Dissecting Sales Analytics in Insurance Salesforce ineffectiveness is often blamed on the CRM system; however, the problem typically resides in the way data is captured and interpreted. Measuring the means of sales is as important as measuring the ends, which often requires a change in organizational culture.

Executive Summary“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” — Lord William Thomson Kelvin

This axiom can be applied to all projects, IT and beyond. Take the case of CRM, where oftentimes system implementations are considered unsuc-cessful if senior leaders can’t see the impact of their investment on revenue or in an improvement in sales force effectiveness. Although quality leads are being generated and well-thought-out campaigns are in force as CRM systems replace spreadsheets, the fact that the sales force now has more time and ammunition to create healthy client relationships does not appear to bring the desired dividends.

However, a sales force’s ineffectiveness or inef-ficiency cannot be blamed on the CRM system. Managers need more intelligence to assess the activities of their sales forces to set performance standards that must be met or exceeded to keep the business meeting the expectations of all stakeholders. For instance, sales analytics can process sales activity data and deliver insights for the sales organization. It provides a level playing field for the sales force, since all metrics — right from simple KPIs such as number of client visits per week to complex patterns that highlight what really makes the visit successful — provide accurate information to management.

This white paper reveals how CRM data capture in the personal and casualty (P&C) insurance industry is a key lever for transforming the sales force, leveraging the successful experience of a leading global insurance provider. It also highlights KPIs that can be created to better understand the performance of account executives to help managers and executives fine-tune their sales strategies.

Account Executive/Agency InteractionIn the P&C insurance industry, the account execu-tive’s main objective is to recruit agencies and to provide guidance to enable them to quote policies to prospects and convert these quotes into new business. They perform various activities to train agency partners, guide them, motivate them, provide sales aids, etc. to help them achieve their objectives. They may go on joint sales calls, conduct sales planning for the year ahead, offer pricing schedules, provide marketing collateral, furnish customer analytics and business intelli-gence, offer discount details, provide new product training, progress reviews and motivation through rewards and recognition, as well as maintain a steady and effective relationship. Most sales calls are conducted with the idea of improving new business prospects and the number of policies in force. All data required to measure the effec-tiveness of an account executive’s time depend

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on the details associated with a typical sales call. The sales call serves as the single source of infor-mation for all that an account executive accom-plishes during routine interactions with his/her agencies.

Assessing Account Executive Time SpendTo record the details of a sales call, sales activity should be logged into the CRM system, including attributes such as agencies, employees, products, etc. that form the informational underpinning to qualify sales call effectiveness. Logging the attributes of agencies, such as their type or status, can provide deeper insights into how the account executive spends his/her time. For example, if the focus of the executive is to spend time on a particular segment of agencies, agency attributes can be used. Without a report specifying how

many agencies of a given segment are targeted, each account executive has to manually track his sales activities. This eats into time that the account executive could better spend working with his agencies. This is not the only area of focus. For the account executive, priorities often change. For example, one month or quarter the emphasis could be on promoting a particular product rather than targeting a particular segment of agencies. If

the account executive needs to again track this manually, it will reduce his productivity and can even lead to a loss of revenue for the whole company.

While the CRM system can record all this informa-tion, it cannot be held responsible if the account executive spends too much time on one agency visit or does not plan his visits properly. All the account executive’s best intentions notwithstand-ing, there is only one way to find out whether he is spending his time effectively. Interpretation of sales activities is paramount in determining how the account executive is performing. Once the account executive knows that everyone is expected to visit eight agencies in a day, there is no way he is going to waste time at any one agency. If there are any delays, management will surely hear about it as time spent at any

one agency will prevent the sales executive from achieving his overall objective.

Recording the InteractionWhen an account executive meets with his agencies, there are numerous parameters or attributes associated with the sales call. The sales organization’s goals will determine which attributes are most important, whereas others may be insignificant. Whenever a sales call is recorded, the account executive should enter the important values. For example, an executive who wants to coach the agency on cross-selling will capture data about how much time he spends talking about each product. Another executive who visits an agency to review sales progress may not need to capture that information. Common attributes include: duration of visit, agency/agencies visited or called, person responsible for the call, medium of call or visit, time and day of call or visit, the activity type, activity objective, activity category, etc. The amount of information that can be packed into this sales call record is vast, and almost all CRM systems available can capture these inputs.

Manually entering these values at the end of the work day might be overwhelming for an account executive, especially if he/she makes many phone calls or visits in a day. The sales call entry can be automated in a number of ways, depending on the infrastructure available:

• Partially prefilled templates can be used to fill in missing details about a routine call or visit.

• Integration with a contact center solution auto-matically generates activity records when a call is placed.

• Mobile apps allow executives to key in sales call details through a smartphone or tablet, offering increased flexibility and reducing dependency on terrestrial Internet connectiv-ity. For example, an account executive can key in an activity after finishing an agency visit.

• Scheduling a meeting with an agency can auto-matically create a sales activity record, which will require integration with an e-mail client (such as Outlook) beforehand.

• A call planning tool can automatically schedule activities as well as meetings with agencies.

The large global insurance provider we worked with created a “call-in” feature for sales execu-tives who do not need access to a system. This enables them to have an individual located in a low-cost location enter in their activity informa-tion for them.

The large global insurance provider we

worked with created a “call-in” feature for sales executives who

do not need access to a system. This

enables them to have an individual located

in a low-cost location enter in their activity information for them.

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In the ways described above, only certain variables need to be entered manually while others are prefilled. This will significantly cut down the time needed for entering the data.

A typical sales call might have the following infor-mational parameters (see Figure 1), some of which can be recorded in out-of-the-box fields provided in many CRM systems:

• Planned start date and time.

• Planned end date and time.

• Actual start date and time.

• Actual end date and time.

• Planned duration.

• Actual duration.

• Created by.

• Created date.

• Owner.

• Agency contacted.

• Objective.

• Sub-objective.

• Channel.

• Category.

Filling in the above fields can answer many questions if organizations create a basic data warehousing model for analysis and reporting.

Making Sense of CRM DataKey questions on the minds of senior leaders are: Which account executives are not meeting their daily activities goal, and what issues are plaguing them?

An overall assessment can be made using the simple KPI “number of activities per day.” For this value, phone executives will likely show higher numbers than field executives will. This KPI will provide productivity insights for each account executive. If the “activities per day” is six weekly visits to the office of agencies for a field executive and if an executive averages only four a week, that discrepancy could automatically raise a flag. If nothing else, this data will be helpful in triggering an analysis into what is going on with the executive. There could be various reasons – the average duration per visit to the agency might be more than the usual 60 minutes. If so, the executive might require training to plan his agency visits and to achieve the maximum result in the specific time period. Or, the executive might need to optimize the time spent travelling to different offices in his territory. This is a classic travelling salesperson problem. Many solutions or apps can provide the executive with the shortest route to cover all agencies. A third problem could be that planning is taking up an inordinate amount of the executive’s time, such as generating printouts, making handwritten talking point notes, collecting

Agencies

Products

Quotes

Sales

Employee

Geography

Date and Time

…..along with relevant information that qualifies the activity.

Account executive enters all activity details in CRM system…..

Awards & RewardsPromote the

Product

Progress Review

Agent Training

Joint SalesCalls

Sales Planning

Reports & Dashboards

Sal

es A

ctiv

itie

sA

ctivity Qualifi

ers

Figure 1

CRM Data Capture

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information from various IT systems or obtaining sales data from the finance system, past activity info from the CRM system, rewards info from the rewards master, campaign responses from the legacy campaign system, etc. If many executives are suffering from time management issues, then it is more likely a department- or company-

wide problem that could be addressed by automating certain business processes through system enhance-ments or through another solution.

The “number of activities per day” KPI played a signifi-cant role for the insurance provider we worked with to increase adoption of its CRM system by account executives. Since there was no measurement methodol-

ogy, sales executives were lackadaisical when it came to entering data in the system. Once they realized management expected a certain number of activities from them, and they saw how they could help inform higher-ups on their productivity, they readily embraced the system, resulting in a win-win for all.

The aforementioned example provides an insight into how data can help unearth root causes of problems either at the individual or organizational level. Additional examples of questions that can be answered by meaningful sales analytics include:

• How many performed activities were based on a campaign response? If the activity type or category is marked as campaign response through system-generated activities, the executive could be tasked with making a certain number of calls falling under this category.

• What drives the executive who has made more than 10 office visits in a day? While quantity is good, quality of the interaction should be con-sistently high and yield strong results, which makes it important to identify such anomalies. This could help determine the optimum number of visits.

• What requires an executive to visit the same agency twice on the same day? Here, the KPI being measured is the thoroughness of the interaction. Sales organizations can’t afford to have an incomplete interaction that must be rectified by a follow-up visit.

In certain organizations, there may not be much differentiation between field and phone or “inside” sales executives. This can give rise to many other performance indicators that compare the contact channel over a period of time, and determine whether an executive is able to balance his phone calls and office visits. There are also situations when an executive is tasked with conducting group trainings or Webinars involving multiple agencies that could be tracked and measured in a different way (see Figure 2).

Next Steps: Multidimensional KPIs Now the next stage is to extend and link activity data with various other modules such as products or agencies. Doing so offers many measurements that can provide invaluable insight into how executives are spending their time relative to corporate strategy or their individual targets. The following questions should be asked, based on the type of agencies or the segment of agencies contacted.

• Which established agencies were contacted more than once in a span of 20 days — taking into account the “actual end date” as the date for the activity? This provides insight into which established and self-reliant agencies are being contacted more than necessary, particu-larly when that time could have been better spent elsewhere.

• Which new agencies were contacted less than five times in their first three months with the company? This reinforces the fact that new agencies require more attention in their early days.

• Which day of the week yields the most activities? This offers insights into agencies’ preferences on when they would like to be contacted.

• What percentage of activities is being conducted on high-net-worth agencies? Depending on the product or state or the corporate strategy, focus is expected to be high on agencies in a prized segment.

• How much was the agency producing before the visit compared to after the visit? Sales call effectiveness can be measured based on how much business the agency brings, before and after. Furthermore, patterns can be delineated to understand why certain sales activities bring more revenue. Is it the person making the sales calls, the time of call, the location of the agency or a combination of multiple factors?

The “number of activities per day” KPI

played a significant role for the insurance

provider we worked with to increase

adoption of its CRM system by account

executives.

Apart from type and segment, there are many agency parameters that can be reported on, such as the agency’s geography, specialization, maturity, lifecycle stage, etc. Other examples of measurements involve the various attributes associated with a product. Yet other useful activity attributes, or associated dimensions, include geography, employee hierarchy, time and trending of the activity performance, activities performed on opportunities or leads and, very importantly, the financial data associated with agencies.

The list of attributes discussed above both for the activity and the agency merely scratches the surface. If so many relevant KPIs can be generated and so many significant business questions can be answered with this limited set of attributes, a more exhaustive list could dramatically expand the number of scenarios possible and the infor-mation available for decision-making — ultimately covering all aspects of a sales organization.

Other Data Uses

Apart from the analytical intelligence provided by these reports and dashboards, the afore-mentioned data capture and measurement techniques can also provide valuable informa-tion for operational excellence. For example, the insurance provider we worked with set up an

account executive dashboard to disclose how many additional activities — and of what type — were needed for an agent to meet his targets, scheduled to be updated every day. The company later realized significant increases in agent pro-ductivity since the dashboard revealed activities that individual agents did not have to focus on, while providing insights on where they stood and what they needed to cover.

Last but not least, the gathered data offers a historical record that can be used for data mining activities to calculate the ideal measures. For example, based on the last three years of data, the “number of activities per day” KPI embraced by our client revealed the ideal number of six activities for a field executive working in the state of California. This number can be refined due to regulatory changes or the cost of field visits or any other parameter, and hence a year from now this number could be reduced to four. So from time to time, such thresholds and ideal numbers could be altered based on the vast history of data available for mining.

Looking ForwardThis white paper offers examples of activity per-formance measures used at one of the world’s leading insurance providers. The company realized huge benefits from implementing an analytics

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Agencies

Products

Quotes

Sales

Employee

Geography

Analyze Simple Performance Indicators.

Develop Insights from Complex Patterns.

Help Plan Future Sales Activities.

Get Day-to-Day Operational Help.

Provide Summary Information for Mgmt.

Transactional data is moved from CRM system to the reporting tool to…

Date and Time

Figure 2

Making Sense of CRM Data

About CognizantCognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-sourcing services, dedicated to helping the world’s leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep industry and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With over 50 delivery centers worldwide and approximately 156,700 employees as of December 31, 2012, Cognizant is a member of the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 2000, and the Fortune 500 and is ranked among the top performing and fastest growing companies in the world. Visit us online at www.cognizant.com or follow us on Twitter: Cognizant.

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© Copyright 2013, Cognizant. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission from Cognizant. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

About the AuthorPradeep Baptist is a Senior Consultant within Cognizant Business Consulting. He is a seasoned advisor with over nine years of experience in business intelligence strategy, transformational initiatives and program management consulting in the CRM and business intelligence spaces. Pradeep has worked with leading Fortune 500 clients to help them address key reporting problems and align their strategies. He can be reached at Pradeep.Baptist@cognizant.com.

solution. Progress was slow, but as momentum grew the company built on its strengths. From

measuring sales activities, it graduated to measuring marketing activities that involved recruiting new agencies and converting opportunities. More about these measurement areas will be detailed in subse-quent white papers.

The bottom line of all this is how much power is inherent in measuring account executive work that was previously thought to be immeasurable. Given

the various types of sales calls or sales activities, or typical activities that the account executives perform, it becomes very important to measure and improve the productivity and thereby

provide the best customer as well as employee experience. While there are various ways to add activity details in a CRM system, what matters is what kind of details are captured with each activity — and this will depend on what senior management deems important to measure.

With only a limited set of agency attributes, it is clear how many pertinent questions can be answered. Not only can our approach answer crucial questions, but dashboards can be built to provide managers and directors with a full decision-support system. The resulting data can be used in many ways, from helping manage-ment-generated analytical intelligence, through providing assistance to individual executives day to day. Another option is to mine the data contin-uously to explore patterns that evolve and then refine the KPIs that are published in the reports and used to measure sales executive perfor-mance. This allows the reports to stay meaningful over the long term.

While there are various ways to add activity

details in a CRM system, what matters is what kind of details

are captured with each activity — and this will

depend on what senior management deems

important to measure.