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Business Times - 31 Jan 2011
Quality of RMs lacking, say some SMEs
High turnover in tight labour market leads to deteriorating service, but banks disagree
By SIOW LI SEN
(SINGAPORE) Amid a booming economy, banks are stepping up the hiring of relationship managers (RM) to service the growing SME sector. But the fast pace of hiring in a tight labour market may be adversely affecting the quality of RMs, according to some SME bosses.
There are currently around 300,000 small and medium-sized enterprises here, up from an estimated 250,000 five years ago, according to credit rating firm DP Information Group.
'No relationship at all - they are not around long enough to know you and build a relationship. Every six months or so I get a letter from the bank saying I have a new RM - before I have even met the previous RM,' said Alan Lee, managing partner, August Consulting, on his bank's RMs.
Chris Quek, boss of WheelsForFun, said he ducks calls from his RMs. 'I don't take them primarily because I'm trying to avoid borrowing too much,' said Mr Quek, adding that he suspects the RMs push loans because they have to meet targets.
Loans to businesses, which make up over half of all Singapore-dollar bank lending here, rose 11.4 per cent in November - the fastest year-on-year growth in 21 months.
It hit a high of $168.9 billion. Last year, the economy is estimated to have grown almost 15 per cent.
It's not only banks which are targeting SMEs. Finance company Hong Leong Finance has also moved to increase its SME reach; in recent months it has opened two SME centres with two more on the cards.
This year DBS Bank intends to focus on SMEs. DBS' institutional banking unit which services large corporates as well as SMEs plans to hire 400-500 more staff.
DBS has five enterprise banking centres while local rivals OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank have eight and four respectively.
Foreign banks such as Maybank is also in the game with four dedicated SME centres.
With a tight labour market - the unemployment rate is under 3 per cent - it's not surprising to hear of deteriorating service from RMs.
Yet another common grouse is that some RMs are so wet behind the ears the SME bosses have to educate them on the finer points of banking.
One said the RMs do take a while to figure out what you want and need.
'One of our bank signatories is based in Hong Kong, and it took a while to figure out how we could authorise updates to the company information without having to wait for the next time he flew into town. In the end, I suggested having him pop down to one of the bank's branches in Hong Kong to have a staff there 'witness' his signature to the documents,' she said.
Still, ask the banks, and you get a different story. According to them, RMs provide an important service to customers.
'Our customers regularly tell us in our surveys that relationship managers with a good appreciation of their business, industry and objectives - and who are able to leverage the capability of the bank to support them in their growth - are valuable partners,' said Linus Goh, OCBC Bank's global head of enterprise banking and financial institutions.
These banks added that their relationship with customers has been built up over the years, and is not impacted by staff turnover.
Said a UOB spokesman: 'Our customers view us as long-term partners and remain loyal because we have an experienced management team, stable team of managers and consistent policies.'
'The relationship managers handle the day-to-day matters for our customers but it is the management members who know and understand our customers' businesses and have grown with them through thick and thin. Any turnover of relationship managers will not adversely affect our relationship with the customers,' she said.
A DBS spokesman said continuous training helps bring RMs up to speed .
'To ensure that our RMs are continuously at the forefront of the industry in terms of skills and knowledge, this year, we are supplementing numerous learning programmes with the rollout of a formal, accredited approach to RM development,' she said.
.
Business Times - 31 Jan 2011
Quality of RMs lacking, say some SMEs
High turnover in tight labour market leads to deteriorating service, but banks disagree
By SIOW LI SEN
(SINGAPORE) Amid a booming economy, banks are stepping up the hiring of relationship managers (RM) to service the growing SME sector. But the fast pace of hiring in a tight labour market may be adversely affecting the quality of RMs, according to some SME bosses.
There are currently around 300,000 small and medium-sized enterprises here, up from an estimated 250,000 five years ago, according to credit rating firm DP Information Group.
'No relationship at all - they are not around long enough to know you and build a relationship. Every six months or so I get a letter from the bank saying I have a new RM - before I have even met the previous RM,' said Alan Lee, managing partner, August Consulting, on his bank's RMs.
Chris Quek, boss of WheelsForFun, said he ducks calls from his RMs. 'I don't take them primarily because I'm trying to avoid borrowing too much,' said Mr Quek, adding that he suspects the RMs push loans because they have to meet targets.
Loans to businesses, which make up over half of all Singapore-dollar bank lending here, rose 11.4 per cent in November - the fastest year-on-year growth in 21 months.
It hit a high of $168.9 billion. Last year, the economy is estimated to have grown almost 15 per cent.
It's not only banks which are targeting SMEs. Finance company Hong Leong Finance has also moved to increase its SME reach; in recent months it has opened two SME centres with two more on the cards.
This year DBS Bank intends to focus on SMEs. DBS' institutional banking unit which services large corporates as well as SMEs plans to hire 400-500 more staff.
DBS has five enterprise banking centres while local rivals OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank have eight and four respectively.
Foreign banks such as Maybank is also in the game with four dedicated SME centres.
With a tight labour market - the unemployment rate is under 3 per cent - it's not surprising to hear of deteriorating service from RMs.
Yet another common grouse is that some RMs are so wet behind the ears the SME bosses have to educate them on the finer points of banking.
One said the RMs do take a while to figure out what you want and need.
'One of our bank signatories is based in Hong Kong, and it took a while to figure out how we could authorise updates to the company information without having to wait for the next time he flew into town. In the end, I suggested having him pop down to one of the bank's branches in Hong Kong to have a staff there 'witness' his signature to the documents,' she said.
Still, ask the banks, and you get a different story. According to them, RMs provide an important service to customers.
'Our customers regularly tell us in our surveys that relationship managers with a good appreciation of their business, industry and objectives - and who are able to leverage the capability of the bank to support them in their growth - are valuable partners,' said Linus Goh, OCBC Bank's global head of enterprise banking and financial institutions.
These banks added that their relationship with customers has been built up over the years, and is not impacted by staff turnover.
Said a UOB spokesman: 'Our customers view us as long-term partners and remain loyal because we have an experienced management team, stable team of managers and consistent policies.'
'The relationship managers handle the day-to-day matters for our customers but it is the management members who know and understand our customers' businesses and have grown with them through thick and thin. Any turnover of relationship managers will not adversely affect our relationship with the customers,' she said.
A DBS spokesman said continuous training helps bring RMs up to speed .
'To ensure that our RMs are continuously at the forefront of the industry in terms of skills and knowledge, this year, we are supplementing numerous learning programmes with the rollout of a formal, accredited approach to RM development,' she said.
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