But the swiftly changing world is now forcing anyone who used to sit in an air-conditioned office to go out. Thai bankers now need to put on their sneakers and directly meet their customers.

Why? Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, president of Kasikornbank, has an answer.

"The banking business today is not like what we did in the past. Due mainly to strong competition, we cannot wait for clients; we have to go out and meet them. Employees need to make a big adjustment to this new environment," he says.

Amid fierce competition in some areas, bankers are among the most frequent visitors to businessmen and leaders in main provinces.

This prompted Prasarn to visit several areas such as Koh Samui, where annual business expansion has been as high as 10 per cent for a decade. Anyone owning land on the 250-square-kilometre island in Surat Thani might become a new millionaire. So it is inevitable that financial competition is also high.

Prasarn says the banking business is now more complicated than ever. Even though he has only three years' experience in banking, his strong business background is invaluable.

During his visit to Samui, Prasarn stood right in front of the counters at one of Kasikornbank's branches to receive opinions from customers. He even knocked on their doors at home to get direct feedback.

"Koh Samui has high business potential. We once had one branch located at Nathon, but we have now added three branches and plan to open two more to cover the island. A total of 35 ATM machines are now set up while foreign-exchange machines will soon be increased to seven from the current five," he says.

Working as a team is the bank's main strategy, but Prasarn admits that he still receives complaints from customers about poor service, such as some employees being impolite. All complaints need to be corrected.

"But what I will leave for customers - more than just selling unit trusts or services - is my personal vision about issues such as risk analysis and business opportunity. This should be useful," Prasarn says.

A large number of banking networks has forced Prasarn to travel more often than ever before. Nevertheless, every time he packs his stuffs and goes out of town, he normally spares time to visit the bank's branches. This is a way of showing personal and direct care for his employees.

"Many problems in each branch are a challenging task for me to tackle. Sometimes we can and sometimes we cannot, but least this shows our strong intentions and sincerity towards our employees. It is a good approach and is likely to be more effective than announcing the bank's policies in general," he adds.

Prasarn's past experience as secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as his personal character, are also a plus when visiting branches. Even though he would not call all employees to line up for a check of their uniforms, he would not let it pass if he saw product brochures were not placed in order.

In the next two years, Kasikornbank plans to revamp its image, equipment and locations. The aim is to increase efficiency in both sales and services. Manpower, equipment and locations are three main keys that need to work together. The bank will find good locations, while branch openings, which mean higher operating costs, must come with strong manpower and efficient equipment.

"Our brand remains strong, but amid stronger competition some things are still below standard and need to be tackled, Our work actually started three or four years ago with product classification, surveys on customer demand and new potential products. The bank splits customers into seven groups at present. Customers are our core and we have to offer the right products to the right groups," Prasarn notes.

He told the press that, following a survey of both customers and employees in more than 50 branches, employees would provide a better service if they have a good working environment.

The survey also helped him to delve deeper via a scoring method. For example, what are the reasons why employees are not happy? How can the issue be addressed? And how can the bank reconcile the difference between employees with high scores and those with poor scores?

"Service readiness is crucial. If we reduce costs too much in some branches, we may need to set up additional equipment, especially at those branches located out of the main areas. We have to look at work quantity. Some branches in shopping malls have a large number of customers. Customers may need to wait at least 15 minutes or much longer during peak hours," Prasarn says.

He intends to solve problems as soon as he can. For instance, banking activities need to be grouped while receptionists must help customers. In addition, the bank may need to open two branches in some malls and install more electronic machines in order to cope with demand.

According to Prasarn, Kasikornbank may be a bit behind its rivals, but it is still capable of catching up.

"We are now fully equipped - it's time to fight for customers and deposits," he says.

Tiraree Likitthanatham

Krungthep Turakij