PRESENTATION ON CASE STUDY OF

MERILL LYNCH : SUPERNOVA

BY

S/LT SYED MUHAMMAD ALI SHAH PN

P NO 7783

1

MERRILL LYNCHMERRILL LYNCH

Established in 1907The 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.

2

MERRILL LYNCH BEFORE MERRILL LYNCH BEFORE SUPERNOVASUPERNOVA

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 Merrill’s (FAs) – Best in the market

3

CUSTOMER SERVICE BEFORE CUSTOMER SERVICE BEFORE SUPERNOVASUPERNOVAThree aspects of relationship critical to

client satisfaction:1. The frequency and quality of product2. Rapid response to problems3. 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

4

SUPERNOVASUPERNOVA

Why Supernova - Merrill Lynch’s 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 Lynch’s 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………

5

CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

FA INTERACTING WITH CLIENT

12-4-2 CLIENT’S MINIMUM 12-4-2 CLIENT’S MINIMUM ANNUAL CONTACTANNUAL CONTACT

12 monthly contacts w/w 4 portfolio reviews and 2 face-to-face 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

7

SEGMENTATIONSEGMENTATION Appropriate number of clients – 200 per FA based

on different criteria.

Client’s minimum asset - $1 million at Merrill 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

8

BENEFITS

FA GIVING REWARD TO ACTIIVE CLIENT

ORGANIZATIONORGANIZATION 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

10

ACQUISITIONACQUISITION 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

11

FA COLD CALLING TO CLIENTS

FA USED TO CALL RANDOM CLIENTS TO BRING THEM TO MERRILL LYNCH

PROCESS OF ADOPTING PROCESS OF ADOPTING SUPERNOVASUPERNOVA

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

13

CHALLENGS IN IMPLEMENTATIONCHALLENGS IN IMPLEMENTATION

Economic backdrop Politics and recognition Follow up/support Client expectations Changing role of some FAs Misinterpretation Inclusion of Client Associates

14

DISCUSSION POINTS: OUTCOME 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

15

DISCUSSION POINTS: OUTCOMEDISCUSSION POINTS: OUTCOMEService delivery design change

◦Quick response with updated financial advise

Customer understanding & service process◦Updated Folder System management

Branding initiatives◦Supernova FAs

16

STRENGTHSSTRENGTHSProper work distribution Excellent customer service using 12-4-2Organized working environmentSegmentation of clients

WEAKNESSES Dependence on limited customers Increased client expectations FA freedom decreased

17

LEARNING GENERATEDLEARNING GENERATEDThe 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.

18

19