INTRODUCTION
The Unique Challenges of Marketing Financial Services
Marketing financial services used to be easier. Banks gave a toaster to a new depositor and had a customer for life. Stockbrokers rarely left their parent company to go to a competitor. Institutional financial services was a clubby business in which multimillion-dollar deals were negotiated on the golf course. No more. Today, competition in financial services is fierce; sales and market-share growth can hinge on a few basis points, a friendlier voice on the phone, or an easier-to-navigate web site. Not only has competition become more intense, financial services have also changed structurally. Old customs and laws that isolated banks by geography and separated investment banks ...
