Barclays Bank hopes that a typical visit to the doctor might in the near future go something like this: "Turn your head and cough. Good. By the way, have you heard about the great introductory rate for the new BarclayCard?"

Barclays bank, the world's largest bank by asset size, with home equity and credit card units in the U.S., is trying a novel approach to boost retail sales:  enlisting a so-called "independent sales forces" - professionals such as nurses, accountants and lawyers who are contracted by companies to promote their products in exchange for a commission.  Portugal, where Barclays is testing this strategy, allows and regulates this "word of mouth" commissionable sales practice.

Barclays, these citizen salesmen are a critical part of its aggressive expansion plans, both in Portugal and globally.  It may seem an odd juxtaposition but a routine check-up at the family doctor, or a trip to get that cavity filled by the dentist, is now increasingly accompanied by a pitch for Barclays bank.

The test is credited to Frits Seegers, formerly of Citigroup, who joined Barclays in July with the title of chief executive of global retail and commercial banking.  Seegars' job mandate was to reinvigorate the bank's pedestrian retail business. The drivers of the group's growth in recent years have been Barclays Capital, the investment banking unit, and the wealth management business Barclays Global Investors. The retail side has been less impressive.

In order to generate the profit level from Barclays foreign operations, Mr. Seegers leads the drive to squeeze extra value out of the company's geographic footprint by cross-selling more products.  His Portugal strategy grants autonomy to local managers to open branches and hire staff. The reliance on the independent salesforces means that new branches reach break-even within one year, claimed Seegers, rather than the industry average of two and a half years. The tactics may be used as a template for expansion for Italy where the bank plans to open 50 branches within the next 12 months.

Source: The Independent (UK) December 10, 2006