About Hornberger & Associates:

I founded in 1992 after twenty years in marketing at large Bay Area firms. I am always involved in the consulting engagements we accept and I frequently conduct the entire engagement myself.

The "Associates" are numerous experienced management consultants who join me on consulting projects that require their unique skills. This allows you, the client, to benefit from an experienced consulting team that is selected to meet your specific needs.

Please review our key functional capabilities below, then contact us to discuss your challenges and how we can help you.

Deborah Hornberger, Principal
Certified Management Consultant.

Strategic Planning/Marketing Plans

• Competitive analysis
  
• Product positioning
• New market identification
• Market research

In some cases, has developed the entire annual marketing strategy for a company or division. In others, we have done a single purpose plan, such as to increase market share of retirement assets or to introduce proprietary mutual funds, a 401(k) plan or the Roth IRA.

Market Segmentation/Niche Marketing

• Investment management for emerging affluent
• Probate-avoidance products
• Mini-trusts for low-end affluent
• Retirement planning for baby boomers
• Employee banking (bank-at-work) programs

advises clients on how to provide better service to the wealthy and mass affluent. Engagements have included designing, from scratch, a new Private Bank with proactive brokerage services, and creating a new unit in a small business banking group to service the personal as well as the business banking needs of their top tier of clients.

Website Strategies and Implementation

• Market definition / target audience
• Site content
• Site layout
• Navigation
• Links
• Usability testing
  

Deborah project managed the development of an Intranet email site for a major bank. She also managed site and product/program launches by

managing the positioning decision process and identification of niche markets, developing all marketing pages on the site, and establishing client service levels.

Product Development and Introduction

• Market assessment
• Customer surveys & focus groups
• New product creation
• Profitability scenarios
• Product extensions
• Market introductions

Deborah created and introduced Schwab's Designated Beneficiary Plan. This included the systems, operations and procedures for the product, as well as employee training and promotion. Other new product rollouts include a Small Business Retirement Plan for Union Bank of California, employee banking and mini-trusts (fill-in-the-bank living trusts)for numerous financial institutions.

Client Communications

• Product/service brochures
• Newsletters
• Direct mail
• Employee interaction
• Seminars/special events

helps clients assess the effectiveness of current communications, such as newsletters and investment performance reports, and develop strategies for improvement.

Product, Sales and Referral Training

• Product knowledge
• Customer service
• Business development skills
• Cross-sell programs
• Sales contests
• Referral programs

A full restructuring of one West Coast bank's delivery channel resulted in the need to hire and train a very large number of trust and investment management sales officers. was asked to develop and deliver a one week training program for these new reps and is credited with making them productive in record time.

We also develop employee referral programs for existing products and services or in conjunction with new product introductions. Program development includes product training, client assessment, employee compensation/rewards, internal communications and program promotion.

Client Retention Programs

• Customer satisfaction surveys and analysis
• Communication strategies
• Customer service programs
• Cross-sell programs
• Profitability-based service guidelines

It costs at least five times more to acquire a new client than to retain an existing one. conducts customer satisfaction surveys and creates baselines for future comparisons; we develop servicing levels and deliver employee training. At Bank of America, we took input from a trust client survey and came up with inexpensive, simple-to-implement activities that trust administrators could do to improve client satisfaction. Other strategies have addressed client communications programs.

We work with our clients to develop relationship banking packages, such as employee banking programs and comprehensive personal and business banking services for small business owners.

Project Management

• Definition of goals
• Team member selection - internal and external
• Assignment of tasks
• Timeline development
• Management and team member buy-in
• Identification of potential problems and contingency plans
• Tracking and communication of progress and expenses

Deborah has a proven track record of completing projects on time and within budget, with particular skill in pulling together a project team from various areas to work together effectively and efficiently.