Conference Matters 142

'Through events we really know what's happening in the market'

Antoinette Barnard, Head of B2B Sales & Alliances at Rabobank

Antoinette Barnard introduced a new event strategy for the B2B services Tribe at Rabobank, one of the Dutch major banks. Within the first year this approach is already paying off with more sales, substantive PR, better customer insights and a highly motivated ‘tribe’.

By Edwin Nunnink, photos Ramon van Flymen

At Rabobank they work from several so-called tribes, which are subdivided into ‘areas’. For example, the B2B services tribe consists of the areas Identity & Payment Acceptance , Customer Support, Risk & Compliance and Sales & Alliances. Head of Sales & Alliances is Antoinette Barnard. After a banking career in her homeland South-Africa, she started two years ago in this role at the bank with its head quarters in the Dutch city of Utrecht. Common goal “We are a tribe because we function as a family”, Barnard explains. “We all have a common goal. There is no individual interest in it. We want new merchants for Rabobank, new customers for our business and we also want to make sure we keep them. And that we keep them happy.” “And it works well too because what you need is all within the section. So, when I need something from my product team, I know where to find them and I know they can prioritize to a new need that is deve loping.” “It’s just easier to work like that because we all know that there are, for example, five priorities for 2024 and everyone is going for the same priorities. So, if you have a conversation with someone in one of the other teams within the tribe, they will understand you, because they speak the same lan guage. They understand what the goal is. They understand what it is we need to achieve that goal.”

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