The Pit - IMI Trust

Job applicants that want a job where they can ‘travel’ can send their applications right here.  What a 10 days.

• Gold Coast (our hub) to Brisbane, then back to base
• Gold Coast to Sydney
• Sydney up to Cairns via Gold Coast
• Cairns back to the Gold Coast (for a change of clothing)
• Then, finally, Gold Coast to Melbourne and back 

I really must learn the art of appointment booking. This also explains the lack of blogging recently.  Sorry.

Please Note That Trips Were Longer Than 5cms In Real Life 

Brisbane
We met with clients to discuss processes they need to implement to streamline their services and become more efficient.   Their processes were too ‘key person’ specific.

Technology allows businesses to provide consistency. Relying solely on humans for the support of your clients can cause serious problems.  Do not remove the human element completely but support your staff by underpinning their role with strong systems.

The reason.  The potential impact of losing just ONE client is:

• You can lose the upfront profit a sale will generate
• You can lose any ongoing trails or commissions that sale will generate
• You can lose any referrals that client can provide
• You can lose the sales, trails & commissions from those referrals and their referrals
• You lose the potential to upsell any new products
• That ONE unhappy client will tell lots of other people and ruin your reputation amongst their peers

Can it be emphasized enough the amount of loss suffered from weaknesses in company processes? 

Sydney
The point regarding loss of reputation leads me nicely onto the next stop of the trip, Sydney for the “Banking & Financial Services Reputation Management Summit”. Hosted by Frocomm Australia, the event was focused around “Trust and the Impact on Reputation”. 

One of the speakers at the event was John Brogden, CEO of Manchester Unity and former Opposition leader in NSW.

This event confirmed for the direction we’ve been taking with our clients. Building trust & loyalty through community & support and communicating this clearly.

John Brogden was so accurate when he said the key to retaining clients is developing loyalty through service and information as the public can access your competition in seconds online.

In line with our philosophy, he noted that the power of the internet in developing their business.  When he started with Manchester Unity, he was of the belief that the internet would provide a lower quality, less loyal client base. What he has found is precisely the opposite.

His reasoning was the client who purchase online have developed a lot stronger product knowledge before making their decision. Exactly the way we have been working with our clients.

The line-up of speakers was second to none and a thank you must be extended to Glen Frost at Frocomm for organizing the event and Mark Hollands from Factiva for being a superb MC.  Also I won an iPod mini for my troubles.  Bonus!

Cairns
The trip to Cairns ended up being like a weekend away. I would have to say thank you to the Shangri-la Hotel for the fantastic stay. Cocktails and Wedges (not in the same glass) by the pool topped a perfect weekend.

Another One Of Those Texas Planes Landing

Melbourne
The road trip ended with Melbourne, which included a meeting with one of the big four banks to improve their marketing and distribution. It is amazing how the largest organisations in Australia can be ‘old school’ in their marketing approach. Get on the phones, sell, sell hard and quickly. We offered a few solutions and soon we’ll see if we’re allowed on board.  The signs so far are good.

The road trip was a great success, next time though I need to allow more time for sleep.

On Friday, the largest IPO the world has seen will occur on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchanges.

The company is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). As China’s largest lender, institutional and retail investors are scrambling to become a part of the world’s largest IPO, especially with all the hype surrounding the stunning economic growth of China.

Here’s some impressive statistics…

• The ICBC has 18,000 branches (Australia’s largest banking corporation, NAB has under 800)
• Accounts for 15.4% of all loans in Chinese banks
• More than US$1 trillion in assets.

The ICBC has also admitted to some other impressive statistics…

• The ICBC has publicly admitted to over 50 substantial fraud cases per year over the last few years.
• Its critical default loans total sit around 10% of their portfolio.
• 80% of its loans are to the corporate sector which is dominated by state-owned companies
• Of the 80%, 40% of those companies are in the red.
• The Bank is rapidly increasing its loans to this sector by almost 25% a year (as reported in The Australian - Oct 23).

If an Australian bank admitted to this level of imprudent banking it would be under serious investigation and would have few investors risking their money. 

New Target Market With Growth Potential Identified

However, more astonishingly… 

• The float is now 270x over subscribed for the retail portion (as an informal guide, bankers are normally happy with 20x oversubscription or above).
• Investors have placed orders for over US$500bn dollars of ICBC stock.
• Goldman Sachs who invested $2.6bn 6 months ago, now stand to make nearly $4bn from the IPO. This is the largest profit from a transaction since the company was formed in 1869.

From every angle, this IPO is spectacular. Keep an eye out for the listing on Friday. At current value they will be among the largest banks on the planet. You can be assured that investors around the world will have their attention focused on Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Either that, or it may just end up being a deal which is hype over substance, however, we very much doubt it.