer in the market, and “pain points” for customers.
In a few months, we were ready and the Philippines became the first Citi market to launch an installment payment plan, with an attractive zero percent interest proposition, plus straight through processing. Dubbed PayLite, we also offered it beyond traditional merchants. Apart from the appliance and furniture stores, we marketed PayLite to jewelry merchants, schools, travel agencies, and other retailers offering high ticket items.
Q3: What marketing or innovation program are you proudest of?
A: Apart from the zero percent PayLite feature which was launched in the Philippines and is now widely used by all Citi Cards globally, I am proud of the cobrands and credit card products that we launched.
Josiah Go is chair of Mansmith and Fielders Inc. To read his interviews with other thought leaders, follow his blog www.josiahgo.com.
