High-volume mailers seeking a competitive edge from customer communications are now using document composition and print image manipulation tools in tandem as a cost-effective way to improve customer satisfaction and grow the business.

A case in point is that of Manulife Financial, the large Canadian insurance provider, which has dramatically bolstered its core business of administering group retirement savings plans by improving the appearance, content and processing of its member account statements. As a result of its innovative statement re-engineering effort, Manulife Financial has boosted customer satisfaction across the board, lowered processing and mailing costs by more than 15 percent, and 'raised the bar' immeasurably for competitors.

A Desire to Grow Faster
Manulife Financial is already a leading Canadian provider of group savings arrangements and administers more than 5,000 different plans serving more than 350,000 members, according to Nancy Campbell, Marketing Manager, one of the principals behind the statement improvement effort.

But the insurer was anxious to provide members with more comprehensive financial planning information and felt constrained by the existing account statement. "Our member statements are a key service feature that is highly valued by all of our customers," says Campbell. These customers include:

• The producers who sell the service;
• The plan sponsors who want to help employees appreciate the value of the savings benefit, and minimize costs and administrative duties, especially in complying with fiduciary requirements; and
• The plan members or employees who want an easy-to-understand and concrete representation of an intangible long-term service.

The problem? Despite the importance of the statement to all involved, Manulife Financial realized that the content and appearance needed to improve along with the processing, which was handled manually and was costly, time-consuming and prone to error.

"We wanted a statement that worked better for both our customers and ourselves," Campbell continues. "We wanted to achieve a competitive edge, to help us attract new business and process our existing applications more quickly and with better integrity and lower costs. But we also wanted a statement that was more useful to our customers and better reflected the value of the retirement and savings plans."

Partnering with Specialists
A key first step was to engage Prinova Technologies, one of the premier document engineering and application development consulting and professional services firms in North America, and Simplified Communications Group, a leading document design firm specializing in financial and transaction-based communications.

"Like most insurance companies, we are very strong in IT and data processing, but we don't have niche expertise in the specific skills of statement re-engineering or the visual presentation of statement data ," says Campbell. "So we wanted to partner with the best to assure the success of our project."

Also critical to the success of the effort was a comprehensive application design session, which was sponsored by the Manulife marketing department. and involved everyone associated with the customer statement, including the outside consultants and the key functions of IT and data processing, customer service, and other stake holders.

"We spent two full days documenting Manulife Financial's current work processes and identifying the enhancements they wanted to add," says Steve Biancaniello, Vice President of Professional Services for Prinova.

Meanwhile, the consultants from the Simplified Communications Group took the lead in redesigning the overall appearance of the statement and worked very closely with the Manulife Financial marketing staff to develop how and where generic and customized messages would appear.

The result of the initial planning session was a comprehensive statement of work, which included timelines and detailed the various actions that were needed, who would perform those duties, and what additional resources, such as software, were required.

A Team Effort
"Clear communication and full cooperation are vital in these kinds of statement re-engineering efforts," adds Bill Broddy, Vice President of Business Development for Prinova. "For example, we've handled several of these projects before, so we know how to manage the process. But many of the specific elements, such as data extraction, must come from the client. And only the client's IT people know where to locate the most recent and accurate data from among the myriad data repositories that exist in any modern organization."

While personnel from Manulife Financial focused more on the intricacies of the internal data, the consultants from Prinova concentrated on the specific 1:1 messaging functionality that would be required, and how best to access those capabilities via the combination of StreamWeaver print stream engineering software and Dialogue™ 1:1 marketing software.

And together they developed the key procedures and business rules concerning the preparation of specific customer and marketing messages in both generic or dynamic form.

The StreamWeaver software from Pitney Bowes docSense was used principally to boost processing and postal efficiency by sequencing both mail pieces and applications, and to assure mail piece integrity. The Dialogue software enables the inserting of custom-tailored and generic messages, including text, graphic images, logos and highlight color, within the various static and dynamic 'windows' provided by the new statement design.

"Before, each statement was largely identical in format and extremely limited in the amount of variable information that could be included," explains Campbell. "Now, we have literally hundreds of variations and options and can transform each statement into the equivalent of a highly personalized newsletter."

At the macro level, the statement information can be presented in either French or English. It can also be tailored to meet the needs of a specific legislative jurisdiction, such as a province or state, or requirements concerning the nationality and residence of an employee, such as the case of a US citizen employed by a Canadian-based company.

At the micro level, the information can be custom-tailored to meet unique individual needs, including allowing recipients to choose the level of information desired and the frequency for receiving the statements.

The Manulife Financial marketing department has also crafted targeted investment messages, which can be inserted into the statements according to the age and type of investments held by members. These tailored messages help educate members about the risks and rewards of various investment styles.

Plus, these 'smart' messages are not limited to just issues related to pension or retirement savings plans. The Manulife Financial statement can also include other important information that may require employee notification, such as changes to HR policies.

These announcements can be easily accommodated in a special area of 'white space' that is reserved for just such information. Plus, the cost savings that come from eliminating a separate mailing just for the announcement can be significant.

There are also options concerning the merging of documents -- from complimentary group retirement and savings plans -- that are intended for the same recipient. These must be prepared separately for regulatory reasons.

But Manulife Financial can now combine any number of statements into a single envelope, and add a summary statement to provide members with a single, comprehensive overview of their total group retirement savings plans. And of course, the consolidated package eliminates the cost of yet
another mailing.

One of the hidden or unintended benefits of the entire re-engineering effort centers on the fact that the new Manulife Financial statement application is now completely self-contained and fully portable.

High Expectations
"Since the bulk of our processing work occurs just once a quarter," explains Campbell, "we outsource the activity to eliminate the need to invest in equipment and overhead. However, if our partners are unable to provide the quality and turnaround we need, it is now an easy matter for us to shift a portion or even the entire application to another site with as little as two weeks notice."

And to put some teeth in that ability to shift the processing work among various locations, Prinova used the StreamWeaver print stream engineering software to implement several audit procedures that serve to track mail piece integrity.

These automated procedures interact with the scanning capabilities employed on intelligent inserting systems and provide Manulife Financial with a detailed record of each mail piece as it progresses through the entire production process, and help pinpoint any causes for delays, errors or mismatches.

As for results, Manulife Financial is getting a mix of both short and long term benefits.

In the short term, the firm is benefiting from a reduction in processing and postage costs that exceeds 15 percent a year. There are other cost-related benefits as well.

For example, since the statement application is now completely automated, there is no need to focus management time and attention on the task of hiring, training and supervising the two dozen or so temporary workers that previously assembled the statements manually.

And since integrity is nearly flawless, complaints from members about mis-assembled or late statements have been virtually eliminated, which reduces the burden on the Manulife Financial call center.

Plus, the application is now processed more quickly, which means members can get vital financial data more promptly while Manulife Financial can provide plan sponsors with financially-backed service guarantees.

Longer term, Manulife Financial is benefiting from improved customer satisfaction, which is leading to stronger customer relationships.

First, the prompt and assured processing means members can now expect the timely arrival of their statement. Before, when processing was erratic, there was no way to know when the statement might arrive.

Second, since the information is presented more clearly and concisely, members are better able to understand and process the data. For example, calls requesting assistance with the content of the statement, or expressing confusion about 'what the statement means,' have dropped dramatically.

And third, the producers who sell the service and the employers who sponsor the group retirement plans both see the improved statement as a key competitive advantage. One leading producer, a major insurance brokerage firm based in Toronto, says the document is "no longer just a
statement, but an educational and communications tool." Other producers liken it to a powerful 'tie-breaker' in close sales situations while many sponsors see it as an invaluable 'morale booster.'

As for the future, converting the statements to digital delivery will be as simple as flipping a switch. The Manulife Financial statement application already has a built-in capability to divert the statements -- either by plan, sponsor or member -- to a variety of electronic delivery channels.

All that is needed is the word to go ahead from customers.

Testimonials
"Of the five major pension managers that we work with, Manulife has taken the lead in providing a highly customized, reader-friendly client statement.”
The Leslie Group

“I am the Payroll and Benefits Coordinator for our company. We just wanted to let you know the reports are fantastic. Our employee’s are finding the reports user friendly. One employee said he always threw his reports away because he could not understand them, but he did not do that this time! Thanks for your commitment and hard work – we sure appreciate it.”

“I got my new, improved statement from my staff RRSP in the mail last night, and it is fabulous. Frankly, it’s the best year-end statement that I’ve received from any financial service provider. Well done!”

“All I can say is WOW! I just received my new combined statement. Very impressive. I really like the design, it’s easy to read and has lots of great information.”

“I just received my RSP portfolio statement for 12/31/00… it is the best I’ve ever seen with respect to format, information and presentation. Congratulations to you and your team."

At a Glance
Key Resources in the Manulife Statement Re-engineering Effort

Prinova Technologies provides systems integration, consulting services and data processing support for firms engaged in high-volume document delivery, principally those in banking, finance, insurance and government services. Based in Toronto, Prinova serves both Canadian and U.S. firms and works closely with Pitney Bowes docSense. Prinova is a shortened form of the term 'Printing Innovation.'

Simplified Communications Group specializes in making printed and electronic business documents easy to use and understand. It also makes sure the documents reflect the brand image of its clients, support marketing goals, and meet systems, operating and compliance requirements.

The company writes and designs system-generated documents such as statements, legal documents such as insurance policies, and forms such as account opening packages. The firm is based in Toronto and serves clients in both the US and Canada.

Pitney Bowes docSense is the premier solutions provider for the creation and distribution of efficient and effective documents in paper and digital form.

StreamWeaver® print stream engineering software is used to automatically sequence more than 350,000 individualized statements and more than 5,000 separate application for optimum processing and postal efficiency -- including separating out jobs that require additional manual customization or distribution in bulk -- also helps assure mail piece integrity.

Dialogue™ 1:1 marketing software handles the inserting of custom-tailored and generic messages in both text and graphic format within the various static and dynamic 'windows' provided by the new statement design.

For more information on docSense products and services, please visit www.docsense.com

Dialogue™ is a product of Extream Software, Inc.