How Citibank Saves with CRM

Companies such as Citibank, looking for good software to manage their relationships with customers, are caught in a dilemma: to customize or not to customize?

PDF Download

So, what’s a company to do?

At Citibank’s Global Corporate and Investment Bank’s e-business unit, which serves midsize and Fortune 2000 corporations, the answer was: curb the customization urge.

Susan Andros, vice president of Citibank e-business, managed to hold customization to 5% of the Siebel code implemented in her division. The result: The e-business unit completed the fastest and most economical Siebel deployment of all of Citibank’s divisions, according to Andros. At the same time, the e-business unit still produced more detailed and accurate sales reports and forecasts, using standard Siebel e-finance modules, Andros says.

Citibank is banking on the benefits. Andros has committed to the following:

  • Customer time: In 2001, Citibank e-business staff spent only 50% of its time interacting with corporate customers. Goal in 2002: increase this to 75%. This means more opportunities to cross-sell other bank products such as trading systems, e-commerce systems and services.

  • Revenue per sales rep: In 2001, the unit was generating an average of $10 million in revenue per sales rep in North America. Goal for 2002: at least a 10% increase in this number.

  • Reporting efficiencies: In 2000, administrative staffers took 21 days apiece to generate historical reports. In 2001, after Siebel 6.2, North American staffers each spent only 20 minutes per month on this. Goal for 2002: more reports with a wider scope in those same 20 minutes.

    And that’s before the Web-enabled Siebel 7 arrives, which Andros plans to have in use in her division by June 16.