UNION BANK SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Presentation on Case Study of MERILL LYNCH : SUPERNOVA

BY

Abhishek Soni KNV Chinna Rao V.B.Sahay Kamlesh Tiwari Yuvaraj Dhage
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MERRILL LYNCH
Established in 1907 The prominent financial management and advisory company serving governments, institutions and investors throughout the world. Delivering services to individual clients (retail brokerage) through stock broker and financial advisors (FAs) Merrill Lynch places client relationships first and is proud to conduct or business based on five unwavering principles: Client Focus, Respect for the Individual, Teamwork, Responsible Citizenship and Integrity.
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MERRILL LYNCH BEFORE SUPERNOVA

Financial Advisors(FA) Merrill Lynch delivers their services through FA Customer interaction Only when the customer calls Compensation for FA Share of revenue or % of revenue generated from annuitized

How FAs work Customer acquisition is prime goal

What others feel about Merrills (FAs) Best in the market
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CUSTOMER SERVICE BEFORE SUPERNOVA

Three aspects of relationship critical to client satisfaction: 1. The frequency and quality of product 2. Rapid response to problems 3. Attention to details( Personal Life events)

Constraints of FAs before Supernova? Poor Communications with clients Lack of time to contact clients Unprepared, Unorganized and Reactive Hard to respond to problems quickly Loss of additional business
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SUPERNOVA
Why Supernova - Merrill Lynchs maximum FAs rarely contacted their clients to offer them new investment products, which actually create customer dissatisfaction. What is Supernova It is the name of business process to manage client relationships originated in Merrill Lynchs Indian-polis Office. Origin of Supernova It is a Idea of Rob Knapp, head of Mid West Dist office whose Customer Satisfaction ranked last among 32 dist in country in 1995 Object of Supernova To create the Ultimate client experience. What it look like? Then came
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12-4-2 Clients minimum annual contact

12 monthly contacts w/w 4 portfolio reviews and 2 face-toface meetings. Problems for FAs Large client base(avg. 550 per FA), Not organized, Time constraints, Changes in Supernova Financial Planning described as Segmentation Organization Acquisition
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SEGMENTATION
Appropriate number of clients 200 per FA based on different criteria. Clients minimum asset - $1 million at Marrill lynch Choice of client through a spreadsheet model What about other clients? Transferred to other FAs or Financial Advisory Center served through toll-free number
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ORGANIZATION
Supernova provides administrative support followed by help getting organized Administrative support through Client Associates by way of daily Folder System The Supernova service promise using 12-4-2, Segmentation, Organization guaranteed You will have a multi financial plan in place You will be contacted by FA at-least 12 times every year Response within one hour and resolution within 24 hours
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ACQUISITION
Each year FA to acquire some new high-quality clients Least promising clients to be transferred to other FAs or Financial Advisory Center

Now FAs find 2 to 4 hours everyday for client acquisition

Referral through existing prosperous clients

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PROCESS OF ADOPTING SUPERNOVA

Spread through road shows by users(FAs) Two part pitch to sell supernova
How good it felt to be delivering the ultimate customer experience Plan, Process and Discipline

Support for FAs adopting Supernova:

FA buy-in through road shows, persuasion by managers. Adopting supernova through segmentation, 12-4-2, organization and acquisition
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CHALLENGS IN IMPLEMENTATION
Economic backdrop Politics and recognition Follow up/support Client expectations Changing role of some FAs Misinterpretation Inclusion of Client Associates

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Discussion Points: outcome Customer focus initiatives

Adopting Supernova for excellent customer service

Customer satisfaction tracking

12-4-2 Formula

Customer retention initiatives

Providing improved continuous financial service through Supernova Model
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Discussion points: outcome

Service delivery design change Quick response with updated financial advise Customer understanding & service process Updated Folder System management Branding initiatives Supernova FAs
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Strengths
Proper work distribution Excellent customer service using 12-4-2 Organized working environment Segmentation of clients

Weaknesses
Dependence on limited customers Increased client expectations FA freedom decreased

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Learning Generated
The Case Study tells the need of Customer Service Excellence modeling for Customer Satisfaction. The mechanism of Serving Customer always requires improvement in service delivery design as per the need of hour. Become innovative & pro-active to implement service-

process like Supernova with 12-4-2 contact discipline, segmentation, organized for acquisition of Customer.
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