In July 2006, East & Partners launched its Business Banking Sentiment Index, a survey of business customer sentiment toward their banks, comprising interviews Australia-wide with a structured sample of 750 companies turning over A$1 to 100 million per annum every month.

Customer satisfaction surveys are regularly referenced in the financial media but these typically only address the retail banking markets and of course represent only a part of the engagement motivation for customers with their banks. Business banking accounts for roughly a third of commercial banks' assets but business customers deliver far greater earnings than retail customers with margins at almost three times those in the retail markets. Banks are spending many millions of dollars on advertising and marketing campaigns, refreshing their product and service propositions, and restructuring and re-engineering internally, all with a view of targeting and winning business customers, at the same time as vigorously protecting their existing customer base from competitors.

East's Business Banking Sentiment Index is delivering an ongoing, detailed monitor of how successful banks are being at achieving these aims, and to what extent their initiatives and services are connecting with business banking customers and encouraging them to buy more service from their bankers. Accelerating customer churn across the business banking markets indicates that business customers are no longer beset by inertia and are prepared to switch provider. Unhappy customers are quickly becoming ex-customers in these hyper competitive market conditions.

Survey Methodology

Each month East & Partners conducts telephone interviews with a structured and representative sample of 750 businesses nationally, comprising:

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