---- ------- - ---- ---- - - ---- -- --- @ customer relationships SIEBEL@ ==-=~=0

It's hard ro argue wirh success. But

when you're at the top of Fortune

magazine's prestigious list of most

admired companies... number one

in customer satisfaction ...and your

sales force has been called the best in

its industry by Sales and iHarketing

Management magazine, what do you

do for an encore'

"IBM and Siebel offered what we were

looking lor-functionality,

flexibility, an open architecture

and a long-term strategic direction..."

Cal Schmidt, IS Associate Director, Northwestern Mutual

For Northwestern Mutual, rhe

largest provider of individual life

insurance in rhe U nired States, the

answer is to find the best way to

deliver an ever-growing range of

products and services. In 1999, for

example, the company developed a

new customer service model sup­

ported by leading Siebel eBusiness

Applications running on the IBM

DB2" Universal Database:M

At rhe same rime, the company

has begun the process of automat­

ing its representative desktop,

in sync with the launch of the

Northwestern Mutual Financial

Network. Supported by Siebel

eInsurance running on IBM DB2,

this vast network of some 10,000

users will enable the business to

deliver a broader range of financial

services more efficiently to customers

than ever before possible.

Overview

Ch llenge:

• Implemenr a new cu tomer service

model to reduce the time Its sales force

spends on admimstral/ve tashs

• Automate its represenla/!V, deSKtop

while launchmg the Northwestern Mutual

Financial Network

Solution:

• SIebel Service

• Siebel Insurance

• IBM DB2 Universal Dslaba e

Benefits:

• Dehver broader range of

fmanclSI serll/ce

• Boost product/vlly and manage workflow

more effICiently

• Improve customer service

• Help prOVide reliable. fast data retrieval

WIth excellent sealab/lltv

ibm·siebel.com

Improving customer service

amid rapid growth

Norrhwesrern Murual started to

rethink its customer service model

in 1998. Ies scrategic objective: to

free the company's sales force to

concentrate on selling by providing

more support from home office staff.

As Cal Schmidt, IS Associate

Director, explains, "We knew our

work volumes were going to increase

over the next few years and we

wanted to unload as much of the

adminiscration from our sales team

as possible. For example, instead of

having them manage service requests,

we could handle requests through

our service center, distribute them

through Siebel Service ro the appro­

priate person and crack their progress

until the cusromers are satisfied:'

The success of the cransition would

depend largely on the choice of tech­

nology to suppon the new business

processes. In late 1998, Schmidt's

team reviewed a number of options,

and based on functionality, flexibility

and open technology, Siebel Systems,

Inc. won hands down.

"We weren't willing to compromise

OUt business processes to fit a tool

that didn't have any flexibility in

it;' says Jan Wagner, IS Assistam

Director for policy ownet services

sYStems at Nonhwestern Mutual.

"The openness of the Siebel archi­

tecture and how easy it was to inte­

grate with our legacy applications

and data - these were key factors in

our decision."

Another deciding factor was the com­

pany itself. As Schmidt points out,

"We looked at the financial scrength

of the company, the matket share and

the cultural fit. Siebel Systems came

out far ahead."

IBM participation is

a deciding factor

According to Schmidt, "The

IBM-Siebel alliance was also very

important to us. Our enterprise data

needs to be in a stable, secure and

consistently robust environment, so

we've chosen DB2 Universal Database

as our strategic database for Siebel

applications. IBM is going ro be

around for a long time, and we can

count on them to keep developing

and supporting DB2. Both IBM

and Siebel offeted what we were look­

ing for-funCtionality, flexibility,

an open architecrure and a long-term

scrategic direccion that matches

Out own. We felt they would give

us our best chance of meeting our

business goals."

Early on in the discussions, IBM

provided help in proving the scala­

bility of the Siebel platform on DB2

Universal Database. "IBM took the

initiative to benchmark our configu­

ration against the 10,000 amicipated

usets. This gave us added confidence

to move forward;' nOtes Schmidt.

At a later stage in the project, IBM

Toronto Reseatch Center assisted in

installing the database and integrat­

ing it with the Siebel application.

According to Jan Wagner, "IBM sup­

plied exceptional, expen personnel to

help insure a smooth implementation

of the Siebel environmem on DB2:'

Process improvements using

Siebel eBusiness Applications

and IBM DB2

The Siebel eBusiness Applications

rolled out on time and on budget

in July 1999 to Northwestern

Mutual's life and disability insurance

service units. In October 1999, the

project team added significant new

functionality for request distribution

management. Says Schmidt, "Ie

demonstrates the advamage of

Siebel's openness that we could

incorporate our own customized

discribution piece that's tailored

to our unique business tequite­

ments and operating environmem:'

Now, when a customer call or e-mail

comes into the centralized service

center, the customer service represen­

tative builds a case file within the

Siebel eBusiness Application. Papet

tequests are handled at the mail desk.

Whatever their source, requests are

forwarded online into the company's

distribution system. This system

assesses the availabili ty of all the

customer service representatives and

their current workload, and then

allocates the request to the appropri­

ate person's queue.

"We can track all the requests

coming in and the follow-up, so

we know whether they are getting

to the right person and moving

efficiently through the organiza­

tion;' says Wagner. "And, if the

request went through the Siebel

application, we can obtain visibility

on all the work that we're doing on

behalf of a customer or financial

representative."

Meanwhile, Northwestern Mutual

began a rebranding exercise that led

to the launch of the Northwestern

Mutual Financial Network. This

network btings together some 10,000

financial representatives, disttict

agents, associate agents and assis­

tants, as well as a range of financial

and legal specialists. The objective:

to offet Notthwestern Mutual CUSt­

omers a team of experts to help

them with their financial needs on a

broader basis, beyond life insurance.

"This kind of network is faitly unique

in the indusrry and we view it as

critical to our future success;' says

Schmidt. "Our main focus as a

company is to build long-term, long­

lasting relationships with our existing

policyowners by offering a broader

range of services than ever before pos­

sible, including estate planning and

trust services. We need to support our

financial tepresentatives with the best

tools possible or we will not succeed."

Faced with this challenge, Schmidt's

team looked at various ways to boost

efficiency on the desktop. Curtently,

the company uses a packaged solution

for client management called Contact

Partner from SunGard Insurance

Sysrems, formerly known as FDP.

While it offered strong functionality

in its specific area, Notthwestern

Murual wanted to build a compre­

hensive, integrated solution - what

Field Technology IT Manager Nancy

Bentley calls "a platform for integra­

tion not only across applications, but

across business rules."

"We needed a system that we could

use to integrate a number of pieces

of our sales cycle together to help

our financial tepresentatives become

more productive;' she explains.

"We're talking about geographically

dispersed people who need to share

information. That was a key driver

behind why we picked Siebel

eInsurance. Siebel provides the tech­

nology and the architecture we need

to create that type of integtated envi­

tonment. And IBM DB2 Universal

Database ptovides teliable, fast data

retrieval with excellent scalability,

enhancing its fit with Siebe!."

---- ------- ----- ---- - ---- - - ---

Building an end·to·end

architecture for sales automation

Northwestern Mutual reviewed

several oprions and rhere was one

striking difference rhar singled

Siebel eInsurance out from the rest.

As Benrley points out,"The focus of

mosr of rhe other packages rended

to be oriented to a specific funcrion,

such as client management. One

solution offered a very open archirec­

ture, bur ir didn't give us rhe func­

tionality we needed. Siebel gave us

rhe best of both worlds."

Norrhwesrern Muruallaunched

a pre-pilot version of the Siebel

solurion. Ultimately, rhe solution

will be rolled out to approximately

10,000 users. According to

Benrley, inirial user feedback has

been posirive.

"IBM supplied exceptional, expert

personnel to help ensure a smooth

implementation of the Siebel environment

on DB2."

Jan Wagner, IS Assistant Director, Northwestern Mutual

"Our Siebel eInsurance solurion

has been very well received in rhe

field ro rhis point. They really like

rhe business funcrionaliry rhey see,

as well as the ease of use and flex­

ibility to tailor it ro rheir own way

of working. Thar kind of flexibility

is very important when you have

10,000 users."

"Wirh IBM and Siebel Systems,

we have rwo very strong companies

thar have good technology and good

people;' adds Schmidt. "We're really

benefiring from their partnership in

these major implementations."

To learn m re a au pu ling he

IBM and Siebel all a ce to wor

for you vlSI! ibm·siebel.com

@Siebel Systems, Inc

Siebel Systems, Inc

2207 Bridgepolnte Parkway

San Mateo, CA 94404

Siebel and the Siebel logo are trademarks of

Siebel Systems, Inc. and may be registered in

certain jurisdictions.

Printed in the United States of America

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All Rights Reserved

Siebel Part # 10PlO-CS370-05620

==-=":"=@

©Copyright IBM Corporation 2001

IBM Corporation

New Orchard Road

Armonk, NY 10504

IBM, the IBM logo, DB2 Universal Database and

the e-business logo are trademarks or registered

trademarks of International Business Machines

Corporation in the United States, other countries,

or both.

Other company, product and service names may

be trademarl<s or service marks of others.

I

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