George B. Hofmann III Executive Vice President, Retail Banking Division Zions First National Bank
		Zions Bank is one of the nation's premier financial services companies, operating a growing portfolio of banks in high-growth markets—from Washington to Arizona and from Colorado to California. Besides being a leader in electronic bond trading, Zions is also the only primary dealer in government securities headquartered in the western U.S. The company, which also pioneered Internet certification, was recently recognized by the Wall Street Journal and Fortune for providing the best total return to shareholders over the past decade of any large institution surveyed. Like many large financial institutions, Zions has also been actively acquiring other banks—as many as twelve in one eighteen-month period. While ADS consultants were working on some merger-related issues in 2000, the discussion turned to the company's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) efforts. Zions' officials reported that they had invested in a CRM data repository solution but its implementation had been slowed by merger-related activities and there were several issues limiting its full potential. Because the ADS experts had demonstrated a clear understanding of CRM from both strategic and technological perspectives, Zions' executives asked them to conduct a CRM educational workshop for executives of the company. Zions also engaged ADS to evaluate the institution's in-house CRM-related assets and to propose a high-level approach for a CRM program adoption. The CRM workshop had the intended effect of promoting a common understanding of CRM. It also served to alert company executives to other, related issues that needed to be addressed. Meanwhile, ADS consultants were analyzing the company's existing CRM data repository and the issues regarding its implementation. Included in the analysis were the activities necessary for the bank to adopt the Shareholder Value Added (SVA) method of internal measurement. The ADS analysis work resulted in a comprehensive report that provided Zions with a clear understanding of its strengths and challenges in implementing the data warehouse, as well as identifying key success factors. This work was instrumental in enabling Zions to expedite its CRM efforts and accelerate its implementation. ADS consultants are currently engaged with the bank in the effort to implement a customer and operational data repository at Zions for both CRM and SVA, ensuring that the correct information is properly structured to meet their business objectives. When the work is completed, Zions will have the proper base in place to support future CRM efforts.