Sales

KfW is adapting its communication and sales channels in line with the changed information and buying behaviour of its customers and financing partners. It is stepping up digital offerings to enhance traditional sales channels, with the aim of making information on KfW products easily accessible and available everywhere. The digital application and approval processes between financing partners and KfW make promotional business quicker and more efficient and ensure that funding will reach customers in the future as well.

Ensuring that promotion reaches people

Responses to more than 1.1 million written and telephone enquiries in 2016 are proof of potential and existing customers’ high need for information. Regular customer surveys show that customer satisfaction with KfW advice, competency and friendliness is above average.

Customers seek information on domestic promotion on KfW.de

KfW.de is a highly relevant source of information for (potential) domestic promotion customers. The rise in customer web traffic for domestic promotion demonstrates the high relevance of KfW's website for private individuals and companies interested in KfW's promotional areas. KfW is constantly optimising the attractiveness and user-friendliness of its Internet offering, regardless of what end devices are used.

Systematic expansion of digital on-lending platform “BDO”

KfW’s digitalisation roadmap enables it to systematically pursue its aim of simplifying the application and approval process and making it more efficient. Applications for nearly all housing-related loans (over 98%) are now made via KfW’s digital on-lending platform “BDO”, with confirmation of promotion possible in a matter of seconds.

• Pilot-testing of the online commitment process was initially expanded to KfW Mittelstandsbank (SME Bank) loans in July, and will enable Mittelstandsbank customers to also benefit from a much faster application process from 2017.
• KfW plans to digitalise almost all of its other commercial products by the end of 2017.
• Since July, private individuals have been able to submit Internet applications for and receive immediate decisions on a variety of different financing measures, via KfW’s grant portal. A total of over 45,000 applications were submitted on this platform within the first few months of availability.
• KfW also made the BDO available to a promotional institution of a federal state as a sales channel for the first time by connecting L-Bank of Baden-Württemberg and its housing-related products to the platform. This move ensures L-Bank's customers and banking partners uniform access to promotional loans from the Federal Government and the state of Baden-Württemberg.

New service for KfW’s financing partners

Components of KfW's website content have been available to all its financing partners for integration into their own websites since May 2016. Partners can use these online texts, graphics (including interactive ones), sample calculations and royalty-free images or customise them as necessary.

Close cooperation with our partners

Customer satisfaction with KfW again well above average

KfW once again achieved a high customer satisfaction rating in 2016. The Kundenmonitor Deutschland, an independent survey taken by ServiceBarometer AG, polled more than 33,000 customers of different companies, including more than 7,000 from KfW. KfW again ranked well above average for banks and savings banks in customer satisfaction. Customers' specific intention to recommend KfW to friends, acquaintances or business partners for financing purposes was particularly highly pronounced in the survey and well above the average for banks.

Legal notice:
The information contained in this online Annual Report 2016 is based on KfW’s Financial Report 2016, which you can download here. Should this online Annual Report 2016, despite the great care taken in preparation of its content, contain any contradictions or errors compared to the Financial Report, the KfW Financial Report 2016 takes priority.