Page 10 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE Vol 3

COVER STORYOnce the political conflicts subside and we have a reliable government that gives full support to private businesses, Thailand should be able to thrive and move forward with greater speedbe done. When dealing with imports or exports, we translated important documents from English to Thai, helping out with foreign contacts, written correspondence and providing financial support. Their businesses grew and they remain our valued customers to this day. That was an Asian way. Not many Western banks understood this mentality. We could say we understood Asian customers better and offered better assistance, so naturally they preferred us.Today our customers are better educated and knowledgeable, and in many cases they know something better than we do, therefore the style and focus of our services may be different but the essence remains more or less the same. That is to offer the greatest convenience and efficiency to all customers. If they come in and find lots of complications and tedium, say in a loan application or other financial matter, they won’t come back, because nobody wants to waste time. It’s our job to give them what they want and work harder to make banking and services convenient for them.E+: Elaborate a little on your policy of quality and service.The “decade of quality and service” campaign was one of several innovations in quality enhancement we developed. Mr Boonchu set up the research and planning department as a “think tank” for the bank. It had a large staff of about 200, covering economic, financial and industrial researches and short and long-term bank plans and strategies. When the management came up with a new idea, we sent it off to them for analysis and further study. After it was done, they sent it back to us to formulate into an executable plan. Every year we set new goals, ticked them off the list and discussed the past successes andsuccess.3) Last but not least, customertrust and confidence were always our top priority, because we are dealing with their money. Trust and confidence are a result of honesty and consistency. We stood by customers in good times and in bad times. Since the economy was never stable, moving up and down, so did the business. Those who fell were not out. Most of our customers had financial problems at times, however we continued giving them support, especially those who were determined and honest. Many of our smaller customers flourished and became millionaires due to our financial support, including many8 Elite+customers from overseas such as in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong. Once the problems eased and business improved, they were deeply grateful to us and spread the good word. This was why we had many loyal customers all over the world, without much advertising.For our early Thai customers, doing business with foreign countries was an ordeal. International banks had strict rules that were not well understood by unsophisticated and less educated customers and merchants. Communi- cation was a problem. Bangkok Bank understood the problem well and helped them out as much as possible. We explained the facts and what could