Bank of Montreal 2003 Annual Report Download - page 33

BMO Financial Group 186th Annual Report 2003 29
Canadian Overview
During the year, we continued to make significant progress in
strengthening our sales and service capabilities and operational
effectiveness.
We completed the rollout of Pathway Connect, our new sales
and service technology platform. Pathway Connect makes it
easier for our staff to serve customers by reducing wait times
and improving the quality of our customer interactions. Early in
the year, we introduced Optimizer – our customer knowledge,
workflow management and decision support software – to our
Business Banking and Direct Banking sales forces. It improves
our ability to offer clients relevant solutions, at the right time,
consistently across all channels.
We completed the redesign of our branch sales and service
organization structure as part of our multi-year plan to improve
the alignment of our people with our business strategy.
Consistent with our goal of providing our customers with
complete financial solutions, we increased inter-group referrals
of lending, deposit and investment products with our partner,
Private Client Group.
We opened 18 new branches in 2003 and announced our
commitment to open 80 new instore branches over the next
five years.
2004 Focus
▪Continue building our distribution capabilities while improv-
ing productivity.
▪
Roll out Optimizer to our retail banking and investment
sales forces.
▪
Improve the effectiveness of our sales and service staff by
better aligning them with our customers’ needs and the mar-
kets in which they operate.
▪Invest in significant process improvements that will provide
our customers with a simple, seamless and intuitive experience
across and within distribution channels. In 2004, we will be
laying the foundation for a single end-to-end sales and ser-
vice process across distribution channels. We will do so by
building on accurate and comprehensive customer data, inte-
grated tools, automated processing and the elimination of
paper-based application forms.
▪
Open new instore and traditional branches and improve
existing branches through relocations, consolidations and
renovations.
Personal Banking Segment
Description and Strategy
Our focus for 2004 will be on providing our personal banking
customers with a fullysatisfying,coordinated, multi-channel
transactional sales and service experience, together with custom-
ized solutions for their everyday banking, financing, investing
and insurance needs.
2003 Overview
Competition increased in 2003 as the major banks shifted their
focus to retail banking, while direct channel players matured
and mortgage and deposit brokers continued to capture an
increasing share of sales. Our response has been to continue
to focus on adding value through customized solutions that
address customers’ financial needs, enhancing our distribution
capabilities and offering competitive products and services.
Our ability to provide customized solutions is supported by
the approximately 600 financial planners and 200 investment
advisors located in our branches, who specialize in investment
and retirement planning. Our capabilities are being enhanced
by the introduction of Optimizer to our Direct Banking sales
and service staff and the completion of the Pathway Connect
rollout in all our branches and call centres. During the year, we
enhanced the competitiveness of our Premium Rate Savings
Account by removing the tiered interest rate structure. We also
introduced special mortgage rate offers and attracted more
credit card business with the flexible benefits offered by Mosaik
MasterCard.
Our personal banking market share, as determined by us using
personal products market data as available from the Canadian
Bankers Association, declined 32 bps over the 12 months ended
September 30, 2003. This decline represents average perfor-
mance relative to our major competitors, reflecting the compet-
itive environment and the impact of price-based participants in
our markets.
2004 Focus
▪
Increase our personal banking market share relative to our
major competitors.
▪Continue to utilize our integrated sales and marketing efforts
to provide relevant and timely solutions to our customers.
▪
Improve our use of AirMiles
®
8
rewards to attract new customers
and improve retention.
▪
Aggressively attract and retain mortgage business with special
rate offers on selected products and continued participation
in the mortgage broker channel.
▪Improve and leverage the capabilities of our instore branches
as we expand our network to better serve our customers and
their need for convenient, multi-channel access.
Commercial Banking Segment
Description and Strategy
The Commercial banking segment includes both Business and
Commercial Banking clients. We provide our Business Banking
clients – independent business, small and medium enterprises,
and lower mid-market banking – with a full range of banking
products and services, including cash management and loans
and deposits, through our branches and direct banking chan-
nels. For our Commercial mid-market clients, we provide a full
suite of integrated advisory services and products that include
senior debt financing, asset-based lending, mezzanine and
private equity financing, cash management, treasury, mergers
and acquisitions, and cross-border financing. Our objective is to
have our experienced professional staff provide the advice and
customized solutions our clients need to be successful.