Success Stories

Benefit Plan Administration Service Provider

Services – General Business Strategy; Market & Customer Positioning; Branding; Process Reengineering; Change Management

The Situation
The client organization had been providing benefit administration services to independent banks and financial institutions in the southeast for more than 40 years. But its new CEO had an even broader vision for the company’s future. After having initiated major changes in systems, operating platforms, staffing, and infrastructure, he now sought to expand service capabilities and market share.

Key Challenges

• The CEO needed to work through ambitious goals with the Board of Directors, reach consensus on direction and priorities, and develop a strategic plan for implementing change.
• Before redefining the organization in the marketplace, the company had to resolve a number of work-process and customer-service issues.
• The company’s image and identity would have to change to reflect the dynamic business entity it was seeking to become.

Our Approach

• Strategic Planning Associates was initially engaged to serve as facilitator at the Board’s annual strategic-planning retreat. In fulfilling this role, we worked closely with the CEO and Board to identify organizational needs, target priorities, and generate consensus on
  a course of action.
• Based on these efforts, the Board approved and put into place a new strategic plan.
• Strategic Planning Associates was subsequently retained to help the CEO and staff identify, develop, and implement improvements in work processes and customer service.
• Our team then helped the company develop a comprehensive strategy for redefining and repositioning itself in the marketplace. Key steps included:
• Market and customer research
• Benchmarking
• Creation of a new “brand”
• Production of marketing materials, including print advertisements intended to generate excitement about the upcoming changes
• Development of a Web site promoting the “new” company and its expanded services.

Results

• Clearly defined business strategy, with agreed-on organizational objectives and priorities.
• New company name, identity, “look,” and key messages, as well a set of clearly defined customer value propositions.
• Range of promotional and collateral materials to introduce the new organization to the marketplace.
• Successful launch of the latest branding initiative – a new Web site with many valuable features and resources for all of the company’s customers (e.g., plain-English explanations of otherwise technical terms, access to a variety of information on health and wellness, and links for HR and benefit managers).