Successfully Rolling out CRM in a Complex Distribution Environment

1
Successfully Rolling out CRM in a Complex
Distribution Environment
Presented By Tom LeBleu Former VP of Marketing
Strategy, National Financial Partners Current
Director of Business Solutions, E-Z Data E-Z
Data Client Partner Conference March 16th, 2006
2
Who is National Financial Partners (NFP)?

• A Distribution Company.
• 400 firmslargest life insurance producer by FYC
  in 2005.
• Profit CentersLife insurance, Annuities,
  Broker/Dealer, RIA, Group Benefits, Life
  Brokerage General Agencies, Life Settlements
• Some firms are acquired in a transaction in
  which NFP owns a percentage of their earnings.
• Other firms are affiliated with our producer
  group, PartnersFinancial.
• To get paid and make investors happy, we have to
  improve our firms same store sales and earn
  their business.

3
The Complex Distribution Environment
Making CRM a Business Builder, not a Software
Project
Putting the "R" Back in CRM
Connecting from the Front
Seamless Compliance
Custom Canned Delivery
Summary and Takeaways
4
What makes a distribution environment complex?
5
The environment may be complex, but
entrepreneurial producers are simple. They are
interested in

• Increasing sales and profitability.
• Protecting their practice.
• Maintaining control.
• Minimizing activities that reduce client time.

The financial services entrepreneur could care
less about initiatives that make operations more
efficient at the home office unless they clearly
impact one of the goals above.
6
The Complex Distribution Environment
Make CRM a Business Builder, not a Software
Project
Putting the "R" Back in CRM
Connecting from the Front
Seamless Compliance
Custom Canned Delivery
Summary and Takeaways
7
Most home offices take into account strategy and
training in their overall approach
Goal and Strategy Development
Process Analysis Design
Data Conversion
Technical Setup
Testing
Training
8
The difficulty of implementation and adoption is
underestimated and overlooked
9
In addition, the whole approach is often
communicated to the producer in project
management or consulting terms.
Goal and Strategy Development
Process Analysis Design
Data Conversion
Technical Setup
Testing
Training

?
Financial services distribution is a
relationship-based business. It is not a
transactional or commodity business. Every
producer wants to be special.
10
While a SmartOffice is software, getting firms to
use it is not a technology project. Our keys to
successful adoption were

• Putting the R back in CRMhelp our firms
  build relationships.
• Connecting from the Frontfocus on field
  integration first.
• Seamless Compliancebuild in compliance
  rather than imposing it.
• Custom Canned Deliveryallow choices and make
  it feel personal.

While there are technical challenges in
implementing a CRM solution, most efforts that
fail in the field do so for reasons unrelated to
technology.
11
The Complex Production Environment
Make CRM a Business Builder, not a Software
Project
Putting the "R" Back in CRM
Connecting from the Front
Seamless Compliance
Custom Canned Delivery
Summary and Takeaways
12
Producers are most valuable when they are
building relationships with their clients.
E
E
E
E
E
E
E

Our focus was to make sure that our solution
increased time for relationship-building and to
enhance the relationship-building process with
SmartOffice.
13
But this approach has practical limitations, and
it puts a strain on the producer's practice.
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
!
Most NFP firms have a problem with too much,
rather than too little, opportunity.
14
Most NFP offices had client management or "CM",
tracking clients and in some cases contact with
them
Name, Address, Phone, Email Address Source Phone
Calls Email Contact
15
Capturing the relationships in a firm allows the
practice to focus on target interests and
communities within each group.
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
16
To capture the value of "R" in CRM, learn how the
producer wants to spend his time and build a
practice around this.

• Golfing/Hunting Buddies
• Fellow Alumni
• Accounting Firms
• Small-Business Owners
• Soon-to-be Retirees

Then, make the relationships and supporting
information visible to the producer through the
CRM application.
17
The Complex Production Environment
Making CRM a Business Builder, not a Software
Project
Putting the "R" Back in CRM
Connecting from the Front
Seamless Compliance
Custom Canned Delivery
Summary and Takeaways
18
Many CRM Efforts Focus on Back-Office Integration
First
Client Accounts
Practice Accounting
Portfolio Allocation
Account Aggregator
Trade Clearing
Email/ Calendar
Policy Product
PDA
Contracting
Licensing
Field CRM Portal/ Website
Enterprise CRM
Continuing Education
Comm- issions
Product Research
Image
Workflow
Financial Planning
Client Letters/ Reports
Forms
Image/ Workflow
Often, this leaves the field to integrate tools
that they actually use.
19
The CRM initiative is then hyped to the field to
get "buy in"
Client Accounts
Trade Clearing
Policy Product
Contracting
?
Licensing
Field CRM Portal/ Website
Enterprise CRM
Continuing Education
Comm- issions
Image
Workflow
Does it build trust between the entrepreneur and
the home office?
20
Value starts with integration and empowerment in
the field.
Model Office
Client Accounts
Practice Accounting
Portfolio Allocation
Account Aggregator
Trade Clearing
Email/ Calendar
Policy Product
PDA
Contracting
Licensing
Client/ Contact Manager
Enterprise CRM
Continuing Education
Comm- issions
Product Research
Image
Financial Planning
Client Letters/ Reports
Forms
Image/ Workflow
Workflow
Contact data, which the producer owns, is the
cornerstone of the NFP solution.
21
The "Model Office" platform being developed at
NFP integrates the tools, products, and providers
used in the field.
Model Office
22
Success begins with the producer and builds from
there.
23
The Complex Production Environment
Making CRM a Business Builder, not a Software
Project
Putting the "R" Back in CRM
Connecting from the FrontThe Key to Value from
CRM
Seamless Compliance
Custom Canned Delivery
Summary and Takeaways
24
Typically, compliance pressures from the home
office put the producer in front of a computer or
filling out forms rather than in front of his
clients.
Changing the habits of your entrepreneurial
producer and his practice is not easy. Nobody
wants change just to accommodate compliance
requirements.
25
A well-designed, field-based CRM effort can
achieve considerable compliance by providing
excellent client service.
CRM "Best Practice"
Compliance "Requirement"
26
An effectively-used SmartOffice platform provides
most of what you need for compliance.

• Email - send and receive an email from anywhere,
  but make it easy to post to CRM.
• Phone Calls - from the office or from the cell
  phone, make it easy to track the conversation
  data and details.
• Forms - Pre-fill with client data. Host forms in
  the home office when possible to prevent version
  problems.
• Documents/Images - Associate document images with
  the complete client record, not a separate
  folder/storage structure.

The trick is get compliance from tools that the
producer already uses. Position CRM as a sales
and relationship tool first, compliance will
follow adoption.
27
The Complex Production Environment
Making CRM a Business Builder, not a Software
Project
Putting the "R" Back in CRM
Connecting from the FrontThe Key to Value from
CRM
Seamless Compliance
Custom Canned Delivery
Summary and Takeaways
28
Selecting our base platform was the first
challenge.
"Acceptable Solution"

Industry Functional Support and Integration
Ease of Use and Implementation Support
We ended up selecting SmartOffice with the intent
to make it easier to use, rather than become a
software developer building industry
functionality.
29
To develop an "acceptable solution", we did the
following

• Selected five firms to "pilot" the SmartOffice
  solution to confirm that the software performs as
  advertised.
• The firms varied by
• Profit Center (some life or securities only,
  others multidisciplinary)
• Size (5 producers/staff to 20 producers/staff)
• Technical proficiency
• Current client database (included CDS, ACT!,
  Contact Partner, Excel)
• During the pilot, developed tools and an approach
  to help other firms
• Approach to analyzing business and delivering on
  the highest value goals
• Planning, schedules, project roles, expectations,
  deliverables
• Detailed content to augment the software vendor
• A delivery approach
• Following the pilot, the firms involved were the
  ones to sell the effort.

30
We then picked our alliances and defined roles
for the pilot effort. These remain for the
full-scale rollout.
31
From the pilot we built the "Custom-Canned"
rollout approach allowing firms to select how to
take on the CRM effort.
All of these approaches first focus on basic
usage, then increased sales.
32
The Complex Production Environment
Making CRM a Business Builder, not a Software
Project
Putting the "R" Back in CRM
Connecting from the FrontThe Key to Value from
CRM
Seamless Compliance
Custom Canned Delivery
Summary and Takeaways
33
How can you achieve success with SmartOffice with
a complex distribution environment?
Focus on Adoption, not Technology.
Measure Adoption, not Technology.
34
CRM value is frequently overestimated, not just
because it is difficult to quantify sales
increases or cost reduction.
CRM Feature Estimated Value to
Enterprise
Basic Client Management Workflow Image Pre-Filled
Forms Consolidated Statements Integrated Client
Reports Leads/Sales Management Sales Campaign
Support
10M 20M 25M 10M 25M 5M 50M 50M
195M !!!
That CRM efforts rarely reach this potential
creates widespread skepticism. The main issue is
what is left out of the value equation-adoption.
35
But a CRM effort with little adoption has limited
value.
CRM Feature Value of Feature X
Adoption Actual Value
Basic Client Management Workflow Image Pre-Filled
Forms Consolidated Statements Integrated Client
Reports Leads/Sales Management Sales Campaign
Support
10M 20M 25M 10M 25M 5M 50M 50M
10 10 10 20 5 10 5 5
1M 2M 2.5M 2M 1.25M .5M 2.5M 2.5M
195M
14.25M
Most CRM efforts would reduce development costs
AND create more value by focusing on consistent
adoption of a simple solution. SmartOffice
included.
36
To achieve success with SmartOffice at NFP, we
focus on the following

• Help the business owner build his relationships
  to build his practice.
• Understand what the firms and end-users use
  day-to-day. Integrate these first.
• Point out that compliance can either drive your
  business or be achieved as a course of great
  client service.
• Facilitate communications among firms and provide
  alternatives for training and transition.
• Measure adoption, not technical delivery.

37
Questions?