Retiready is at the forefront of Aegon’s digital transformation, and helps people save and plan for their retirement. A unique readiness score flags up gaps in financial planning, so that people can take action before it’s too late.
“We have to be there when our customers need us. Salesforce is the glue that holds together the different digital components,” added Grace.
Launched in May 2014, Retiready has been a great success, attracting more than three quarters of a million visitors and over 100,000 customers in the first 18 months. “We started with a clean sheet of paper and designed something that we knew the customer on the street could really understand,” said Duncan Jarrett, UK Retail Managing Director at Aegon.
Every query raised by a Retiready customer is logged in Service Cloud regardless of what communication channel they use. A full history is available to Aegon staff as well as customers who have opted to use their dedicated Retiready inbox. Service Cloud also enables Aegon to initiate web chats with visitors to the Retiready website.
To get closer to its customers, Aegon needs to engage with them across various digital channels. Using Radian6, part of Marketing Cloud, Aegon can track social conversations on Facebook and Twitter even when the company hasn’t been tagged in posts, and proactively reach out to those customers who comment.
Aegon also uses Radian6 to follow key industry themes these insights are then shared with the communications team so they can include the most effective keywords in the company’s digital and social content.
To continue to strengthen its brand, Aegon plans to tap into the email marketing and Journey Builder features of Marketing Cloud.
The company can also see what content and campaigns generate the greatest response. Since using Marketing Cloud to co-ordinate Retiready communications for both prospects and existing customers, the email open rate is over 70% higher than the industry average and the click-through rate is over 80% higher when compared to the industry benchmark.
“We use the analytics generated by Marketing Cloud to prioritise different approaches it helps us get better results with the same resources,” said Crosbie.
Aegon, which manages approximately £542 billion assets around the world, is equally reliant on intelligent analytics to drive sales performance and excellence. Aegon’s global sales rose by 20% to €8.6 billion in 2014. “Everyone has personalised dashboards within Sales Cloud, so they can see what business they are bringing in and how it relates to our overall goals,” explained Jarrett.
Sales Cloud underpins the entire opportunity process for Aegon’s distribution operation – from pipeline management and forecasting to lead conversion and bid co-ordination. Around 3,500 new opportunities are logged every month. “We’ve been using Sales Cloud since 2008 it’s fundamental to how we operate and grow our business,” says Jarrett.
As Aegon continues to evolve Retiready and other digital initiatives, Salesforce will be a key enabler for both transformation and optimisation. “We are changing how we go to market. We’ve taken the best of Aegon and the best of Salesforce to deliver the best solutions for our customers,” concluded Crosbie.