A Single View of a Customer: The Business CaseBy Ajay Nayar, BearingPoint, senior manager. Financial Services, Strategy, Analytics and Warehousing Practice

C ompanies seeking to better under-stand tlieir customers are drivingtoward customer-centricity and new

ways of improving visibiiity of customerdata. Customer information is often wideiydistributed in various front-office and back-office systems, ft is not uniform acrosssources, and some of it is outdated.

One approach to addressing these prob-iems is to impiement systems and processesthat provide representatives with access to a"singie view of a customer" - a databaseincorporating ail avaiiabie information aboutcustomers, their policies and their reiation-ships with other covered individuals.Creating such a solution requires a solidbusiness case and organizationai support -and funding - for the initiative.

Here is a seven-step action pian forbuiiding a business case and support for anintegrated, enterprise-wide approach to cus-tomer information.

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Step 1: Identify and leverage projects alreadyapproved or funded.For many large enterprise-wide initiatives, funding is dearlydefined and the project is driven by the IT organization or a callfrom tlie top. That's not typically the case for a single-viewapproach that crosses multiple business lines, so you'll need toidentify creative ways to secure funding. Learn about other cus-tomer-related projects approved for implementation or that arealready funded. Customer relationship management and cus-tomer data integration strategies or projects merit specialattention. Also look for data quality, data mining or datawarehousing opportunities. Consider any efforts that assigncustomer scores to provide different service levels.

Step 2: Explore options to expand opportunitiesacross lines of business.Once you've identiiied opportunities in Step 1, explore theirapplicability and benefits across business lines and functions..Can the initiative meet the needs of auto as well as home-owner lines? Can it benefit underwriters as well as billing andremittance teams? For example, consider these scenarios;

Scmario 1: A aistomer calls a aistomer service representa-tive regarding an auto policy but has additional questions abouta homeowner policy. A single view of a customer solution couldprovide the needed information to answer these questions,

Scenario 2: An underwriter needs additional informationregarding the risk profile of a location and its occupants. To geta complete view, he or she can perform additional analysis onthe address or policy household (all parties linked to the cus-tomer via address or policy).

Scmario 3: The claims department is preparing to pay a per-sonal auto claim. A database search for workers' compensationclaims reveals that a payout for physical disability prevents theaistomer from driving an automobile. This case can now beescalated to the special investigations unit for flirther processing.

Step 3: Compile a high-level summary of solutionbenefits.Identify the benefits a single view of a customer solution bringsto each part of your company and get stakeholder feedback.Stakeholders include any person or group in your companythat relies on customer data, as well as anyone who'll beinvolved in solution implementation or can influence ^ e ded-sion-making process.

Involving stakeholders can help uncover additionalopportunities and performance issues that can be resolved with L1single view of a customer approadi.

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step 4: Identify champions.lii concert witli Step 3, identify solutiondiampiotis. Typically, tfiese employees adaptquickly to new. worthwiiile initiatives. Tlieyoften lead informal cxjmmuriication networksand are popular among peers. Once the proj-ect is funded, be sure to involve them aspart-time project members or in the commu-nications and change-management streams.

Step 5: Conduct analysis to under-stand the quality of customer dataacross business lines.Highlight data inconsistencies between sys-tems dnd sources, and identify improvementopportunities. Start with the stakeholdersidentified in Step 5, Some of their pain pointswill involve duplicate, invalid confliciirigand iintrustwordiy customer data - cus-tomers with ninflicting genders or socialsecurity numbers, for instance. Review aildata sources to provide concrete ex^amplesof discrepancies and duplications.

Step 6: Build a business case and atechnical and functional roadmap.The business case incorporates all infor-mation gathered in the previously listedsteps and provides a clear-cut picture ofthe solution benefits. It should highlightsavings opportunities, including metrics forreducing processing time.

AlthoLigb you may have difficultydemonstrating your solution's directimpact on top-line growth, include suchinformation in a qualitative rather thanquantitative disaission. Overall, your busi-ness plan and roadmap should show thatthe deliverables provide value in the short'term and clear business benefits.

Step 7: Lock in the long-term com-mitment and the budget.The business plan and roadmap are theprimary tools for securing solution sup-port and a multiyear budget. In seekingapproval and fiinding, use prototypes to

help familiarize stakeholders and decision-makers with the concept and show thatrequirements and scope are under control.These prototypes can be as simple aswhiteboard drawings or as complex as asmall-scale working application.

EXiring the process, periodically reviewyour organi7.ation's fundamental businessobjectives to be sure the)' haven't changed.Qieck with stakeholders along tlie way keep-ing them informed and aligned with the ini-tiative's overall direction. Once you've lockedin project lunding continue to identify addi-tional opportunities to expand the solution.

As companies learn how newapproaches to data management can bene-fit their businesses, the\' may welcome asingle view of a cu.stomer solution,FoOowing tliese seven steps to gain organi-zational support, build a business case andsecure funding can lay the groundwork forsuccess and help ttie drive toward cus-tomer-centricitv O

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