Companies in just about every industry are competing on the basis of the experience they deliver to increasingly demanding customers. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than in the insurance industry.
Danish insurer Tryg met this challenge head-on by using SAP SuccessFactors solutions to connect sales rep behaviors with positive customer experiences, then trained people in those competencies, ultimately boosting sales.
“With the SAP SuccessFactors solutions we can now break down what employees do on the job and drive their behavior in the right direction, in line with the company’s strategic goals,” said Steen Wung-Sung, Head of HR Technology at Tryg.
The results are impressive. Sales reps who scored above average on the sales competencies had 23 percent higher customer satisfaction ratings. The same employees generated 15 percent more sales than their colleagues who scored average or below. Overall, Tryg has increased sales by 25 percent since implementing the software.
Training Mapped to Measurable Outcomes
“Tryg” means peace of mind in Danish, which is exactly what people look for when selecting an insurance company. Headquartered in Denmark with 3,400 employees, Tryg’s strategy is to be the world’s best insurance company – for policyholders through an outstanding customer experience, for employees through excellent training and development, and for shareholders through good returns. But being the best requires a foolproof way to measure progress against targets. SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals, including 360-degree view assessments, has been critical in providing targeted training for defined goals and competencies, as well as testing its effectiveness.
“We needed a way to measure the competencies that produce a rise in Net Promoter Scores and higher sales. Then we could support more effective leadership by sales managers,” explained Wung-Sung.
Centralized Data Streamlines Info-Sharing for Insights
The most important requirement for the new HR system was the ability to consolidate information from different sources and generate insights to help improve sales and profitability. “That’s why we chose SAP SuccessFactors solutions,” said Wung-Sung.
The first step was implementing SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals, which provided sales reps with clearly defined goals and competencies. This allowed teams to define those competencies that had a direct impact on the customer’s experience during every interaction with Tryg. Using the data, decision-makers developed an impact matrix they merged into SAP SuccessFactors. They then created business and personal development goal plans around each sales driver.
The Tryg team followed this up by bringing in the SAP SuccessFactors solutions for compensation, recruiting management, and succession and development.
Leadership Benefits
According to Wung-Sung, using SAP SuccessFactors, sales reps at Tryg gained a better understanding of behaviors that had the biggest impact on their success as well as that of their customers. Just as important, the software freed up managers’ time for higher-value activities and greater productivity as they spent fewer hours on goal-setting and alignment, payroll and compensation.
The solutions also improved the quality of leadership. Managers now use the same criteria to evaluate and calibrate performance, making for consistent processes. Managers also received new mandatory goals, such as accompanying sales reps to client meetings, providing feedback, and having regular one-on-ones. “You can teach staff a lot of things, but if managers are not anchoring them and supporting the change of behavior, people will revert to their old behaviors,” said Wung-Sung.
Wung-Sung is equally enthusiastic about the SAP SuccessFactors Compensation solution that helped simplify processes. “We used to have a complex bonus and salary model, with many parameters coming from many systems,” he said. “We consolidated everything into the SAP SuccessFactors solutions. Everyone instantly saw how easy they are to use.”
Building a Culture of Success
The lesson for companies across industries is clear. Increased competencies drive better customer experiences, and better customer experiences drive sales. The results are amazing when leaders are able to measure how and when competencies and behaviors convert offers into a sale, and then manage to those competencies. “Now I can tell the finance department the ROI on training and how much we increased sales or improved the customer experience,” said Wung-Sung.
With approximately 80 percent of Tryg’s HR processes running on SAP SuccessFactors, Wung-Sung said the company aims to reach 100 percent, for even further cost-savings and business value.
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