New technology is often implemented by large companies to solve specific problems. Once the initial purpose has been achieved, the technology becomes part of the business as usual or “BAU” infrastructure. But instead of relegating a new functionality to the “new normal” category, it is useful to consider it as a catalyst for change – both in external, customer facing projects and in internal, IT development planning.
Skandia, Sweden’s largest insurance company, implemented OutRank to offer customers a superior tool to better understand their pensions and investments. Working together with the Kidbrooke team, the Skandia executives saw the positive impact that a user-friendly customer interface had on sales as well as customer retention.
Over time, the team observed the positive impact of OutRank on customer satisfaction. Even more important were the unintended outcomes for employees.
Enabling Success: Self Service for New Customers
Building a system of digital channels to attract new customers and future-proof their business was another challenge faced by the insurer. Unlike competitors who preserved the siloed nature of the financial services in digital realm, Skandia is leveraging OutRank to empower the decision-making for most of the planned digital financial journeys in their strategic roadmap. For example, the insurer started their digital transformation by rolling out a self-service pension planning tool in Summer 2020, which was later complemented with an investment advice journey run on the same technology. Once the other digital lines of business are added, the customer will be able to access a holistic picture of their finances, considering all different aspects of their financial lives.
Since adding digital channels to the business, Skandia observed a few very important trends. First, 25% of customers completing the digital journey convert. Second, many more customers having used the self-service journeys come back and execute through other channels such as execution only or advisory-led meetings.The efficiency of the digital channels in generating new business has been confirmed so far: both fulfilling its role of an additional means of customer acquisition and as an engagement tool generating business across other channels.
Getting to Know You: Deepening Relationships with Existing Customers
From a sales and marketing perspective, thousands of long-term customers had the potential of doing more business with Skandia. The challenge was how to identify and activate these accounts with a hybrid outbound up-sell campaign. By overlaying OutRank with the CRM system, the sales team was able to pinpoint customers with pension portfolios in which the risk level was too low. After a notification of a call to action with the customers, the salespeople contacted them to have a conversation about return, risk and longevity. Using OutRank, a salesperson could help a customer understand what different risk exposure under certain economic scenarios might mean for her pension portfolio. Helping to visualize and demystify what a rise in interest rates or energy prices, for example, might mean for a customer’s portfolio over several decades, enables people to take the appropriate action. Most importantly, high quality insights and relevant tips for the customers help Skandia deepen their relationship with their accounts and encourage them to further improve their financial situations.Innovating to Improve
Typically, new technology is deployed to solve or “fix” a customer problem. The trajectory is inside-out, internal development to external implementation. If we turn that logic on its head, and think outside-in, starting with customer implementation leading to internal innovation, multiple benefits can be considered. What if one “fix” is discovered to rectify more than one issue? For example, the original intent of a fix might have been to understand how an increase in inflation might affect a portfolio, with the advice to keep a significant allocation of capital in equities. Subsequently, the regulator may encourage people close to pension age to move away from equities into fixed income. This regulatory messaging may require new advice for customers. With OutRank, the multiple and perhaps contradictory messages can be ordered, filtered and deconflicted. Using these data points, each customer cohort can receive the right communication tailored to their lifestyle needs and risk appetite.
Becoming a Learning Organisation: the key to continuous innovation
Exceptional companies have created a culture of innovation, in which employees are empowered to work collaboratively across business units and operational silos. The power to keep innovating consistently over time is what distinguishes top performers. Co-creating a seamless customer journey using an innovative tool such as OutRank to augment your existing technology stack is rewarding. By keeping an open mind about what is achievable, team members can foster an environment in which core learning occurs.
When teams come together to work on cloud-based projects, people work on a cross-functional basis to share knowledge and experience. This leads to the expansion of capabilities, capacity and competencies within a company. Agile working not only benefits clients and shareholders, but results in higher employee satisfaction and retention. One US study found that companies in the top quartile for employee engagement were 21%more profitable and employees 87% less likely to leave than companies in the lowest quartile. By implementing OutRank, you can bring together strategy, technology, process and people in an integrated initiative to promote a culture of innovation.
Action
How can one API bring so many positive changes to a company? Good teams create products when instructed to do so by their management. Great teams co-create products by their own initiative without being asked: because it is part of their DNA. Using cloud-based, digital-first tools such as OutRank can inspire colleagues to take action.
At Kidbrooke, we believe in the power of taking incremental, iterative steps to achieve big, audacious goals. We keep our technology simple, user-friendly and dynamic, to enable technologists and non-technologists alike to experiment with our software.
What’s your big audacious goal?
To learn more about how Kidbrooke can help you achieve your business goals, please get in touch.
Sources:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/285674/improve-employee-engagement-workplace.aspx
