Using Value-Ad’s Smart Allocation Method Aviva Singapore’s Outbound Call Centre increased sales by an average of 34.4% per month.
About Value-Ad
Since 2005 Value-Ad has been driving sales revenue through lead management.
With branches in Australia and South Africa, Value-Ad assists sales teams worldwide by matching the right lead, to the right salesperson, at the right time.
Value-Ad’s automated solutions have enjoyed successes in a number of industries including banking, life assurance, real estate, telecommunications and the motor trade through an in-depth understanding of the salesperson and the various steps of the sales cycle.
About Aviva
Aviva is the largest insurer in the UK, with large businesses in selected markets internationally. Their products help 34 million customers worldwide enjoy the peace of mind that comes from managing the risks of everyday life.
In Singapore, Aviva is one of the leading providers of retirement, investment, insurance and health solutions. One of its main distribution modes is bancassurance, via a strategic partnership with one of Singapore’s largest retail banks.
In January 2012, Aviva launched a call centre to sell credit protection plans to the bank’s credit card and cash line customers.
Key Challenges for Aviva’s Call Centre
Traditionally the bank provided leads classified into different segments, and these were evenly distributed between the Telesales Representatives (TSRs).
Some of the difficulties experienced were:
- Premium growth of sales had stagnated;
- TSR performance varied significantly even though lead segments allocation was equal;
- TSRs were unable to prioritize which leads to call first and
- The “look and feel” of leads assigned to each TSR varied greatly.
- Pending implementation of “Do Not Call” List.
Value-Ad’s Bestpair™ Solution
To overcome the above challenges Aviva implemented Value-Ad’s Bestpair™ method into Aviva’s call centre in June 2013.
Value-Ad’s Bestpair™ is based on the premise that each TSR is more successful selling to certain types of customers than others. Therefore by determining the types of leads each TSR is better at, these lead types can be selected and assigned to each TSR going forward. Getting the right lead to the right salesperson results in increased closing ratios and revenue.
To demonstrate, in the graph we have compared the profiles of two salespeople (TSR1 and TSR 11), when applied to the same 12 000 prospects.
Each circle represents a lead and each axis indicates the probability a lead will be sold to by that salesperson (either TSR 1 or 11), i.e. the position of a particular lead represents its probability of success with reference to each TSR.
The closer a lead is to probability of 0 (bottom left corner), the less likely either salesperson can sell to them.
When assigning leads we would select leads to assign to TRS11 from the top/shaded triangle and select from those in the white/bottom triangle to assign to TSR 1.
Pilot Testing
Initial testing of Bestpair™ for Aviva was conducted as below to determine how best to optimize their sales results.
Run on a risk-and-reward basis and using existing Aviva resources, Aviva was not liable for any upfront set-up or implementation costs to Value-Ad. No sensitive client details were revealed, no training was required, and results were quickly evident.
Stage 1 – TSRs Mathematically Profiled
Past sales of each of the TSRs were analysed to determine the type of customers successfully sold to previously. This analysis gives Value-Ad an idea of the kind of leads to assign to each particular TSR in the future. The more current this information is the more accurate the TSR’s profile will be as profiles evolve as the TSRs sales experience and behaviour does.
This process was carried out offline and did not impact the workings of the team or result in any downtime.
[Unfortunately, as can be seen from initial results below, testing revealed that the information the first TSR profiles were based on was not recent enough.]
Stage 2 – Leads Allocated to TSRs
Leads provided by the bank were compared to the compiled profiles of the TSRs and leads assigned accordingly.
Value-Ad followed Aviva’s guidelines and business requirements when matching leads to TSRs. For example, this included how many leads were assigned to each TSR.
Value-Ad’s allocation was also configured to increase the closing ratio of the team as a whole, not just a few individuals.
Stage 3 – Sales Results Measured
In order to measure the effectiveness of Bestpair™, the leads were split into two groups:
- The control group (Group A) consisted of 30% of the leads and were distributed in the same random, uniform manner as before.
- The matched group (Group B) consisted of the remaining 70% of the leads and were allocated using Value-Ad’s Bestpair™ method.
TSRs were unable to tell whether a lead had been allocated to them “smartly” or randomly so worked the leads in the same way.
A control group is always included whenever Bestpair™ is implemented. By measuring the closing ratio of the control group Aviva was able to determine if the control strike rate was in line with strike rates achieved historically. This would indicate that changes in the matched group strike rate were only due to Bestpair™ and no other factors.
The effectiveness of Bestpair™ was then calculated by comparing the closing ratio of Group A with the closing ratio of Group B.
Initial Testing Results
For this initial test the closing ratio of the control group of leads was greater than the Smart Allocated leads. Not good!
This was primarily because the TSR profiles had been compiled with old data which meant that they did not reflect current sales patterns. Hence the leads assigned to the TSRs were not the most suited to them at this time. This factor was particularly unforgiving for this team as it reflected the TSRs’ sales profiles from when they were all very inexperienced.
Value-Ad addressed this by rebuilding the TSR profiles using more recent data to reflect current selling strengths and weaknesses.
Value-Ad also requested that the bank supply more leads than required so that Value-Ad had more allocation options.
Implementation
Bestpair™ was reconfigured taking the pilot’s findings into account and implemented as follows:
- TSR Profiling – The TSRs were re-profiled with recent data.
- Lead Allocation – Value-Ad selected and allocated leads from the larger list provided by the bank. Leads were also ranked so that TSRs could contact them in order of priority.
- Measurement – Once again 30% of the leads were allocated randomly as a control group and 70% were allocated using Bestpair™.
Results
Aviva’s sales strike rate increased by an average of 34.4% per month between October 2013 and June 2015.
“In December 2014 the percentage uplift between the control group and the match group was a staggering 65.2%.” – Derek Raper, Head of Direct Marketing, Aviva Singapore.
These results are highly significant as a lift in strike rate of even just a few percentage points makes a profound difference to any call centre’s bottom line. Especially when using existing resources.
Summary
Using existing resources Aviva’s sales were increased by an average of 34.4% between October 2013 and June 2015 with Value-Ad’s Bestpair™.
To do this Value-Ad mathematically profiled each TSR to determine which customers they are most successful with and then assigned these types of leads to each TSR. A control sample meant that the effect of Bestpair™ could be measured, and also so that Aviva could ascertain that all other factors were equal and that the call center was operating as before.
Critical success factors included building the TSR profiles on recent past sales data to ensure accuracy, as well as having a large pool of leads to allocate from.
Value-Ad was compensated on a risk-reward basis. No client-sensitive data was required by Value-Ad, there was no downtime or training of staff, profiling was conducted off-site, DNC list challenges were overcome and the allocation model incorporated Aviva’s business objectives and goals.
To start making more out of your outbound sales calls today, contact Value-Ad now to arrange an obligation-free chat.