"Prudential
Insurance implemented CDS to give our insurance agents an easy-to-use
tool to keep track of important information on their existing and
prospective customers."
Barbara Koster Vice President and CIO
Prudential Insurance
Prudential Insurance wanted to improve customer service through
development of one comprehensive contact management program to support
field agents and offices nationwide. It turned to a solution created
with SQL Anywhere which now enables field agents access to customer
information from anywhere in the country.
Business Advantage
Prudential's Client Data System, built on SQL Anywhere,
offers powerful sales and marketing capabilities which allow field
representatives to track client, insurance, and investment information
in order to provide superior customer service.
Key Benefits
Enables easy access to customer information
Enhances customer service
Provides powerful information tracking capabilities
A Nationwide Program
In an effort to improve the tools available to its sales force,
Prudential Insurance began to completely revamp its field automation
strategy. Of course, with over 12,000 field associates and 300 offices
coast to coast, this is a major effort.
To accomplish this daunting task, Prudential is upgrading its
infrastructure so that all agencies and detached agents are linked to
the organization via network technology. This will allow home office
administrators, underwriters, and field agents to access and share
valuable client information.
After selecting IBM ThinkPads to distribute to the field force,
Prudential began to search for a contact management program. Over the
years, Prudential Insurance had supported up to four different contact
management programs, but this time, they decided to sponsor just one
program and support it nationwide.
Insurance Agents Get Automated
After a careful selection process, Prudential chose the Client Data
System (CDS) for Windows from E-Z Data, Inc., in Pasadena, California.
CDS is built on SQL Anywhere.
"Prudential Insurance implemented CDS to give our insurance agents an
easy-to-use tool to keep track of important information on their
existing and prospective customers. It also helps them provide enhanced
customer service to help their clients manage their financial needs,"
says Barbara Koster, Vice President and Chief Information Officer of
Prudential Insurance.
CDS is a high-performance database and practice/process management
engine specifically designed for use by insurance agents, managers, and
investment advisors. CDS offers powerful sales and marketing
capabilities which allow field representatives to track client,
insurance, and investment information in order to provide superior
customer service.
A few of the key functions in CDS are: calendar management, word
processing, sophisticated query and reporting functions, automatic
journaling of client events (e.g., discussion notes, letters written,
investment transactions, calls, appointments, etc.), new business
tracking, investment tracking, laptop to LAN data synchronization, and
password security (three levels).
Securing Future Prospects
"CDS has a lot of sales and marketing pieces built in and that's what
we felt was really important for our field force," says Roy Schwartz,
Vice President, Field Technology. "We needed a tool to give to the
field that they could use and would see as value-added; one that would
help them manage their client base and generate prospecting and
appointment activity, and turn those into automated processes so they
didn't lose their prospects in the future."
Embedded in CDS is SQL Anywhere the industry-leading small footprint
RDBMS. In addition, Prudential will utilize the CDS OLifE Server which
adheres to the ACORD OLifE specifications and is ideally suited to act
as the data hub of an integrated agency or agent's desktop. Using OLifE
interfaces to complementary applications (e.g., needs analysis, sales
illustration) not only increases end-user productivity, but also
simplifies maintenance and reduces costs.
