www.pwc.ie
Financial Broker Efficiency
and the outlook for the
Financial Broker Market
Agenda
1.
Context & recommendations – summary
3
2. The current state of the Irish Insurance market
7
3. Financial Broker process
9
4. The evolving Financial Broker market
12
5. Stakeholder interviews
19
6. Survey results and observations
23
7.
How Life companies and Financial Brokers can work
together on technology developments
31
8. Recommendations
35
9. Survey detail
42
PwC | December 2015
2
Context & recommendations - summary
PwC | December 2015
3
Context & Recommendations
The presentation below provides information regarding research performed by PwC on behalf of the Professional Insurance Brokers
Association (PIBA) with regard to the operations and efficiency of the Financial Broker population in Ireland.
PwC performed research which involved meeting key stakeholders in the industry namely the main Life Insurers, CRM companies and
Financial Broker representatives.
The presentation completes with recommendations, which are based on the research completed, that we believe would benefit the operational
efficiency of the Financial Brokers and improve their ability to prospect and win more business due to the additional client facing time they
will have available by virtue of improved operational efficiency. The following represents the main work phases that were under taken to
achieve this and provides an executive summary of recommendations:
Phase 1 – As is review
A review of reports developed by PIBA which described the core elements of the Financial Brokers work process and papers on the
technology used by Financial Brokers to work more effectively.
Phase 2 – Focus Groups
Focus groups were conducted to obtain Financial Broker input on the aids and hindrances to efficiency in their working day.
Phase 3 – Survey
A survey was forwarded to all PIBA members to help target and quantify elements of their work processes that drive inefficiency.
Phase 4 – Interviews
Core contributors to the every day work practices are the Life companies and the CRM companies who provide portals and tools which are
regularly accessed and used by the Financial Brokers. We interviewed the seven largest Life companies and the two main CRM providers as
well as a smaller market entrants.
Phase 5 – Report
The report summarises the findings from the above research and will be presented at the PIBA annual conference. No reliance should be
placed on the recommendations without further analysis.
In addition, we have also made comment on how the Broker market will change in the coming years based on potential changes in regulation
as well as PwC studies from abroad.
PwC | December 2015
4
Context & Recommendations
The primary recommendations arising from discussions and surveys are summarised below.
Financial Brokers
•
Financial Brokers core value statement is the provision of expert product and investment advice and allowing time for this must be a
focus. Investment in tools and methodologies that reduce administrative overhead is critical. This may involve transfer of some
administrative tasks such as access to portfolio valuation and fact find completion to the client.
•
Financial Brokers should choose administrative support tools carefully to ensure they meet their strategic goals. When a decision has been
made, it is important to commit to that decision by becoming expert in the functionality available in the tool by committing time to
training and research.
•
Smaller Financial Brokers should consider pooling their administrative overhead with other small Financial Brokers while still
maintaining front office independence.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) IT Companies
•
Compliance is a key concern for Financial Brokers. CRM companies should consider the compliance functionality and usability
specifically with regard to compliance checklists and exception reporting.
•
Financial Brokers appeared to struggle to make use of the range of functionality available in the CRM tools. CRM providers should
consider the volume of training and methodologies for training to ensure their customers make best use of the products purchased. In
combination, ease of use needs to be a core consideration when developing functionality.
•
CRM companies should consider the development of functionality that provides more convenient access to the end consumer regarding
portfolio status and valuation while simultaneously reducing administrative burden for the Financial Broker.
PwC | December 2015
5
Context & Recommendations
Life Companies
•
Changes in Life Company portals are usually designed to improve functionality and usability. However, Financial Brokers often use
multiple portals and any change can be perceived as an impediment. Engagement with the Financial Broker community through the
development life cycle is a key contributory factor to ensuring adoption.
•
Life companies should continue with their development of on-line automation of application forms. This reduces rework and improves
efficiency through the value chain.
•
Life companies create bespoke datasets for each CRM company. This creates development overhead. Support of a standardised dataset
would allow the Life companies to provide the same dataset to each CRM company and streamline this data provision process.
PIBA
•
The production of a common dataset for distribution from the Life companies to the CRM providers represents advantages to all the
stakeholders in the industry. Reduced operating costs for the Life companies, faster and more efficient data processing for CRM
providers, ultimately resulting in better quality up to date information for the Financial Broker and the customer. This will need central
co-ordination and PIBA is ideally positioned to support this.
•
Life companies integration with Financial Brokers in the development of portals is key to Financial Brokers making an efficient transfer
from one version of a portal to the next. The broad and distributed basis of the Financial Broker network makes it difficult to engage with
them. PIBA should consider acting as a conduit for the organisation of communications and focus groups that ensure Financial Brokers
are involved and informed in Life company portal developments.
•
Financial Brokers have noted completion of compliance documentation as a key requirement from their chosen CRM solution.
Compliance professionals within PIBA can contribute to this by advising CRM companies on the compliance of proposed solutions
through their own knowledge and experience and may also act as a conduit to the Central Bank of Ireland in solicitation of their opinion.
PwC | December 2015
6
The current state of the Irish Insurance
broker market
PwC | December 2015
7
Irish insurance market- The financial crisis had a major impact on the Life insurance market but
despite these turbulent times, Financial Brokers continue to be the industry’s dominant sales force.
Gross Life Premium Income (2005-2014)*
The financial crisis in
2008 had a dramatic
effect on Life premium
income. The market
continued to decrease and
bottomed out in 2012.
There has been premium
income growth in 2013
and 2014 reflecting a
strengthening economy.
Direct 4%
€16,000
€14,000
€12,000
€10,000
€8,000
€6,000
€4,000
€2,000
€-
PwC | December 2015
€10,097
€9,739
2006
2007
2008
Company
reps. 15%
2006
Tied
Agents.
15%
Agents.
2%
Source: *Insurance Ireland fact file
€9,346
€9,688
2009
2010
€8,486
€8,150
€8,739
€8,989
2011
2012
2013
2014
Despite the contractions in the Life insurance
market during the financial crisis, Financial
Brokers have remained an effective sales force
for Life products. During the 2006- 2014 period,
Financial Brokers increased their market share
of Life product sales, albeit of a smaller market.
2006 -2014*
Brokers
53%
Agents 3%
€12,327
2005
Company
reps 21%
Tied
Agents19%
€14,594
Direct.
4%
Brokers.
64%
2014
The increased proportion of premiums sold
through the broker channel as part of the
overall market suggests that customer retention
is higher through Financial Broker sold
business.
8
Financial Broker process
Understanding the main components and where the Financial Broker adds value.
PwC | December 2015
9
Core Components in the Advice and Sale Process
- The diagram below describes the core components of the Financial Broker advice and sale process.
02
01
Lead Engagement
• Marketing.
• Initial Customer touch point.
• Fact Find.
• Risk Profile.
Investment
Decision
03
Documentation
• Development of documentation for the
customer to clearly illustrate the
investment decisions and ensuring all
compliance responsibilities completed.
• Receipt of customer details
such as signed documentation.
Life / Pensions / Protection Advice
• Review of fact find and risk profile
information.
• Engagement with the customer to fully
understand their objectives and their
risk capacity.
• Advise and win the business.
04
Portfolio Review
• Periodic review of the customer to
ensure the investment is performing in
line with expectations, to verify the
customers risk profile and
to coach their financial
behaviour.
Underpinning the process is a reliance on CRM technology and Life company portals.
PwC | December 2015
10
Financial Broker Strategy
- The matrix below details a number of core questions that Financial
Brokers need to consider in order to understand their true value proposition and where they need to focus their time.
Can you define it?
Do you live it?
How you operate in
the market
Are you clear about how you chose to create
value in the marketplace?
Are you investing in the capabilities that
really matter to your workday?
Can you articulate
what you do better
than others?
Can you articulate the three capabilities that
describe what you do uniquely better than
others?
Do all your business draw on this superior
capability?
Product & service fit
Have you specified your product and service
“sweet spot”?
Are new products evaluated on the basis of
your fit with the strategy and capabilities
system?
Coherence
Can everyone in the organisation articulate
your differentiating capabilities?
Do all of your decisions add to coherence,
or do some decisions push you toward
incoherence?
PwC | December 2015
11
The evolving Financial Broker market
Disruptive factors that may change the market environment in the coming years.
PwC | December 2015
12
The Evolving Financial Broker Market
The evolving Financial Broker market– The 4 points below reflect developments in the
market place in which the Financial Broker operates.
2. Consolidation
1. Fee-based model
Ireland will be subject to the new Insurance
Distribution Directive (IDD) which gives
member states the discretion to ban
commission for intermediaries and EIOPA
has delegated powers which may impact
on the commission system, the outcome
of this is expected in 2017.
Research in the US has shown large scale
reduction in the number of Financial
Brokers in the US from 246,000 in 1990
to 184,873 in 2010.**
In Ireland, a number of factors may drive
similar reductions and these include:
 Increased compliance overhead and fee
based models making small brokerages
uneconomical
 Customers purchasing on line
The Future of
the Financial
Broker market
4. Multi-channel
3. Consumer Technology
As consumer behaviour is altered by
internet usage; the advice, sales and
service model for life products must also
evolve. *The travel industry has
experienced a similar multi-channel
transformation in recent years. As
aggregators and direct sales channels
became prominent, Travel agents had to
consider their unique value proposition.
PwC | December 2015
Trends in client engagement are changing
due to technological advances. These
areas of change include:
I.
Robo-advisors
II. Self service
III. Social media
Source: * PwC Insurance 2020, ** FS Point of View PwC 2013
13
The Evolving Financial Broker Market
Consumer Technology- Robo Advisors – There is a growing trend towards advice and sale of
products through robo advisors on line. Their growth will encroach on areas previously dominated by Financial
Brokers.
Key point
What do Robo-Advisors do?
Data
collection
Robo-advisors automate the financial
advice processes, they;
•
collect client information
•
use an algorithm to produce
investment recommendations
•
implement recommendations
through managing financial product
purchasing.
Automation of these processes can reduce
cost, and reduce the time it takes to
complete simple recommendations.
PwC | December 2015

It is important to note that in the
changing landscape of financial
advice that Financial Brokers can
no longer see their value as the
“Gate keepers” of data. As Robo
Advisors become more
sophisticated, they will erode any
advantage that Financial Brokers
may have had in this area.

Instead, Financial Brokers need to
position themselves to capitalise on
their true value, as dynamic
specialist financial advisors which
contrast with static robo –
advisors.
RoboAdvisor
Manage
product
purchase
Algorithmic
based
advice
14
The Evolving Financial Broker Market
Social Media- Consumers are increasingly searching for Life products and
investment advice online. The
statistics below illustrate how the PIBA broker community is developing their social media presence but as yet, are not
perceiving value from it.
What networks are Financial Brokers using?
*61% of consumers
(18-54) find
purchasing Life
insurance online
attractive
49% of PIBA
brokers have a
Social Media
presence
80%
67%
43%
20%
4%
Facebook
94% of Financial
Brokers who use
social media, do so
for improved
brand
recognition
19% of Financial
Brokers engage a
third party service
to assist their
digital presence
PwC | December 2015
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blogs
Discussion
Boards
Financial Brokers are using social media for;
Larger Financial
Brokers (58%)
are more likely
than smaller
brokers (41%)
to engage with
social media
94%
41%
Lead generation
29%
Client retention
Improved brand
recognition
69% of Financial Brokers gave a neutral or negative response to
the effectiveness and value of their social media presence.
Source: *FS Point of View- PwC 2013
15
The Evolving Financial Broker Market
Multi-Channel - Travel industry comparison - The travel industry has gone through a
comparable business model shift due to technology advances in the distribution model. As a result consumers now
interact with the travel industry across multiple channels. This is described below.
Key points
Disruption of the traditional
model
Traditional model
•
Consumers purchased airline tickets,
and booked hotels rooms through
local travel agents.
•
Agents compensated through
commission on tickets sold and hotels
rooms booked.
PwC | December 2015
•
Airlines and hotels accept direct sales
from consumers online. Therefore
most airlines have removed
commissions.
•
Web based aggregators quickly supply
consumers with the market
information they need. This
information was previously sourced
from Travel Agents.

Due to the changing competitive
landscape, travel agents have had to
supplement their lost commission
revenues. The major trend in this regard
has been towards charging service-fees on
transactions.

The service-fee model attributes an explicit
value to the services that Travel Agents
provide. To justify their fee, Travel Agents
have adapted and focus their energies on
the value that they add through specialist
knowledge and packaged product
offerings.

The changing market has led to
consolidation. From 2000 onwards, the
number of retail travel agents decreased
dramatically.
16
The Evolving Financial Broker Market
Multi-Channel – Behaviours of customers
•
The Internet has become part of the
process and mobile is not far behind.
The Web plays a role in 8 out of 10 life
insurance purchases, and 1 in 10 customer
engages a carrier via mobile phone.
•
In comparison to their elders, younger
generations are more self-directed and
inclined to interact online. Among those
aged 25-44, which is a prime group for
purchasing life insurance, 31 percent said
they prefer to buy direct.
•
Direct
distribution
•
Economic environment demands
cost reduction. The persistent low
interest-rate environment requires
companies to implement cost-effective
sales and service processes.
•
Talent gaps constrain distribution
reach. The declining number of agents
requires organizations to reinvent their
go-to-market strategies.
•
Growth requires direct expansion.
Consumers are moving toward direct
distribution. Companies that fail to follow
the path toward direct distribution will
inevitably lose market share.
Entry-level products are rapidly
moving direct; 37 percent of term-life
share is sold direct, and this is expected to
grow to 63 percent by 2015.
PwC | December 2015
Source: PwC : ‘Life Insurance is sold and not bought – for how long’
Report, Feb 2013.
Organizational need
Consumer behaviour
The practices and attitudes of customers are changing. The diagram below described some observations from a US
based PwC report on the changes in consumer behaviour and the associated impacts on Life companies.
17
The Evolving Financial Broker Market
Multi – Channel - As consumers become more confident with using the internet to research and buy Life
products , multi-channel customer service will play a bigger part in the customer’s journey. A more complex sales, advice
and service model is set to emerge. This multi-channel model will evolve to meet the expectations of more technologically
literate generations.
Key findings
A PwC survey of Life Company
CEOs concluded that ;
Financial
 53% believe consumers will use
online channels to research life,
annuity and retirement products
over the next 10 years
 34% are convinced consumers will
use multiple channels to interact
with insurers expecting speedy on
demand customer service and
seamless information integration
across all channels
 Financial Brokers should consider
if their value proposition is clearly
articulated in the multi-channel
environment.
PwC | December 2015
Source: Life insurance 2020: Competing for a future- PwC
18
Stakeholder Interviews
As part of this process, PwC interviewed key Financial Broker stakeholders namely
the main Life Insurance companies and the CRM companies. Workshops were also
held with representative groups of Financial Brokers. The following slides outline
some of the key themes noted.
PwC | December 2015
19
Key Themes from Interviews
Interviews- Life companies: Key themes
“We are
moving more
of our
Financial
Broker
services online
but we are
still happy to
take direct
calls and
queries. We
feel that this is
a good way to
keep personal
connections
with brokers.”
PwC | December 2015
“ Ease of use
for Financial
Brokers is a
key
component of
our portal
design. ”
“We support
CRM tools but
are concerned
about losing
direct contact
with
brokers.”
“ The broker is
central to the
Life business
despite some
increased
automation.
Financial
Brokers are a
robust group;
engrained in
the Irish
psyche. ”
“All document
automation is
a positive.”
“ Financial
Brokers play
a big part and
have broad
responsibility
for
compliance in
the industry.”
“For pension
products
there can be
over 40 touch
points after
the receipt of
the
application
form and
before the
product is set
up, this isn’t a
very efficient
use of broker
time.”
“New feebased
structure will
change
Financial
Brokers into
‘farmers’
rather than
‘hunters’.”
20
Key Themes from Interviews
Focus Groups-Financial Brokers: Key themes
“I don’t use all of the CRM
functionality because I find
it cumbersome and in
some cases, I don’t think it
is fit for purpose”
PwC | December 2015
“Logging onto
multiple Life
portals is time
consuming”
“I spend too much
time completing
admin work”
“I think that
compliance
support should
be improved on
the CRM tools.”
“I will always check
the information I pull
from the CRM with
the Life company
before proceeding”
21
Key Themes from Interviews
CRM data accuracy and availability - Each of the seven Life companies provide the
CRM companies with a disparate dataset. The datasets differ in their level of completeness, format and
timeliness. A standardised dataset would provide a more complete and consistent picture for Financial
Brokers and reduce the processing effort for the CRM companies.
Financial Brokers need to be provided
with the tools to allow them to step past
the “Gatekeeper of data” role
One Life company provides only
20 of the 50 key data points
Recommendations
 Life companies should consider providing a
Standard data set and format. The benefits
of this will be felt through;
1.
reduced development cost for Life companies
2.
reduced processing cost for CRM companies
3. better product for Brokers- more reliable and
up to date data which reduces the need for
cross-checking and improves efficiency.
PwC | December 2015
Commonly unavailable data*
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
* Source of data points is from discussion with CRM firms.
Next Indexation Date
Conversion Option Date
Waiver
Transfer Value
Valuation Date
Estimated Maturity Value
Valuation Date
Actual Maturity Value
Valuation Date
Regular withdrawal frequency
Regular withdrawal commencement date
Benefit Cost Premium
Bonus Amount
Allocation Rate. Fund/ Policy Level
AMCand Adjusted AMC, Fund /Policy level
ESMA Risk Rating
Insurer Risk Rating
22
Survey results and observations
PwC conducted a survey of the PIBA Financial Brokers. It was designed to
understand the Financial Broker strategy, work practices, engagement with CRM
companies and engagement with Life companies.
This section takes some core observations from the survey and draws out
recommendations based on these.
PwC | December 2015
23
Survey Outputs and Observations
Meet the respondents - PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted a survey of PIBA members in
November 2015. The survey covers a range of Financial Broker operations topics. The purpose of the
survey is to uncover areas of potential efficiency for Financial Brokers.
Key facts about the survey
 167 PIBA brokers completed the survey
 81 of those who completed the survey have less than 3 members of staff. 86 have 3 or more
staff members
 The average number of staff members in a respondent brokerage is 3.3 FTEs.
 Average allocation of FTE time:
 Administrative: 40%
 Client-facing: 60%
 The median number of clients served by respondents is 400 with 150 reviewed on an annual
basis.
 Respondents segmented their clients as 15% High net-worth individuals, 63% Personal Customers,
13% Small businesses and 9% medium sized businesses.
PwC | December 2015
24
Survey Outputs and Observations
Financial Broker Time - Administrative and compliance effort is seen as a major issue for the Financial
Broker industry. Below details the percentage of work done on administration relative to revenue generating work and
observations related to this.
Key findings
Time spent on administrative, revenue
generating and marketing activities .
Revenue
generating
work
Marketing
12%
38%
50%
Administration & Compliance
 It was noted that administrative effort was
largely similar irrespective of the number of
dedicated administrative support staff. This
implies that;
I.
Client-facing staff also complete
administrative activities in smaller
brokerages where the numbers of
administrative staff were not adequate
to meet the administrative demand.
II.
The survey showed limited differential
of the administrative overhead between
the smaller Financial Brokers and the
larger Financial Brokers with specialist
administrative staff.
Recommendations
 Improved system knowledge of administrative
staff will improve efficiency but this requires
significant investment in training and learning.
 Consider consolidation and specialisation in the
number of systems used.
PwC | December 2015
25
Survey Outputs and Observations
Time consuming activities - PwC research highlighted the effort attributed to client interactions in the
main product areas. In general about 50% of time is spent on administrative aspects of the client interaction. Below
details the effort by product on administration and advice.
Average product set up time
Pensions- Company Pensions
Administration (Hours)
3.19
Advice (Hours) % spent on Administration
3.6
47%
Investment- (bonds, trackers, etc)
2.71
2.88
48%
Life and Critical Illness
Pensions- Small self-Administered
Pensions
Income protection
2.62
2.17
55%
2.42
2.33
2.56
2.35
49%
50%
Pensions- Non-Standard PRSA
Pensions- Standard PRSA
1.99
1.89
1.97
1.84
50%
51%
Recommendations
 The major value proposition for Financial Brokers is their specialist advice. And so it is incumbent on them to reduce
the time spent on administrative tasks and increase client-facing time. Better use of CRM systems, better training in
how to efficiently use these systems and improved system knowledge will contribute to more time available to provide
advice.
 Automation of documentation will also reduce administrative effort. The ‘Fact Find’ was noted as a major contributor
to the duration of the process. An automated ‘Fact Find’, sent to the customer in advance of a meeting, would
significantly improve efficiency. Ideally, this should also be able to pre populate application forms as required.
 Reviewing a completed ‘Fact Find’ with a customer, in order to ensure that the customers financial position and
needs
PwCproduct
| December
2015 are well understood, presents greater value to the client and broker.
26
Survey Outputs and Observations
Survey findings- CRM: General knowledge of the available CRM functionality is low amongst
Financial
Brokers. The most desired functionality can already be found on current systems. The reasons behind this are suggested
below.
Key findings
 The PwC conducted survey highlighted the uncertainty that exists in the Financial Broker industry surrounding
CRM tools.
 The results showed that the most used functionality and most desired functionality are broadly the same. The under
utilisation of this functionality appears to be due to inadequate investment in training on the CRM tools in
combination with CRM systems that need to be more user friendly and intuitive.
 47% of Financial Brokers do not use a CRM based fact find due to it not being useful or being overly complex. 61% of
Financial Brokers said they had never been consulted by a CRM company on the development of functionality.
Recommendations
 Financial Brokers need to ensure that they invest time in understanding and using these systems to their full
potential to allow improved efficiency and return on investment.
 CRM companies should continue to provide training at a group and personal level.
They should also consider whether they
Most desired CRM functionality
Most used CRM functionality
engage strongly enough with the
Financial Broker community as part of
1
Product research
Product quotations
their development life cycle. As Financial 1
2
Product quotations
Brokers have had difficulty with usability 2
Product research
of CRM tools, CRM providers should
3
Product valuation
3
Single client view
carefully consider ease of use in their
4
Compliance
4
Product valuation
developments.
5
Compliance
5
Single client view
PwC | December 2015
27
Survey Outputs and Observations
CRM - The survey showed that Financial Brokers are reluctant to trust the information that they receive from CRM
tools. Most Financial Brokers double-check the CRM information on the Life Companies’ portal.
87% of Financial Brokers use a
centralised system to collate product
information
63% of Financial
Brokers use a
CRM tool to
manage their
customers
19% of Financial
Brokers have a
formalised
understanding of
annual income at
a customer level
69% of
Financial
Brokers are
somewhat
likely, likely
or very likely
to check the
data found on
a CRM tool
against Life
Companies’
portals
CRM league tables
Paid for Services
Best Advice (paid
service)
Omni broker Advance
(paid service)
Money Advice + CRM
(paid service)
Adviserplus (paid
service)
Voyant (cashflow
planning)
Money Advice (paid
service)
Relay/ Wealth Track
Others: Tuiscint
Doctopia
Boss
PwC | December 2015
37%
28%
Free Services
Omni broker (Best Advice 37%
free service)
Free Quotes (Best Advice 26%
free term quotes)
25%
Money Advice (free
service)
20%
Recommendation
17%
11%
8%
3%
 Financial Brokers must carefully
consider the circumstances as to
when rechecking information is
providing value to the client
 Surveys and informal feedback
have suggested that the output
from the CRM systems is
accurate, although inherently a
short period out of date.
28
Survey Outputs and Observations
Customer value - In General, Financial Brokers don’t have a formalised understanding of their customers’
revenue value. There is a strong informal sense of customer value in the industry. Understanding revenue streams at a
customer level is critical for Financial Brokers if they wish to increase efficiency and focus on their most profitable
clients.
Recommendations
It is advisable for Financial Brokers to
review how they incorporate the following
into their operations.
Understanding Client Value
70%
65%
 Customer value- Formalise customer
revenue valuation.
60%
50%
 Segmentation- Segment market
based on customer revenue , customer
Knowledge and work effort.
40%
30%
19%
20%
16%
10%
0%
I do not have formal
I have a clear, documented I don't know at a customer
numbers for this, but I
and formalised
level.
understand my customers understanding of the value
and their worth.
of each of my customers
which allows me to segment
customers based on value.
PwC | December 2015
 Focus- Target high-revenue, profitable
clients.
Small brokerages of less then 3 staff
members have a median client number of
300.
It does not appear practical to support the
volume of customers that many PIBA
members are carrying. Under a fee based
model it will become increasingly
important to focus on a smaller group of
high value customers and demonstrate 29
specialist advice.
Survey Outputs and Observations
Document Storage – Financial Brokers generally store compliance documentation in multiple ways, in hard
and soft copy and on multiple systems. Multiple storage locations and methods drives inefficiency and version control risks.
Results regarding storage methodologies are detailed below as well as the appetite for using a sole storage point.
86% of brokers maintain
compliance documents in
hard copy
74% of brokers maintain
compliance74
documents in
soft copy
60% of brokers store their
records in both soft copy
and in hard copy
Generally,
brokers are
likely to use a
CRM tool as
the sole point
for storing
compliance
documents
Would Financial Brokers use a CRM as the sole storage point
for compliance Documents?
25%
23%
20%
15%
10%
13%
12%
7%
23%
14%
8%
5%
0%
Recommendations



CRM companies should consider the promotion of the
security of their document storage services by
reinforcing the disaster recovery and backup processes
that are in place.
Financial Broker reassurance in the security of these
systems is very important in promoting adoption and
gaining operational efficiencies associated with a
simple and reliable file storage system.
Financial Brokers need to be aware of the risk to
compliance and the continuity of their business in home
storage of documents. A fire or flood could result in the
loss of these creating a serious business continuity risk.
PwC | December 2015
Where do Financial Brokers store soft copy compliance
63%
70%
documents?
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
44%
26%
Locally
Stored within a CRM Stored on a cloud based
application
platform e.g Dropbox,
Google Drive,etc.
30
How Life companies and Financial Brokers
can potentially work together on technology
developments.
Life companies make substantial investment in their development of Broker and
customer facing portals. PwC research in the US has developed recommendations
on how to ensure quality Broker engagement and has also highlighted some of the
common pitfalls made by Life companies. Key Points are noted in the following
slides.
PwC | December 2015
31
Financial Broker engagement with
Life Companies IT development
Technology investment- Life Companies- Insurers are upgrading their technology to support
more complex products, lower operating costs and get closer to their customers. While making these changes it is
important to give due consideration to their effect on Financial Brokers. Financial Brokers are key stakeholders in Life
technology transformation projects. Well planned transitions can make brokers key advocates.
Only 30% of the PIBA survey respondents stated that they had been contacted by Life companies regarding the update
of their systems*.
PwC encourage Life companies to consider five-steps to get increased value out of
technology projects involving Financial Brokers:
1. Engage Financial Brokers from the beginning when defining the change
2 Communicate with Financial Brokers to build commitment
3. Design processes to ease the transition
4. Provide training that is relevant, simple, and concise
5. Deploy and reinforce the program
PwC | December 2015
Source:
PwC- No broker left behind
32
Financial Broker engagement with
Life Companies IT development
Technology investment- Common issues; It is important for Life companies to engage with
brokers because they are a vital stakeholder in any technology transformation project. Loyalty, convenience and
compensation are all important factors that influence financial broker’s Life company selection. If ease of doing
business is not improved for a broker during a technology transformation, the technology upgrade may have a negative
effect for Life companies. Below describes some common pitfalls in the Life company IT development life cycle.
Financial brokers rarely respond to
directives as well as employees do. If
the technology change is perceived
as making life more difficult for a
broker, they may move to a
competitor more readily.
Dependence
on Marketing
departments
52% of PIBA Financial Brokers
stated that ease of administration
impacted their advice when products
from one company to another were
similar.*
Assuming
brokers are
employees and
not customers
PwC | December 2015
Source:
Over reliance on marketing
departments to interact
with brokers during change
initiatives can be a common
pitfall for Life companies.
More than publicity is
needed to build long-lasting
commitment to technology
changes
Transformation
Pitfalls
PwC- No broker left behind
Treating
change as a
technology
problem
Life companies can see
system features as simple
technology upgrades that
only require a notification to
brokers. This view overlooks
the fact that Financial
Brokers use multiple portals
and must be competent with
them all.
33
Financial Broker engagement with
Life Companies IT development
Key considerations when planning technology upgrades - Market analysis, user
needs and business priorities should be considered by Life companies when completing a technology review.
PwC | December 2015
Source: PwC- No broker left behind
34
Recommendations
•
The standard hours used in the advice process can be reduced by greater collaboration
between the Life companies, the CRM companies and the Financial Brokers.
•
Financial Brokers need to demand and grasp technological efficiencies and automation in
order to improve their operational efficiency, perform administration effectively and increase
the availability of client facing hours.
•
Financial Brokers should consider their primary value proposition in an evolving market and
ensure they focus on this in all aspects of their business whether it be in their client
engagement or in the selection of technology and operational processes to support them.
•
Increased automation can not only improve efficiency but can also improve customer
perception of Financial Broker professionalism by ready availability of customer portfolio
valuations and faster processing of new products.
•
Achieving this will require increased collaboration with Life companies and CRM providers
with regard to improvements in data timeliness and accuracy, development of systems that are
fit for purpose in a changing market place, and through increased training.
•
The following slides detail recommendations specifically for Financial Brokers, CRM
companies and Life companies.
PwC | December 2015
35
Recommendations
Recommendations for Financial Brokers, Strategic
Service fee reporting ready
Multi-channel ready
Consolidation of services
Ireland will be subject to the IDD
directive which may impact the
commission system*. Financial
Brokers need to be prepared for
this in their work practices and
their choice of technology. An
ability to efficiently provide
customers with current state
financial reports and a clear
breakdown of effort will be key
components in justifying fee’s.
Financial Brokers should
consider the changing
demographic and requirements
of their customer base.
Compliance and administration
will continue to be costly for the
Financial Boker community for
all but the most efficient. Small
Financial Brokers will find this
hardest to manage.
Engage with CRM companies
and Life companies to ensure
that suitable supports are in
place which may include single
client view dashboards and
demonstrable audit trails of
effort.
Customer expectation is
changing and multiple touch
points with regular engagement
is expected. The multi-channel
market is already active and
Financial Brokers need to ensure
that they are an integral part of
this by working proactively on
their social media strategy and
internet presence.
PwC | December 2015 * This does not constitute legal advice.
Financial Brokers may consider
consolidation of back office
services with other similar
operations while still
maintaining their customer
facing independence.
Customer segmentation
Financial Brokers should
consider formalising their
approach to customer
valuation and segmentation.
Financial Brokers should
investigate segmenting
customers by number of
interactions, duration of
interaction and annual
revenue from the customer.
Focus time on the most
profitable customers and
reduce effort on less
profitable customers who
impact overall efficiency with
limited return.
36
Recommendations
Recommendations for Financial Brokers, Technical considerations
Automated Fact Find
E-signature
Financial Brokers should
consider use of
automated ‘Fact
Finds’, allowing
customers to complete
this in advance of a
meeting thereby
reducing administrative
time and increasing time
available to understand
the customers position
and needs. The accuracy
of these forms tends to
be better when
completed on line. This
reduces errors and
rework later in the
process.
Assess technology to
gather customer
signatures
electronically at the
point of sale. This
facilitates faster
processing of application
forms. The majority of
insurance companies
have indicated that they
are open to accepting
forms with this kind of
signature and many
encourage it. Compliance
needs to be considered as
part of this assessment.
Invest strategically in
CRM tech
Document storage
Consider strategically
invest in CRM
technology. The core
investment is not
money but time.
A single primary
document source will
reduce version control
issues and ambiguity of
completeness.
Invest in the tools which
will improve efficiency
in your business and
spend the time to
become expert in them.
This means dedication
of time up front in
formalised training and
repeated use of the
system to engrain
familiarity with the
system and its
functions.
Investigate the backup
functionality and
recoverability on a cloud
based system. Confidence
in the back up processes
and robustness of your
chosen storage systems
will allow greater
efficiency in how you use
them.
Self service portals
Financial Brokers should
consider opportunities to
make customers self
sufficient. Customer self
service portals for
administrative tasks will
improve efficiency and
assist Financial Brokers in
moving their value
statement to ‘Expert
Advice’ and away from
gatekeepers of data. Some
CRM providers can already
assist with customer self
service options.
PwC | December 2015
37
Recommendations
Recommendations for CRM providers
Close to the Customer
Compliance
CRM Providers should consider the
changing demands of the Financial
Brokers customers and provide increased
integration with social media.
Compliance has been noted as the primary
requirement of the CRM systems by
Financial Brokers.
It is also necessary to provide Financial
Broker customers with access to
functionality that was previously limited
to the Financial Broker. Customer
portals allowing self service for basic
valuation and portfolio overview will be
an essential tool to Financial Brokers
servicing a client base with higher
expectations regarding access and
engagement.
PwC | December 2015
While compliance can never be fully
automated, CRM tools should be
developed with functionality that supports
efficient administration, workflow and
compliance control checklists and
related exception reporting.
Providers should work closely with
Financial Brokers and the PIBA
compliance team during development.
Where this functionality is in place, it
should be emphasised in training.
Training
Increased training for Financial Brokers
on the functionality available is
necessary. It was noted in both the
survey and focus groups conducted by
PwC that Financial Brokers, as a whole,
are unaware of many features that exist
in the current systems. It is
acknowledged that this is not driven
solely by a lack of training but also
inadequate investment of time in
learning the systems.
Training should be regular, tailored and
focused on areas that present the biggest
efficiency gains to the Financial Broker.
If the training currently being offered is
not proving effective, different
methodologies need to be
examined such as theme based
workshops with smaller groups.
Recommendations
Recommendations for CRM providers
Data Integration
Rekeying of data is inefficient use
of time and increases potential for
error. CRM companies should
consider methods of reuse of data:
• Data from automated ‘Fact Finds’
could be utilised in other areas
where similar data is required e.g.
automatically populate the
primary elements of on line
application forms.
• Address change data could be
sent to life companies to allow
update on their systems.
Financial Broker engagement
Engage with Financial Brokers and
other industry specialists during
development.
The Financial Broker community is
vast in its numbers and hence
leverage of the PIBA is vital to
ensure that developments
represent Financial Broker
requirements and are understood
by Financial Brokers.
Intuitive tools
Provide intuitive functionality to
assist compliance and workflow.
It has been noted that Financial
Brokers have not invested adequate
time to be expert in system usage.
However, CRM providers need to
carefully consider the user
friendliness and intuitiveness of
their offerings particularly considering
the time pressures and age profile of
many of the Financial Broker
community.
CRM companies need to work with
Life companies to develop
methodologies that reduce the
administrative burden on the broker
community.
PwC | December 2015
39
Recommendations
Recommendations for Life companies
Standardised dataset
An industry wide agreement on a
core set of data to be provided to CRM
providers is needed. This model is
already in place in other markets like
Australia with the External Platform
Interface Standard. It would likely
reduce development costs on Life
providers as they will not need to
develop different data extracts for each
CRM provider.
It would also benefit CRM providers as
consistency in their data feeds would
allow improved automation of there data
upload and thereby reduce the valuation
lag between CRM tools and Life portals.
PwC | December 2015
Financial Broker Engagement
Engagement with the Financial
Broker through the development
process is key to ensuring efficient
work practices and to ensure that
Financial Brokers remain committed
to the offering of the Life company.
View system upgrades from the
Financial Broker’s perspective
and remain conscious of the
changes and disruption that
upgrades can have on the Financial
Broker’s workflow. Engage with
Financial Brokers during the design
and development of technology
upgrades.
Mobile Optimisation
Mobile optimisation is a necessary step
in assisting Financial Brokers in being
more efficient as many are now
working with mobile devices such as
tablets.
Use of digital style signatures
should also be encouraged which will
allow the Financial Broker to collect a
signature on a tablet device when
working with the customer.
40
Recommendations
Recommendations for Life companies
Integration of online payments
Direct Debit forms and cheques
contribute to Financial Broker
inefficiency as these documents go
missing or can be incorrectly filled
out.
Increased integration of online
payments by use of tools such as
Stripe, Paypal, on line EFT portals
or on line Direct Debit mandates
would greatly reduce inefficiencies
for all parties involved.
PwC | December 2015
Online Applications
Life companies should continue with
their move to automated on-line
application forms. Many providers
have completed this for straight
forward protection policies, have
incentivised Financial Brokers to use
these and have reaped the benefits of
greatly reduced processing time and
cost. Extension of this to more
policy groups is key to improving
efficiency for the Financial Broker, the
Life company and the customer.
41
Appendix
Survey data
PwC | December 2015
42
Survey- Results
1: How many people including directors, principles, and partners are in your office?
(Decimal fractions are permitted to account for part-time staff and employees)
Average
Complete sample
< 3 employees
>= 3 employees
3.3
1.5
5
2: How many employees are administrative and how many are client facing?
(Decimal fractions are permitted to account for part-time staff and employees/sole traders completing both functions )
Answer
Administrative
Client-facing
Complete sample
<3 employees
>= 3 employees
Average Value
Average Value
Average Value
1.86
0.73
2.92
2.82
2.12
3.49
3: Approximately, how is your business split between Life and Protection, Pensions and Investment business? (%)
Answer
Life and Protection
Pensions
Investment
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
<3 employees
>= 3 employees
Average %
Average %
Average %
39.84
41.74
38.02
34.71
34.53
34.87
25.66
24.15
27.1
43
Survey- Results
4: What is your approximate annual gross turnover?(€) (Please note that no specific broker information will be released).
Complete sample
< 3 employees
>= 3 employees
Min
€
€
€
Max
15,000
€
15,000
€
70,000
€
Median
6,000,000
€
550,000
€
6,000,000
€
Average
140,000 € 216,735
100,000
€ 118,214
250,000 € 396,547
5: How long (on average) does it take to set up the following products (advice and administrative effort)?
Complete sample
Question
Life and Critical Illness
Pensions- Company Pensions
Pensions- Small self-Administered
Pensions
Pensions- Standard PRSA
Pensions- Non-Standard PRSA
Investment- (bonds, trackers, etc)
Income protection
PwC | December 2015
>= 3 employees
Administr
Administration
Administratio Advice ation
Advice
(Hours)
Advice (Hours) n (Hours)
(Hours) (Hours)
(Hours)
2.62
2.17
2.85
2.27
2.41
2.08
3.19
3.6
3.28
3.81
3.12
3.41
2.42
1.89
1.99
2.71
2.33
2.56
1.84
1.97
2.88
2.35
<3 employees
2.29
1.89
1.8
2.59
2.4
2.21
1.93
1.87
2.81
2.59
2.54
1.89
2.17
2.83
2.27
2.89
1.76
2.07
2.94
2.11
44
Survey- Results
6: Which of the below takes up the most time? (Drag and Drop to re-order 1-8, 1 being heaviest to 8 being lightest workload)
Complete sample
Compliance
Fact Find
Report Writing
Research
<3 employees
Fact Find
Compliance
Report Writing
Research
>= 3 employees
Compliance
Fact Find
Research
Report Writing
7: Please estimate your time spent between the functions listed below? (%)
Revenue generating work
Administration and compliance
Marketing
Complete sample
<3 employees
>= 3 employees
Average Value
Average Value
Average Value
38.17
38.59
37.77
49.74
49.26
50.21
12.09
12.16
12.02
8: Approximately, How many clients do you have?
Min
Complete sample
< 3 employees
>= 3 employees
PwC | December 2015
Max
10
10
54
Median
22,500
1,500
22,500
400
300
550
Average
769
364
1330
45
Survey- Results
9: How many clients do you review on an annual basis?
Min
Complete sample
< 3 employees
>= 3 employees
Max
Median
5.00
5.00
10
Average
3,800
150
207.60
1,100
100
123.97
3,800
200
302
10: Can you segment your clients into the following criteria; (% of your turnover in each)
Answer
Complete sample
Average Value
High net worth individuals
(&euro;500k+ funds under
management)
Personal Customers
Small businesses (Under 5 employees)
Medium size businesses (Greater than 5
employees)
<3 employees
Average Value
>= 3 employees
Average Value
14.48
62.76
13.58
13.27
66.35
12.62
15.64
59.33
14.5
9.27
7.75
10.72
11: Do you use a centralised system for the collation of product information? E.g. Best advice.
Answer
Yes
No
Total
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
87%
13%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
86%
14%
100%
88%
12%
100%
46
Survey- Results
12: Do you use a centralized system, CRM, for managing your customers?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
63%
37%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
49%
51%
100%
76%
24%
100%
13: If you do, which system do you use? (mark all that apply)
Answer
Free Quotes (Best Advice free term
quotes)
Omni Broker (Best Advice free
service)
Best Advice(paid service)
Adviserplus (paid service)
Omni Broker Advance (paid service)
Money Advice (free service)
Money Advice (paid service)
Money Advice + CRM (paid service)
Voyant (cashflow planning)
Relay/ Wealth Track
Other- Please state
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
>= 3 employees
%
26%
28%
25%
37%
37%
20%
28%
3%
11%
25%
17%
8%
18%
43%
43%
20%
28%
5%
8%
18%
13%
10%
20%
34%
34%
20%
28%
2%
14%
29%
20%
6%
17%
47
Survey- Results
14: How satisfied are you that the data you find on these systems is accurate?
Answer
Very Dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Neutral
Somewhat Satisfied
Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
2%
4%
10%
17%
19%
41%
7%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
5%
5%
5%
16%
18%
42%
8%
100%
0%
2%
14%
18%
19%
40%
7%
100%
15: These systems are good value for money?
Answer
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Somewhat Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Total
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
2%
7%
12%
18%
28%
27%
6%
100%
<3 employees
%
>= 3 employees
%
4%
6%
17%
21%
22%
24%
6%
100%
1%
8%
7%
16%
33%
29%
5%
100%
48
Survey- Results
16: How likely would you be to check the data you found on the CRM against the Life Company portal?
Answer
Very Unlikely
Unlikely
Somewhat Unlikely
Undecided
Somewhat Likely
Likely
Very Likely
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
4%
7%
6%
14%
21%
21%
27%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
6%
9%
4%
17%
19%
25%
19%
100%
2%
6%
7%
12%
22%
18%
33%
100%
17: Do you feel this extra checking is:
Answer
Necessary
Unnecessary
Total
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
67%
33%
100%
<3 employees
%
>= 3 employees
%
66%
34%
100%
69%
31%
100%
49
Survey- Results
18: Which features do you use on the centralized system? Please rank them from most used to least. Please do not rank functions that you do not use.
(1 represents most used)
1
Complete sample
Product quotations
<3 employees
Product quotations
>= 3 employees
Product quotations
2
Product research
Product research
Single client view e.g including all products
and investments for that client
3
4
5
Single client view e.g including all
products and investments for that client
Product valuation
Compliance
Single client view e.g including all products and
investments for that client
Fact find
Compliance
Product research
Product valuation
Compliance
19: Which features would you like to use on a centralized system or CRM tool but are not available or are overly complex? (Please rank them from most
desirable to least, where 1 is most desirable. Please do not rank features that are not of interest to you)
1
2
Complete sample
Product research
Product quotations
3
Product valuation
4
Compliance
Single client view e.g including all
products and investments for that client
5
PwC | December 2015
<3 employees
Product research
Compliance
Single client view e.g including all products and
investments for that client
>= 3 employees
Product quotations
Product research
Product valuation
Product valuation
Single client view e.g including all products
and investments for that client
Product quotations
Fact find
50
Survey- Results
20: Which three features, if provided in an intuitive and practical manner, would most improve your operational efficiency? Please rank 1,2,3.
# Top
2
Complete sample
Product research
Single client view e.g including all products and investments
for that client
3
4
5
Compliance
Fact find
Product quotations
1
<3 employees
>= 3 employees
Product research
Compliance
Single client view e.g including all products
and investments for that client
Product research
Single client view e.g
including all products and
Product quotations
investments for that client
Fact find
Fact find
Product valuation
Product valuation
21: What is the likelihood of you relying on your CRM tool, assuming the functionality is available and intuitive, for being the sole point of retention for
your customer records e.g. completed application forms, fact find documentation etc?
Complete sample
Answer
%
Very
Unlikely
Unlikely
Somewhat
Unlikely
Undecided
Somewhat
Likely
Likely
Very Likely
Total
PwC | December 2015
<3 employees
%
>= 3 employees
%
6%
10%
5%
11%
8%
10%
6%
14%
7%
17%
5%
10%
14%
25%
25%
100%
16%
24%
20%
100%
13%
25%
30%
100%
51
Survey- Results
22: Have you been consulted by a CRM company regarding the development of functionality?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
39%
61%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
35%
65%
100%
42%
58%
100%
23: If Yes, was it; (mark all that apply)
Answer
In person
By telephone
Focus group
Survey
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
72%
36%
8%
8%
>= 3 employees
%
67%
56%
4%
11%
76%
21%
12%
6%
24: Does your CRM system integrate with your normal office tools such as; (mark all that apply)
Answer
Email
Word
PowerPoint
Adobe
Excel
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
78%
75%
16%
30%
57%
>= 3 employees
%
82%
74%
18%
37%
55%
76%
76%
15%
25%
58%
52
Survey- Results
25: Does your brokerage have a social media presence?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
49%
51%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
41%
59%
100%
58%
42%
100%
26: If yes, are you on; (mark all that apply)
Answer
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blogs
Discussion Boards
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
67%
43%
80%
20%
4%
>= 3 employees
%
64%
45%
76%
12%
3%
69%
41%
84%
24%
4%
27: What is the reason that you use social media? (mark all that apply)
Answer
Lead generation
Client retention
Improved brand recognition
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
41%
29%
94%
>= 3 employees
%
42%
21%
85%
41%
35%
100%
53
Survey- Results
28: Do you engage third parties to assist with the prominence of your presence on the Internet e.g Hubspot?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
19%
81%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
15%
85%
100%
24%
76%
100%
29: Does your investment in social media, whether valued by time or money, prove effective in the generation of value for your company?
Answer
Very Ineffective
Ineffective
Somewhat Ineffective
Neither Effective nor Ineffective
Somewhat Effective
Effective
Very Effective
Total
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
8%
12%
6%
43%
25%
6%
0%
100%
<3 employees
%
>= 3 employees
%
8%
6%
11%
52%
20%
3%
0%
100%
8%
18%
1%
36%
29%
8%
0%
100%
54
Survey- Results
30: Are all valuations that you require available on the life company sites?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
60%
40%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
63%
37%
100%
58%
42%
100%
31: Does the administrative overhead of product set up impact your investment advice? E.g. similar products are available from two life
companies but one has a more efficient portal for policy set up.
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
52%
48%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
53%
48%
100%
52%
48%
100%
32: Have you discussed operational issues with your broker consultant?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
66%
34%
100%
<3 employees
%
>= 3 employees
%
55%
45%
100%
76%
24%
100%
55
Survey- Results
33: If so, were you satisfied by their attempts to resolve these issues for you?
Answer
Very Dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Neutral
Somewhat Satisfied
Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
4%
6%
17%
26%
30%
16%
2%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
2%
7%
18%
25%
30%
14%
5%
100%
5%
6%
15%
26%
31%
17%
0%
100%
34: Have you been consulted by a Life company in the development of functionality for their on line portal?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
30%
70%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
22%
78%
100%
38%
62%
100%
35: If yes, mark all that apply.
Answer
In person
By Telephone
Focus group
Survey
Other
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
78%
12%
6%
16%
4%
>= 3 employees
%
65%
18%
6%
35%
0%
84%
9%
6%
6%
6%
56
Survey- Results
36: What is the likelihood of you relying on your CRM tool, assuming the functionality is available and intuitive, for being the sole point of
retention for your compliance records?
Answer
Very Unlikely
Unlikely
Somewhat Unlikely
Undecided
Somewhat Likely
Likely
Very Likely
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
12%
7%
7%
13%
14%
23%
23%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
9%
4%
6%
19%
15%
27%
20%
100%
14%
10%
8%
7%
13%
20%
27%
100%
37: Do you maintain your compliance records in hard copy?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
Complete sample
%
<3 employees
%
86%
14%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
91%
9%
100%
81%
19%
100%
38: Do you maintain your compliance records in soft copy?
Answer
Yes
No
Total
PwC | December 2015
Complete sample
%
74%
26%
100%
<3 employees
%
>= 3 employees
%
68%
33%
100%
80%
20%
100%
57
Survey- Results
39: If yes, are they stored: (mark all that apply)
Complete sample
<3 employees
>= 3 employees
Answer
%
%
%
Locally
63%
67%
Stored within a CRM application
26%
22%
Stored on a cloud based platform e.g
Dropbox, Google Drive,etc.
44%
47%
58%
31%
42%
40: Do you feel that there is a compliance risk in using current CRM systems and not cross checking with life company portals?
Complete sample
Answer
Yes
No
Total
<3 employees
%
66%
34%
100%
>= 3 employees
%
69%
31%
100%
%
63%
37%
100%
41: Do you understand the annual income from each of your customers?
Complete sample
<3 employees
Answer
%
%
I do not have formal numbers for
this, but I understand my customers
and their worth.
65%
I have a clear, documented and
formalised understanding of the
value of each of my customers which
allows me to segment customers
based on value.
19%
I don't know at a customer level.
16%
Total
100%
PwC | December 2015
>= 3 employees
%
64%
67%
16%
20%
100%
21%
12%
100%
58
Survey- Results
42: How do you generate Business? Do you feel any of these activities could be automated on a CRM system? (mark all that apply)
Word of mouth
Direct referral
Event sponsorship
Direct advertising
Marketing campaigns
PwC | December 2015
How do you generate
business?
163
153
40
41
51
Potential for CRM
Potential for CRM
automation? Yes
automation? No
(please tick either (please tick either yes
yes or no)
or no)
32
64
41
55
25
27
41
16
57
11
Total
Responses
259
249
92
98
119
59
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