Digitalisation is bringing about change, particularly in the service sector – and therefore also in financial services. Initially, it saved time and travel for simple service requests, but now large parts of the business relationship take place via the media. Innovative offers are being created by established and new providers. This provides room for forward-looking collaborations and scalable platform solutions.

BLC has been actively supporting this transformation since the turn of the millennium. This ranges from the reorganisation of the service and sales infrastructure to digital product deals, data analytics-supported customer contact and new partnerships.

The vast majority of customers are happy to stay with their established banks and savings banks (Sparkassen), as most of them have a good understanding of how to maintain customer relationships. However, successful sales require much more than that: financial institutions must regularly discuss their customers’ needs and then provide pragmatic advise on the purchase decision.

At BLC, we have been developing needs-orientated consulting concepts for the financial industry for 25 years. What began as holistic consulting in stationary sales now includes all forms of media and digital sales channels. We effectively increase our clients’ sales success with both private and corporate customers.

The regulatory requirements for financial service providers are constantly growing. This is due to the public desire to make credit institutions more robust after the last major financial crisis as well as socio-political issues such as consumer protection and sustainability. While it leads to rising organisational burdens, banks and savings banks (Sparkassen) can still streamline their organisation in some areas. Both internal reorganisation and – where appropriate – outsourcing can be adequate measures.

BLC has mastered the proven concepts for modern operations and efficient staffs. When addressing necessary change, we are not only looking for efficiency potential, but also for business opportunities. For example, accelerated processes in the back office can offer an improved customer experience and media sales units enable new forms of customer interaction.

The product range of savings banks (Sparkassen) and banks is becoming increasingly diverse, but if you look at the income statement, the classics dominate. These range from lending to (a revival of) deposit business, from payment transactions to securities. While many fintech solutions appear innovative, most customers continue to trust the tried-and-tested offerings of established institutions. At the same time, the willingness to pay is often significantly higher than generally assumed.

In order for products and prices to be accepted, financial institutions need to understand their customers’ needs and the changing competitive environment in depth. BLC has many years of experience with product and price optimisation. We help to streamline product ranges, align them with customer needs and open up room to negotiate prices. Particularly branch banks profit from this approach by generating appropriate value for their local presence.

In addition to acquisitions among large and commercial banks, regional merging activity can primarily be observed for savings banks (Sparkassen) and cooperative credit institutions (VR-Banken). There is also a concentration of alliance partners in the major sectors. The prerequisites for the new partnerships usually differ more than might be expected at first glance. Despite many similarities, they often have significantly different ways of doing business. The merger offers both partners the opportunity not simply to continue the one or the other, but to reshape business in a better way.

BLC has already successfully accompanied very different mergers. What they all have in common is the clear improvement in results for affected partners. In addition to the mandatory tasks, it was possible to streamline processes and reorganise the range of services. At BLC, we consider a good feel for the culture of both partners and for the motivation of the employees a prerequisite for effective change.

Better is the enemy of good. This is especially true for operational processes. Process improvements are not only aimed at conserving resources and thus saving costs, but also at speed and quality. IT systems are almost always affected here and thus form a significant part of the change to be addressed.

BLC’s customers benefit from our holistic approach: we always keep feasibility in mind during the design phase. This has already enabled us to sustainably reduce costs and quickly introduce new processes in a large number of projects. Agile working methods have proven to be particularly effective when it comes to optimising processes and interfaces. We take the respective industry standards into account as far as possible during the design phase. Where it makes sense for business success, we supplement these with customised solutions.

Transport and supply chains must become more resilient, more sustainable, and more cost-effective in intermodal competition. While digital technologies such as ETCS or DAC promise efficiency gains for railway traffic in the future, they do require considerable investments and cross-sector coordination at the same time. Moreover, infrastructural restrictions and a serious lack of resources are likely to pose major challenges for stakeholders in the railway industry.

In order to secure your long-term competitiveness and to make your business model fit for the future, BLC analyses your organisation, your processes and your market approach. We formulate ambitious goals, develop a customised strategy and create the conditions for the successful digital transformation of your company. We vouch for the results of our work and will be happy to support you during implementation.

Data is considered the crucial raw material in modern information economy. However, only reliable data will become valuable information by means of targeted linking and intelligent analysis.

That’s why we aim at high data quality and focus “basic data” before moving on to “big data”. We design and implement customised KPIs, monitoring and steering systems for you. For these KPIs, we derive comprehensible target values and show you which specific measures will help you achieve them. This enables you to base your future decisions on a reliable foundation and thus set the course for success.

In a dynamic yet opaque industry, sound market knowledge and reliable key competitive figures are crucial to success. They help to identify specific needs for action and to bundle available resources in a targeted manner.

We combine our many years of industry expertise with an analytical approach to develop the relevant benchmarks for the railway sector. On this basis, BLC has developed CargoBeRT (Cargo Benchmarking for Railway Transport), an intelligent solution that is unique in the industry. It focusses on the areas of energy efficiency and operational excellence and enables cross-company comparability. We thus provide an objective assessment of individual performance and a reliable view on specific fields of action.

Compared to intermodal alternatives, rail is regarded as an extremely energy-efficient and therefore climate-friendly means of transport. Nevertheless, experience shows that energy accounts for over 60 per cent of the life cycle costs of a locomotive. Increasing customer focus on sustainability and stricter legal regulations are exerting additional pressure on market players. Energy efficiency should therefore be a core component of a sustainable corporate strategy – even more so in the railway sector.

BLC is equipped with many years of experience in the development of energy efficiency measures. For example, we set up a unique model to calculate the effect a driver advisory system would have on the energy consumption for a specific railway undertaking based on real world data. We also designed large-scale incentive programmes to motivate energy-efficient driving behaviour. We will identify relevant fields of action for your company and address them with a coherent combination of technical, operational, and behaviour-oriented measures. This will benefit your cost structure, your competitiveness, and the environment.

The shift to rail transport is desired by politics and ecologically sound – but due to low margins and high investment needs it sometimes requires financial funding. Consequently, many funding programmes have been set up. Interested applicants face a veritable funding jungle with multiple administrative hurdles. Regional, national and European programmes for a wide variety of issues are administered by various institutions and funding authorities.

BLC paves your way through this jungle with a holistic approach and helps you to overcome the administrative hurdles. With our systematic funding management, we identify suitable programmes, support the application process and communication with the authorities and ensure that your funding is in accordance with regulations. Having acquired more than 300 million euros in funding, we virtually optimise every single screw of your funding project. So you can concentrate on the most important thing with a clear conscience: Your project success.

Due to low margins, reducing operating costs is a decisive competitive advantage in rail transport. There are starting points along the entire value chain: from purchasing, sales and scheduling to production, maintenance and processing.

In order to identify the relevant fields of action for you, BLC draws on a methodical, analytical approach and many years of project experience in rail transport. We analyse your process chains and develop accurate models that enable us to systematically derive optimisation measures. At the same time, we implement control systems with which you can continuously monitor the effectiveness of your process improvements.

Rapid technological advances and changing market and customer requirements are presenting virtually all industries with unprecedented challenges. In such markets, it is important to maintain your own competitiveness or, even better, to seize unprecedented opportunities and become a pioneer. However, the digital transformation, from the development of innovative business models to the integration of new technologies, comprises numerous hurdles and ultimately affects the entire company.

We support you with a holistic and customised approach tailored to your situation and goals. Thanks to our broad experience and high seniority, we always have a realistic view of feasibility when realigning your business and digital strategy. We thrive when we are measured by our results and therefore offer active support for your project including implementation.

Particularly in times of rising costs, sustainable business success can only be ensured through profitable growth. Depending on the individual client situation, we build on a functioning interplay of channel-specific sales approaches, dynamic pricing and consistent utilisation of digital interaction options with the respective customers.

Based on excellent methodological know-how and many years of cross-industry project experience, BLC provides your sales organisation with the necessary impetus. We attach great importance to practicable and resilient KPI management and do not neglect the specific levers with which you can influence these. Because in the end, our project is measured by your sales success.

High performance and adaptability of the organisation are basic prerequisites for achieving your strategic corporate goals. They are based not only on suitable organisational structures, but above all on the active shaping of the corporate, management and cooperation culture. Your employees are at the centre of this – they must be prepared for current and future requirements.

We advocate a participative approach that involves not only top management, but also managers and employees at all levels in organisational development. As a neutral moderator and experienced initiator, we support you in developing transparent and long-term stable approaches for your organisation and translating these into concrete measures.

Business area strategies often result in fundamental decisions for acquisitions, but also for sales of assets or companies. We support our clients not only in strategy development, but also throughout the entire transaction process.

Our support generally focuses on the PMO and business case but is often supplemented by classic M&A tasks such as RfPs, information memorandums, due diligence or support during contract negotiations.

The continuous search for efficiency gains and quality improvements is the basis for the sustainable profitability of your business. Operational excellence in core processes is essential in order to stay ahead of the competition – but more than that: it provides the necessary flexibility to adapt quickly and effectively to new economic conditions in times of high volatility.

With the help of a broad methodological toolbox, we work with you to identify real efficiency and quality potential. We pay particular attention to current best practices on the market and the digitalisation of business processes. Our support comprises many years of experience in the operational implementation of changes and the establishment of a culture of continuous improvement in your company.