September 08, 2010 — Research done by Anova Consulting Group shows how properly training new, small-market plan sponsors is imperative for advisers and plan providers to achieve client satisfaction. —
The survey of 875 plan sponsors shows that new, small-market 401(k) plan sponsors (those that have been in the role for less than a year and have less than $10 million in assets under administration), are more than twice as satisfied with their providers as those who did not receive adequate training.
Richard Schroder, President of Anova, told PLANADVISER that financial advisers need to be aware that any kind of training they give to a plan sponsor is beneficial; whether it’s as simple as a phone call to inquire if they have any questions, or as involved as a full-blown seminar for participants–any personal connection at the start of the relationship can go a long way.
Schroder also emphasized that the sooner this training can be done, the better.
“If you can get that sponsor up to speed quicker, they will have fewer questions down the road. They might start to do paperwork wrong, have compliance issues, et cetera, and eventually it means more problems for providers and advisers down the road,” he said.
Advisers need to remember that specifically for a small-market plan sponsor, handling retirement plans is a very small part of their responsibilities; it’s up to the adviser to bring the topic to their attention. The sponsor needs to be aware of what kind of training is available to them. Schroder pointed out how the industry is constantly developing new features intended to make the job of being a plan sponsor easier; and while those products and innovations may be useful, they cannot replace proactive outreach, Schroder believes.
And perhaps the most relevant bit of research found by Anova – if a new plan sponsor does not feel he has the support from an adviser or a plan provider – another adviser can easily swoop in and offer to help sort through the process. The retention rates of advisers who take the time to train the plan sponsors is much greater than those who don’t have that connection.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrew Cloutier
Anova Consulting Group, LLC
(617) 731-1045
andrew@anovaconsulting.com
BROOKLINE, MASS., September 7, 2011 – According to a new survey by Anova Consulting Group, LLC, a leading market research firm in the financial services and human capital management sectors, small- market 401(k) plan sponsors who have a clear understanding of the roles of their service team members are 31% more likely to be satisfied with their providers than those who do not understand the distinct responsibilities of each team member.
Of over 2,000 small market plan sponsor survey respondents (with less than $10 million in plan assets), a full 34% said that they did not clearly understand the roles of their service team members. Those who said they fully understand service team members‟ roles and responsibilities reported an 83% overall level of satisfaction, compared with 63% overall satisfaction level reported by sponsors who were confused by service team roles.
“Our survey shows that the most successful retirement plan providers are those who have clearly defined roles across service team members and proactively communicate these roles to plan sponsors,” said Richard Schroder, president of Anova Consulting Group. “Service team role clarity is especially important in the small-plan market, where sponsors tend to be business owners (or appointed personnel) for whom administering the 401(k) plan is only a small part of their job description. They need to know whom to call to get their issues resolved quickly, and they have little time or patience to be re-directed after an initial inquiry.”
Another way in which having well-defined roles and responsibilities helps sponsor satisfaction is by setting clear service level expectations. The two areas in the survey in which satisfaction ratings suffer most when sponsors don‟t understand service team roles are “treats me as an important client” and “employee education materials and meetings”. Sponsors who clearly understand service team roles are 57% more likely to feel like they are treated as an important client and 55% more likely to be satisfied with their provider‟s employee education offering. “In situations where sponsor expectations have not been managed by the plan provider, sponsors are more likely to feel that their provider is not being proactive or helping as much as they could.” said Schroder.
An additional challenge in the small market is the prevalence of unbundled plans, in which the presence of TPAs can further complicate the service picture. According to Schroder, “It is especially critical for plan providers to have clearly defined service roles in unbundled situations. “Finger-pointing‟ among TPAs, FAs, and plan providers is a sure recipe for sponsor dissatisfaction.” Survey results show that unbundled plan sponsors are 24% less likely to clearly understand service team roles than their bundled counterparts.
In summary, Schroder stated, “This is an important finding because it is relatively easy for 401(k) plan providers to address. This survey shows that establishing clear roles in the service organization and communicating them to plan sponsors can be a cost effective way to significantly improve client satisfaction and retention.”
Established in 2005, Anova Consulting Group is a leading market research and consulting firm focused on Win / Loss analysis and client satisfaction Analysis. By helping its clients understand why they win, lose and retain business, Anova provides strategic perspectives to its clients, driving better decision-making, product development, sales effectiveness, client service, and continuous improvement. Last year, Richard Schroder, president of Anova, released a book about Win Loss Analysis titled, From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call (McGraw-Hill, 2011), which details how learning from post-sale Win / Loss debriefing helps close more sales.
September 7, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – According to a new survey by Anova Consulting Group, LLC small-market 401(k) plan sponsors who have a clear understanding of the roles of their service team members are 31% more likely to be satisfied with their providers than those who do not understand the distinct responsibilities of each team member.
Of over 2,000 small market plan sponsor survey respondents (with less than $10 million in plan assets), 34% said that they did not clearly understand the roles of their service team members. Those who said they fully understand service team members’ roles and responsibilities reported an 83% overall level of satisfaction, compared with 63% overall satisfaction level reported by sponsors who were confused by service team roles.
According to a press release, another way in which having well-defined roles and responsibilities helps sponsor satisfaction is by setting clear service level expectations. The two areas in the survey in which satisfaction ratings suffer most when sponsors don‟t understand service team roles are “treats me as an important client” and “employee education materials and meetings.” Sponsors who clearly understand service team roles are 57% more likely to feel like they are treated as an important client and 55% more likely to be satisfied with their provider’s employee education offering.
An additional challenge in the small market is the prevalence of unbundled plans, in which the presence of TPAs can further complicate the service picture. Survey results show that unbundled plan sponsors are 24% less likely to clearly understand service team roles than their bundled counterparts.
September 07, 2011 — Small-market 401(k) plan sponsors who have a clear understanding of the roles of their provider team members are more likely to be satisfied with their providers than those who do not understand the distinct responsibilities of each team member. —
The survey by Anova Consulting Group consisted of more than 2,000 small market plan sponsors; those with less than $10 million in plan assets. Thirty-four percent said that they did not clearly understand the roles of their service team members. Those who said they fully understand service team members’ roles and responsibilities reported an 83% overall level of satisfaction, compared with 63% overall satisfaction level reported by sponsors who were confused by service team roles.
Having well-defined roles and responsibilities also helps sponsor satisfaction levels by setting clear expectations. The two areas in the survey in which satisfaction ratings suffer most when sponsors don’t understand service team roles are “treats me as an important client” and “employee education materials and meetings.” Sponsors who clearly understand service team roles are 57% more likely to feel like they are treated as an important client and 55% more likely to be satisfied with their provider’s employee education offering.
An additional challenge in the small market is the prevalence of unbundled plans, in which the presence of TPAs can further complicate the service picture.
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Andrew Cloutier
Anova Consulting Group, LLC
(617) 731-1045
andrew@theanovagroup.com
BROOKLINE, MASS., June 23, 2015 – Today, Anova Consulting Group announced the addition of three new professionals: Louise Revers, Executive Interviewer; Laurie Grabner, Editor and Executive Interviewer; Mardan Flynn, Senior Research Analyst.
“Revenue growth in 2014 of 30% year over year has necessitated hiring,” said Rich Schroder, Founder and President of Anova. “We spent significant time and effort selecting qualified candidates and are enthusiastic about the results; the addition of three seasoned executives.
Louise brings more than 25 years of experience in marketing and business development to conduct in-depth interviews for Anova’s technology clients. She has extensive experience managing market research initiatives spanning diverse industries in start-up and growth environments. Previously, she was director of client services and drove client satisfaction for leading global brands at Communispace.
Prior to that, Louise was the senior manager of market intelligence and analysis at Genuity, one of the first Internet services providers. Louise also has extensive experience executing marketing communications and business development programs via her work as marketing director at International Data Corporation.
Mardan will utilize her decade-long experience in the financial services industry to work with Anova’s defined contribution clients, creating customized research programs, analyzing the findings, and providing actionable recommendations. Prior to joining Anova, Mardan was a Senior Research Relationship Manager at Cerulli Associates and a Senior Associate in the client management group at Cambridge Associates.
Laurie will conduct research projects for clients across Anova’s defined contribution and investment management practices. During her career, Laurie ran a successful consulting business providing marketing strategy and communications for a variety of retirement and financial services clients including Bank of America, Fidelity, John Hancock Funds, UPromise, SBLI, ING, and Putnam Investments. In addition, she worked in senior-level sales and marketing roles at Scudder Kemper Investments and Columbia Management Group.
Established in 2005, Anova Consulting Group is a leading market research and consulting firm focused on win / loss and client satisfaction analysis. By helping its clients understand why they win, lose, and retain business, Anova provides strategic perspectives driving better decision making, product development, sales effectiveness, client service, and continuous improvement. Richard Schroder, Founder and President of Anova, is author of the Win Loss Analysis book titled From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call (McGraw-Hill), which details how learning from post-sale debriefing helps close more future sales.
BROOKLINE, Mass., May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Anova Consulting Group, a leading market research firm in the financial services industry, announced today the launch of a new syndicated study entitled “Private Equity in DC Plans: Retirement Industry Perspectives”.
As private equity firms seek ways to tap into the individual investor retirement plan market and plan sponsors weigh various options to increase retirement readiness among their participant bases, Anova proposes to capture the perceptions and concerns of key stakeholders regarding the potential introduction of private equity investment options onto DC platforms.
“Private equity funds and defined contribution plans have not historically shared much common ground, so it will be interesting to see how receptive plan sponsors, advisors, and plan providers are to the concept,” said Richard Schroder, president of Anova Consulting Group. “There are certainly some operational as well as cultural challenges facing private equity firms who wish to sell their investments in retirement plans, but there may also be opportunities, especially given the growth of target date funds and automated plan features. This study will help to flesh out challenges and opportunities and create a roadmap with ideas on how the trend might play out.”
Likely subscribers to the study include private equity firms, retirement plan providers, and retirement plan consultants / advisors. This study will enable subscribers to:
— Assess DC market awareness of / potential demand for private equity
investing
— Identify top areas of concern (and potential solutions) regarding key
operational, technical, regulatory, and fiduciary issues
— Investigate feasibility of various asset class categories and investment
vehicles
Pre-subscribers who enroll by June 14(th) will be invited to offer input into the topics covered and research questionnaire. For the full study prospectus, see www.AnovaConsulting.com.
Private equity players are targeting the 401(k) industry. Will industry insiders welcome them with open arms, turn their noses up, or something in between?
Market research shop Anova Consulting Group is trying to answer that question. They just launched a syndicated study entitled Private Equity in DC Plans: Retirement Industry Perspectives.
The firm intends to “capture the perceptions and concerns of key stakeholders regarding the potential introduction of private equity investment options onto DC platforms,” as private equity firms look for ways to tap into the individual investor retirement plan market and plan sponsors weigh various options to increase retirement readiness among their participant bases.
“Private equity funds and defined contribution plans have not historically shared much common ground, so it will be interesting to see how receptive plan sponsors, advisors, and plan providers are to the concept,” stated Richard Schroder, president of Anova. “There are certainly some operational as well as cultural challenges facing private equity firms who wish to sell their investments in retirement plans, but there may also be opportunities, especially given the growth of target date funds and automated plan features. This study will help to flesh out challenges and opportunities and create a roadmap with ideas on how the trend might play out.”
Likely subscribers to the study include private equity firms, retirement plan providers, and retirement plan consultants / advisors. Pre-subscribers who enroll by June 14th will be invited to offer input into the topics covered and research questionnaire.
by Sarah Simoneaux, CPC
DST Retirement Solutions offers a broad array of retirement plan servicing options for financial organizations distributing retirement investment products and serving their customers’ retirement needs. For almost two decades, DST Retirement Solutions clients—mutual funds, banks, insurance companies and third party administrators—have benefited from the firm’s experience, innovation and commitment to continually invest in technology and deliver excellence in outsourcing services.
DST Retirement Solutions’ commitment to excellence prompted a training initiative and relationship with ASPPA that began in 2008, with the formal adoption of ASPPA’s Retirement Plan Fundamentals (RPF) program in September of 2008. When asked about the reasons behind the training initiative, Jane Brennan, division vice president and COO, DST Retirement Solutions, explained, “Regardless of economic climate, we are committed to investing in the development of our associates and providing superior service on behalf of our clients. We wanted to raise the bar and provide even more knowledgeable, timely, flexible and responsive service to our clients.” After researching several alternatives, DST Retirement Solutions ultimately chose ASPPA’s RPF program, and Jane highlighted the main reasons for the choice. “We liked that ASPPA offers an online, self-study program in addition to an exam, which allows us to benchmark our success. We also believe that ASPPA’s Retirement Plan Fundamentals Certificate program is a solid, reputable certificate program that carries a lot of weight in our industry.”
During 2008 and 2009, DST Retirement Solutions put approximately 120 employees through the RPF program. Upon successful completion of the RPF-1 and RPF-2 exams, these employees were awarded the ASPPA Retirement Plan Fundamentals Certificate. For 2010, DST Retirement Solutions has targeted a group of 25 additional employees to complete the RPF program, primarily consisting of new employees who have not yet gone through the training. This year, the firm will also utilize ASPPA’s online RPF web courses (produced by Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne) in a classroom setting to assist with training.
A Successful Phased Approach
DST Retirement Solutions approached the training initiative in phases, first targeting “client-facing” employees and then extending the initiative to all remaining employees “who touch a plan.” Phase 1 training included approximately 75 DST Retirement Solutions associates. These associates held retirement plan account manager (RPAM) positions. The RPAMs interact directly with plan sponsors, TPAs and advisors, and they manage the plan sponsor relationships day-to-day. Phase 1 also included the DST Retirement Solutions compliance team. These employees are responsible for nondiscrimination testing, document design and 5500 reporting. The first group started in September 2008 and completed the training and exams by early December 2008 (approximately three months).
Phase 2 was comprised of 45 associates, including new associates fulfilling either of the above-described roles (RPAMs or compliance staff), as well as plan conversion specialists and all client relationship representatives. This second group began preparing in April 2009 and completed the RPF-1 and RPF-2 courses and exams by July 2009.
The Learning Experience
To maximize effectiveness of the training initiative, DST Retirement Solutions utilized ASPPA’s Retirement Plan Fundamentals self-study program materials (online study materials, RPF study guides and practice exams) and supplemented with custom classroom training that the firm developed internally. They held working lunch sessions where topics from chapters of the ASPPA RPF study guides were reviewed and explored in detail. DST Retirement Solutions developed an assessment tool to determine where associates might need additional education to prepare for the exam. They analyzed the results of these assessments by person and by group, and identified key areas where associates needed additional study for the exam.
Editor’s Note: In 2009, ASPPA made available automated pre-assessments to assist firms with this type of individual assessment and candidate feedback prior to taking the exams.
In addition to the firm’s organized efforts, some associates formed additional study groups independently, meeting weekly to discuss what they’d read in the online materials. The overall initiative proved to be a very motivating experience for the firm’s employees.
The Catalyst for the DST Retirement
Solutions Training Initiative
The firm’s commitment to excellence was the catalyst. DST Retirement Solutions recognizes how critical the RPAM role is. As Jane points out, “We know that having a strategic relationship with the plan manager is a top requirement of plan sponsors and correlates highly with satisfaction. We also know that a lot of our larger institutional clients participate with the Anova Consulting Group in conducting surveys that gauge plan sponsors’ relationships with plan managers.”
DST Retirement Solutions’ internal learning and development organization enhanced the internal training curriculum for new associates, but the firm wanted to provide added advanced training for the RPAMs and compliance teams. After careful consideration of several different organizations for this advanced training expertise, the decision was made to utilize ASPPA’s education programs.
DST Retirement Solutions now requires that all RPAMs and compliance associates attain the ASPPA Retirement Plan Fundamentals Certificate within their first year on the job.
Positioned for the Future
When asked if the training initiative has yielded positive benefits, Jane responds enthusiastically. “Our RPAMs are now positioned to play a much more proactive, consultative role with the plan sponsors with whom they interface. We have implemented several internal changes with regard to the RPAM role, and certainly training and education played a big part in these efforts.” Jane also points out that DST Retirement Solutions has seen the Anova survey scores go up significantly, as well as the scores in the annual customer surveys with their institutional clients.
“The ASPPA training we undertook represents one of the most far-reaching and strategic training and education that we’ve done,” says Jane. “Although it was a big endeavor, our associates were eager to get going on this and have the ASPPA certification under their belts. They thanked us for that opportunity—for our willingness to invest in their future. Three members of our management team are already affiliated or credentialed ASPPA members.”
DST Retirement Solutions is now looking into longer-term involvement with the ASPPA credentialing programs, including the Qualified Plan Financial Consultant (QPFC), the Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) and the Qualified Plan Administrator (QPA) credentialing programs, in order to offer employees an enhanced career path and continued learning.
Sarah L. Simoneaux, CPC, is president of Simoneaux Consulting Services, Inc., located in Mandeville, LA, a firm offering consulting services to for-profit companies providing retirement services and to non-profit organizations. Sarah also provides consulting through Simoneaux & Stroud Consulting Services, specializing in business planning, business consulting, professional development, industry research and customized skill building workshops. She has worked in the employee benefits industry since 1981. Sarah was formerly vice president of Actuarial Systems Corporation (ASC). Prior to her position at ASC, she was a partner in JWT Associates, a qualified plan consulting firm in Los Angeles, CA. Sarah has volunteered her services in various capacities to assist ASPPA, and she served as the 2005-2006 ASPPA President. She currently works with the ASPPA Education and Examination Committee and she authored a book for the Qualified Plan Financial Consultant credentialing program. Sarah earned her Certified Pension Consultant (CPC) credential from ASPPA in 1988.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrew Cloutier
Anova Consulting Group, LLC
(617) 731-1045
andrew@anovaconsulting.com
BROOKLINE, MASS., April 24, 2012 – Anova Consulting Group, a leading provider of customized market research, sales training and consulting services to defined contribution, investment management and human capital management companies, announced today a new participant-focused program for retirement providers and plan sponsors.
The Participant Perspective Satisfaction Tool enables individual plan sponsors to survey their participants (and non-participants) and interpret satisfaction levels on an absolute and relative basis. By gathering constructive feedback from employees, sponsors will be able to better understand their participants’ needs, increase plan participation, and gain insights as to how their participant satisfaction levels compare to those of similar firms.
“For years, recordkeepers have conducted participant satisfaction research, but plan sponsors typically have limited access to their own participant satisfaction information.” said Richard Schroder, president of Anova Consulting Group. “Now, Anova has created a web application that allows plan sponsors to collect participant satisfaction information through an independent third party in a simple, “plug and play” process that generates an online survey for distribution to participants.”
A personalized online dashboard displaying real-time results is created for each participating plan sponsor. Sponsored by retirement providers as a client loyalty program, plan sponsors will gain access to Anova Consulting Group’s participant research capabilities at no cost to them.
Key benefits to participating plan sponsors include the ability to identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps within the sponsor’s employee benefit programs, as well as the ability to benchmark participant satisfaction ratings against other Perspective users and segment results by participant demographic information.
Schroder added that “Anova is currently in discussions with a number of recordkeepers and DCIO players who are considering offering the Perspective program to key plan sponsor clients and retirement plan advisors.”
Established in 2005, Anova Consulting Group is a leading market research and consulting firm focused on Win / Loss analysis and client satisfaction analysis. By helping its clients understand why they win, lose and retain business, Anova provides strategic perspectives to its clients, driving better decision-making, product development, sales effectiveness, client service, and continuous improvement. Last year, Richard Schroder, president of Anova, released a Win Loss Analysis book titled, From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call (McGraw-Hill, 2011), which details how learning from post-sale Win / Loss debriefing helps close more sales.
Posted by Ellen Naylor on March 31, 2011 at 9:14am in Sales and Marketing Intelligence
Back to Sales and Marketing Intelligence Discussions
From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call focuses on improving Sales’ post-decision debrief process with prospects, referred to as Win / Loss analysis in the competitive intelligence world. I like how the author, Richard Schroder, adds ‘post-decision debrief’ as the 7th element of the sales process. He insists Sales asks customers for their permission to conduct a post-sales interview during the presentation of your company’s solution rather than waiting until after the buying decision. A professional way to approach your prospect is: “We promote continuous improvement, and whether we win your business or lose it to a competitor, we value your feedback.”
Apparently only 18% of US companies have a formal Win / Loss program. Thus, in most new business situations, sales people don’t have a complete and accurate understanding of why they won or lost sales. If armed with such data, Sales can make behavioral changes to improve close rates by 15%.
According to Anova Consulting Group’s research, the sales process is often a top driver of the purchase decision, whether the business is won or lost.
Key reasons for losses from the sales process include:
**Lack of a customized presentation
**The salesperson doesn’t accurately uncover and understand the prospect’s unique needs, including decision making criteria
**The salesperson and / or team does not thoroughly prepare for prospect meetings and the presentation
Richard believes that sales people should not conduct these interviews since they often take the loss too personally and might try to re-sell the customer on their solution, be aggressive, defensive or dejected, which causes the customer to clam up or just to tell part of the story, the part that does not involve Sales. Prospects can also be uncomfortable talking with the salesperson whose solution they just rejected.
Yet, Richard gives great suggestions to help Sales conduct interviews:
**Do not attempt to gather feedback during the same call when you learn the sales outcome.
**Schedule a phone call or in-person visit with the decision-maker a couple of weeks after the sales decision.
**Take time to prepare the questions you want answered and seek input from your sales organization.
**This debrief questionnaire should include questions around the customer’s decision-making criteria; qualitative questions around your firm’s strengths and weaknesses; benchmarking against competitors; and the sales process (more detail to develop a Win / Loss questionnaire).
**This preparation will get you grounded, and will help you neutralize your emotions around the win or loss and let you focus on how and what you can learn.
**At the end of the interview, ask your customer if you missed anything. In my experience, this is when the floodgates open.
The book is chock full of ways to sell better:
**Build rapport. Learn as much about your prospect(s) as you can through the Internet, LinkedIn, Google, Twitter and industry associations.
**Don’t just plan your presentation: prepare the initial discussion you will have with each prospect. Ask some open ended questions to engage them.
**Develop a second approach to build rapport in case the first approach does not work.
**When in doubt, de-sell. For example, “Perhaps my service does not quite fit your needs.”
**Be consultative: if your product or service is not what the customer is looking for, refer them to someone who can help them.
**Remember people want to buy from experts, not salespeople. Research Research Research!
Appendix B tells Sales Managers how to implement a Win / Loss program. It is practical and well thought-out. Two factors stand out from my experience with developing such programs.
1. Does the program have executive level sponsorship and comprehensive buy-in from critical areas of your company?
2. Will the program be well integrated with existing processes already developed at your company?
I have learned the hard way that buy-in is essential at all levels. Some programs never get off the ground due to this lack of communication, leadership and integration.
My only criticism is Richard’s strong bias towards using a third party to conduct the Win / Loss analysis. I agree a third party brings less bias to this process, and can offer customers anonymity when reporting back to your company. However, I experienced good results conducting analysis for my company prior to consulting. There are some advantages that internal sources have: they know your companys products and services better than any third party since this is their full time job. Thus they can probe more deeply in these areas than can a consultant. They also know your company’s culture. Sometimes consulting firms recommend change that won’t work with your companys culture, even though it’s a great idea.
I recommend this book for those in marketing and sales who want to implement a Win / Loss program. I particularly recommend this book for salespeople who want to be BETTER. It clearly defines the value proposition for conducting analysis, especially for Sales. Do not be left out!
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