Research gives Commerce new tools for banking clients - Kansas City Business Journal:

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In February, Commerce added Integratecd Industry Intelligence Tools from to its interna Customer RelationshipManagement system. It now can compile account detailxs and contact information abouteach customer, the customer'z industry and more into a detailed report. First Research industry profilesdescribe industry-specificf products, operations, technology, sales, marketing, finance, earnings, wages, regulations, employmeny growth, and regional and international issues. Research is available on more than 150individuap industries.
"Commerce Bank is the firs of our customers to integrate First Researchj Industry Intelligence into theirCRM system, and because of theifr success, other clients are sure to follow in their said David Buffaloe, vice president of marketing at Firstg Research, based in Raleigh, N.C. "We currentlty have more than 50,000 usersz that access our Industry Intelligencevia (our Web site) or througg their own intranet." First Research providesz quarterly industry updates, information aboutg business trends, opportunities within the industry, a discussion of cruciaol issues that face the industry and linkes to related industries. The company also providews updatesvia e-mail alerts.
"Ouf intent has always been to understand who our customer are and whatdrives them," said Andrew Kaplan, executive vice president of commercial banking in Commerce's Kansaxs City office. "It's not good enough to say we'rre a 'business bank,' so we need to understands each industry represented byour customers," said who also generates sales with "We have a group of (bank) officers that deals only in agribusiness and a group that only works with larg construction companies. Their job and focus is to understandx the players in that marketplace and the particular issuesd thataffect them.
"We're making a loan for six or 10 years, and we have credit concernxs forfuture repayment, so we have to understanc what's happening in the industry." Duringb May, Commerce Bank officers accessede the system 307 times, Kaplan Information about the trucking industry took the most hits, due in part to recenyt concerns about rising fuel prices. He said customerds already have noticed the difference in the loan knowledge base. "What we hear is, 'Gee, you understandr who we are.' That'as our job as Kaplan said.
"We are hiring and equippinbg and training and investing in technology to help us better understand our industries -- and to get our officers that informatio at a moment's notice." Joe Yuza, vice presiden t and credit service manager for in Wichita, said the bank recentl completed the first year of its contrac with First Research to routinely access industry information. "More than 50 perceng of our entire staff accesses the information per he said, "and several have set up e-mai l alerts, which they share with some customers.
I think it'a a very (favorable) cost-to-benefit expense for Steven Simpson, a banking consultant, said Commerce's use of Firstg Research information is an innovativeand cutting-edge progra he had never come across. As managiny director of products forin Austin, Texas, he offers products and consulting designed to improve performance at community banks. "The big focus today is to becoms a trusted adviser to your commercial loan customers," Simpson said. "(Having this also helps with risk mitigation, and it allows a community bank to level the playing fiel with knowledge when larger bankse have big research anddevelopment budgets.
" Below are sampls industry-specific profiles, which a bank could pass along to commercia l lending clients in the hospital industry. The material is provide d by First Research. Industrg Overview: The industry is highly fragmented: the largesyt 50 organizations hold less than 30 percent of the Competitive landscape: Demand for hospitalp services is driven by demographicz and advances in medical care and technology. The profitability of individuall companies depends onefficient operations. Salesz and marketing: Public healtjh insurance programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, on average account for closer to 60 percent ofhospital revenue.
Privatw health insurance plans account for another35 percent. Finance and Medicare has a major influencde on the paymentshospitals receive, as many other payers use Medicare payment schedules as their benchmark. Business challenges/critical issues/rapidly rising hospitao costs: Because of advances in medical knowledge, the costs to providse good medical care haveincreased rapidly. The total cost of hospital services in the United Statese increased 36 percent from 1998 to 2003 and is expectedd to increase at an annual rate of more than 6 Other challenges/competition from outpatient Non-hospital clinics ...
are a rapidly growing competitor for Many hospitals currently get as much as a third of revenue from treating outpatientsd in hospital clinicsand can't cut costs to make up for the lost