Insurance - Advanced Benefit Advisors, Inc.

Vertical Industry: Insurance

Customer: Advanced Benefit Advisors, Inc.

Customer Website: www.thinkaba.com

Customer Profile:

Advanced Benefit Advisors, Inc. (ABA) is a premier employee benefits consulting firm dedicated to reducing costs and improving the perceived value of employer’s benefits program. Their clients range from family-owned businesses with 100 employees to Fortune 100 corporations with more than 20,000 employees. For over 20 years, Advanced Benefit Advisors has specialized and focused on the mid and large case market and has built a reputation amongst its clients for providing progressive solutions, superior customer service and as a true advocate for cost management, claims analysis and incredible technology, all backed by a “we’re in this together” approach.

Business Situation:

ABA’s previous SalesLogix Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system was implemented several years ago and proved invaluable in helping them define and optimize their internal processes, as well as centralize the core data and relationships most important to their agency. However, the CRM application and underlying platform was inflexible and somewhat cumbersome from an end user and client customization standpoint. System changes were difficult to make and oftentimes required a significant investment in both time and money. More importantly, it wasn’t easily accessed from the web, and the integration with Microsoft Office, including Outlook, seemed especially challenging for the end users. Commission tracking seemed to be an ongoing concern of the firm as well. ABA decided it was time to invest and migrate to a more flexible web-based CRM solution that was more user friendly, had a lower cost of ownership, and would allow them to mold the system to their current needs and grow with them as their future business needs changed.

Solution:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
http://crm.dynamics.com/

Partner:

AbleBridge Inc
http://www.ablebridge.com

Partner Solution:

Benefits Broker Advantage™ for Microsoft Dynamics CRM
http://www.ablebridge.com/crm/insurance

Solution Overview:

ABA relies on an exclusive mix of insurance product specialists, their in-house underwriting staff, financial instruments and insurance carrier resources to help them plan, implement and administer competitive employee benefit programs for their clients. In keeping with their highly renowned reputation of always focusing on their clients’ needs, ABA recognized they needed to design a more streamlined way of managing both the direct and indirect relationships they have with their clients. So in addition to managing direct client information around policies, carrier plan information, service cases and tracking communication specific to those direct client relationships, ABA focused on building internal efficiencies around tracking incoming carrier and outgoing producer commissions, sales and marketing, operational workflows and employing rich reporting metrics and capabilities. By optimizing their agency’s operational effectiveness they quickly realized the indirect benefits this had for their clients. They have been able to focus on more strategic initiatives which has laid the foundation for more pro-active client communications and strengthened relationships. It is this approach that will allow ABA to reach new levels of profitability and agency success by delivering newfound incremental value to their clients.

One daunting task ABA was previously faced with was managing the myriad of different benefits plan summaries and options offered by each Insurance Carrier. The number of Insurance plan products and variations of those plans made for a daunting task when it came to renewals, marketing and pro-actively presenting cost effective plan options for new, existing and prospective clients. Now with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Benefits Brokers, ABA has instant access to all the plan information they need to pro-actively manage their existing customer renewal options, benchmarking a specific client’s program compared to other clients and provide better insight into plan comparisons and quickly produce RFP’s for prospective customers. Most importantly, they have the flexibility to manage the plan information and terminology that makes sense to their clients. A near term goal is to present this plan information through an external facing portal so each employer can offer their employees a quick view into the different plan options they have available. Ensuring employees understand and have the power to manage their benefit plan information is important for most employers and this is just another example of the value ABA can offer their clients through the power and flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The Value of Partnership:

When Advanced Benefits Advisors decided it was time to migrate off their existing SalesLogix CRM system and onto a more flexible web-based platform integrated with Microsoft Office, they turned to the vast, worldwide network of Microsoft Partners to help them realize their vision of ABA’s ideal agency management system. They identified AbleBridge, a Microsoft Gold Partner headquartered in Massachusetts, as a great fit to help them through their migration process. AbleBridge had deep expertise in the Insurance industry and Microsoft Dynamics CRM was their core focus with a long track record of successful implementations across a variety of industries. AbleBridge, also a Microsoft Independent Software Vendor (ISV), had another unique value proposition in that they already designed a vertical template geared specifically towards managing the common relationships important for most Insurance agencies that are focused on delivering employee benefits products. AbleBridge worked with ABA to identify their specific business requirements and used their industry template, “Benefits Broker Advantage for Microsoft Dynamics CRM” as the baseline for ABA’s specific configuration requirements. AbleBridge guided ABA through the implementation process which included milestones for business requirements, data migration, installation, training and post implementation support.

 
ABA valued the merit AbleBridge provided as a Microsoft Partner to help them realize a smooth transition to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, but they furthermore recognized the value in the commitment Microsoft has behind their business line of Dynamics products, including their flagship Microsoft Dynamics CRM product. Knowing their investment in Microsoft Dynamics CRM would yield benefits for many years to come proved invaluable for ABA. Also, the fact that most of their internal infrastructure is based on Microsoft technology made the decision that much easier. The last thing they wanted to worry about was having any unrelated software upgrades affect their use of CRM. With Microsoft, they know compatibility with other Microsoft technologies will be a forethought in future Microsoft Dynamics CRM releases and upgrades, rather than an expensive afterthought.

The migration to Microsoft Dynamics CRM has proved very successful and ABA is extremely pleased with the outcome. The ability to have a 360 degree view of their clients while streamlining their existing business processes has created an intuitive work environment for all of ABA’s employees. The integration with Microsoft Outlook also allowed their employees to quickly ramp up from a training perspective. The fact they can capture information sent and received in e-mail messages right in CRM allows them to work in an environment they are already familiar with and is incredibly trouble-free.

About AbleBridge

AbleBridge specializes in helping companies streamline their business operations and improve business results by leveraging the features and capabilities of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform. AbleBridge’s consultants have more than 30 years combined experience in the CRM industry. This expertise, in conjunction with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, helps them affordably tailor a solution resulting in increased sales, improved customer connections, enhanced productivity and greater business agility.

AbleBridge's Core Competencies include: Needs Analysis, Business Process Management, Installation and Configuration, Data Migration, Customization, .NET Development and Training Services.

About Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM gives every customer-facing employee the information they need to truly impress customers. With Microsoft CRM, you can create a centralized repository of customer data that sits neatly alongside Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Outlook—the applications your employees probably use every day. From Outlook, employees access Microsoft CRM sales, marketing, and customer service modules to make sales decisions, market products, solve problems, and get strategic views of the business. It’s CRM that works - because it works the way your users already do, works the way your business already does, and works the way technology should.

About Benefits Brokers Advantage™ for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Designed for the Employee Benefits Brokerage Insurance industry, Benefits Brokers Advantage™ provides your Agency with a 360° view of your clients streamlines your existing business processes and arms you with a true competitive advantage. Built on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 platform, Benefits Brokers Advantage™ is a web based solution which integrates directly into Microsoft Outlook and is a natural extension of Microsoft Office, providing a familiar and intuitive work environment that fosters user adoption and productivity. Benefits Broker Advantage™ is a flexible tool designed to help automate and organize tasks and information important for Agencies focused on providing Employee Benefits solutions.