Practicum Report Of The Next Generation In Banking For Citiz

Practicum Report Of The Next Generation In Bankingfor Citizens Financi

Practicum Report of The Next Generation in Banking For Citizens Financial Group, Inc By Heidi Soto Fall 1 Semester: Becoming a Reflective Practitioner CMGMT 4105.BH01 Professor Solimini A practicum report to partially fulfill the requirements of Becoming a Reflective Practitioner for the degree of Business Management at Lesley University Summary The following practicum report is to identify the missing gap for millennial clients in the banking world as they’re the future for banking. Our target market ranges from age 17 to 30 years old and is currently one of the most influential markets in the banking industry. The market however has been struggling to acquire clients. Throughout the story there will be a sense of growing together from their first day of college to retirement. The goal is to identify with this generation by showing we care about their financial goals. This report will discuss how to use marketing such as using social media to attract and how to retain by offering savings and retirement services. Introduction Citizens Bank is one of the oldest banks in the USA, with more than 190 years in business. I started working at Citizens Bank in 2016 and during this period I have seen the bank invest in technology, customers and colleagues. Early in 2018, I was invited to join the leadership group for the Boston region and be part of the marketing department to help lead initiatives on upcoming projects. Citizens Bank is one of the many banks struggling to keep up with millennials customers due to lack of technology and high competitions. As a result, the company wanted to develop a checking account with no fees for students from ages 17 to 25 of age. I was invited to participate in the development and marketing of the product in April 2018, with a team that was composed of millennials from ages 18- 38 and from diverse business backgrounds. The project took a week to develop a marketing strategy which was then presented to the directors and vice presidents of Citizens Bank. The objective was to have a product based on the age group preferences and at the same time differentiated from the competition. The goal of the product was to also help retain these clients after college by offering school loan refinance options or first-time home buyers programs. The ultimate goal of Citizens Bank is to acquire the new generation by providing ways to bank better while in school and be the bank that’s there for them from college to retirement. Timeline The three-day project started on April 11 and ended on April 13 with sessions beginning at 9am and ending at 5pm Wednesday through Friday. The sessions took place at a conference room at the Marriot Hotel in Needham; overnight accommodations were offered throughout the project. During the first day, the sales and marketing directors explained in details the plan and what was expected from my team. We also received a black binder with specific instructions on what the bank wanted us to accomplish by the end of the week. Inside of the binder, we had a list of business partners’ contact information with 24-hours availability to help during our research. After the debrief, we decided to start with analyzing and researching competitors such as Bank of America, Santander and TD Bank and the type of product they are currently offering to students. I spent one hour putting together a table comparing checking account products, followed with ideas on what our product should have that the competition doesn't currently provide. After coming back from lunch at 1pm, I gathered the entire team for a quick huddle to discuss the findings and to get everyone’s input for the development of our student checking accounts. For an hour, we all considered what we liked and what we didn’t like. We decided we needed to start researching what a millennial in school needs and wants when choosing a financial institution. We decided to spend two hours and break into smaller groups for this part; two members were in charge of researching Gen X, two other members were in charge of Generation X and my colleague and I were in charge of Gen Y. Before finishing the first day, the entire team came together and compared the differences between each generation. The following day, the team had a morning huddle to set up the expectations for the day. All the necessary research was done, and now it was time to put it all together. From 10amto 12pm, we brainstormed about the type of product we wanted to have and how to make it different from the competition and at the same time make it appealing to our market. Base on my research from the day before, I said we should not develop this product thinking of Generation Y because they’re a bit older for this product. Gen Y consists of fulltime workers and because of the specific age group of the product it would not work with them, thus we would end up losing money and time. Instead, I recommended we target Gen Z, born between 1995 and 2003. Gen Z is the perfect market target because of the early age difference. Since I work at the branch, pitched an idea of having a special revenue incentive for our branch colleagues for every time they open a student checking account. After talking about the benefits and features of the checking account, the team concluded to have a checking account targeting Gen Z which would include overdraft forgiveness, no ATM or maintenance fees, 24hr- mobile and online access with Apple pay technology and a complimentary secured credit card to help students build their credit scores. From 1-8pm, we decided to start on the marketing strategy of the product. I spent an hour utilizing the directory list to get information on previous marketing projects. I wanted to know how much the bank would be willing to invest and the type of marketing channels we were allowed to use for this project. I called the Marketing Director for Greater Boston market, our Public Affairs Manager, and the Accounting Manager for the Boston and Rhode Island. I put together a spreadsheet and shared it with the team. We analyzed the information I collected and came up with ideas to market the product within our budget options. For example, we decided to use our partner Lawn on D to create summer and fall fair, welcoming new students. For the remainder of the day, I was in charge of putting together the PowerPoint slides detailing our product. On Friday morning, I presented the PowerPoint to the team and as I moved through each slide, I made sure to update anything based on the teams’ critics. Once we were all happy with the presentation, I assigned one part of the PowerPoint to each team member. Each member had the time to practice in front of everyone before our final presentation later that afternoon. At 2pm, we presented our new student checking account and our marketing strategy in details to the Leadership Directors, followed by questions from the audience. At 4pm, the final project was given to the Marketing Director and to the Sales Manager to help them forecast a launching date for the new student checking account. Outcomes At the end of the project was launched successfully and in May 2018 it was ranked top 3 in student checking by Times.com. Have been part of this project was enjoyable and learning experience for me. I learned more about the different business departments and how everything is connected. I also learned to listen to other opinions, to have accountability and to encourage participation in our team. Everything I learned has helped me to better myself as a leader among my colleagues and peers. For future projects, I would suggest allowing more time for completion because having three days was overwhelming and rushed. I would also like to see a mentor from the directory list work on the project to push members to think outside of the box. Overall, I look forward to being part of next year’s project and be able to put my leadership skills to work. Cited Sources: Mulhere, Kaitlin. “ 4 Best Banks for College Students.Money.†Times,Time, 22May 2018, Time.com/money//best-banks-for-college-students/. “Student Checking.†Information Privacy | Citizens Bank ,