SA consultant Andrew MacDonald teaching the Swiss to bank Dr Andrew MacDonald. Picture: Mark Brake. CONSULTANT Andrew MacDonald has been training Swiss private bankers in how to improve their clients' experiences. "It's a bit like selling ice to the Eskimos," Dr MacDonald, who runs Adelaide-based Mieza Consulting, said. The training job, in one of the most recognised banking systems in the world, comes after Dr MacDonald established himself as a global leader in organisational capability. His company has been specialising in training and consulting mainly in the banking industry for almost 10 years, after he left a job as Australian head of sales development for the National Australia Bank. Most revenue comes from overseas clients, with the Swiss client earlier this year, Standard Chartered international banking group, calling Mieza in to work on its global relationship management program. "We undertook two years of research to work out with our clients the key behaviours of the highest performing bankers around the world," Dr MacDonald said. From those interviews, Mieza Consulting put together seven core behaviours and this formed the basis to help the bank's frontline staff understand "what it takes to become one of the highest performers in the world." Most of the international work is driven by referrals, with the company having run training programs in Singapore, China, India, Ukraine, Russia and Australia. One of his larger Australian clients is the ANZ, but he also has worked with Westpac, Esanda and Telstra. He is currently working with BankSA branch managers on sales leadership. Dr MacDonald, who has a doctorate in macro-economics from Melbourne University, is also about to be appointed to adjunct faculty at the India School of Business in Hyderabad. He first established the business in Melbourne with a team of six consultants but found this was an inflexible, high-cost model. "A good consultant will cost you $200,000 a year; it's a lot of money at times when they are sitting on the bench," he said. When Dr MacDonald, who has also worked as business development director with Ernst & Young in Adelaide, moved the business's base here five years ago, he established networks with consultants who were happy to be called in to work part-time. "We do things bespoke and customised," Dr MacDonald said.