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Data Management in Financial Services: How One Bank Reduced Losses and Boosted ROI

Data management in banking poses unique challenges. You’re dealing with vast amounts of sensitive information, rigid regulations, and security issues, all of which can complicate the process of actually managing and using the data you collect. Given our long experience with data management in financial services, we jumped at the chance to help a regional bank streamline their data strategies. After helping them transform their operations through an enterprise data management program, the client saw a staggering 1,054% ROI over three years. Challenge A regional bank’s need to prevent and reduce credit losses from defaulted commercial loans was symptomatic of a greater challenge. The bank needed a data management program that could help it more effectively manage different aspects of the business. Read on to learn how a new finance data strategy helped our client triumph over the core challenges of 1) meeting stringent regulatory demands for more robust reporting and 2) dealing with issues surrounding its data and data access. A Common Challenge in Banking Each year, banks approve billions of dollars in commercial loans. Throughout the approval process, documents are signed and covenants are created to ensure that funds will be repaid. Funds not repaid within the outlined term can result in higher capital requirements on the institution and, ultimately, credit losses for the bank. Most often, the only indicator that a loan has gone bad is when payments become delinquent, which is too late. Our client wanted to analyze such scenarios well in advance to prevent payment default. And that’s what led to the need for an improved bank data management program. Solution Our team’s assessment revealed that this bank’s ability to quickly uncover and manage credit loss was constrained by a lack of consistent, quality data, and by static reporting and manual processes. In addition to regulation issues, other issues to resolve included: Incomplete and inconsistent data A desire to have more time to analyze data before monthly, quarterly, and yearly reporting An inability to see the “story” behind the data An inability to interact with the data through visualization tools Summary of Deliverables An Enterprise Data Management framework that included culture, people, process, and technology change management The enablement of a new data leader, i.e., a chief data officer Numerous executive dashboards: Status dashboards – accrual, AQR status, charge-off and recovery, delinquency, and others Trend dashboards – commercial portfolio, retail and mortgage portfolio, charge offs, large dollar exposure, etc. Operational dashboards – delinquencies and maturities Alert dashboards – accruals, loan structure alerts, AQR alerts, etc.

How One Processor Used Credit Card Data Analytics to Stand Out in Market

Challenge As credit card data processing companies move toward commoditization and omnichannel processes, one of the nation's largest processors saw the value beyond the initial transaction. Each debit or credit card they process, whether for authorization or decline and settlement, carried dark data that offered significant value for merchants. However, that data, along with merchant, bank, and consumer information, was highly proprietary and included data that couldn't be used beyond defining what to authorize and settle. The processing company was at a crossroads. On one hand, they wanted to expand to other channels and create competitive product lines to keep ahead of trends. On the other hand, they were very concerned about risking the security and efficiency of their services. To meet their goals, the company leaders knew they would have to rethink the foundation of how they do business, including analyzing their capabilities and gaps as well as finding opportunities to access data more easily. They needed a data transformation strategy based on credit card data analytics as this would allow them to move quickly and stay ahead of industry trends. It would also allow them to evaluate their existing technologies against newer, more nimble ones and manage risk while maintaining current service levels. While they had already made great strides in mapping out their plan for the future, they needed an experienced team of experts to guide their transformation in a way that would align with their business strategy. To meet these goals, they partnered with New Era Technology to assist them in creating a digital strategy roadmap. Solution Our team knew we needed to build an environment that could meet several demands, including: Process and analyze billions of data transactions Integrate with other internal and external datasets Interpret consumer behavior Preserve the privacy, integrity, and quality of data Ensure obtained analytics and insights were valid The first step to building this environment was identifying obstacles to managing and interpreting data. Next, we defined a framework for governance and controls that complied with strict regulations and would ensure all credit card transaction data and resulting analytics were kept confidential. Once we had the auditing process as the foundation of the digital strategy roadmap, we shaped and refined it into a three-year data strategy and data transformation strategy that would include: Creating the desired data management platform capabilities Creating a critical alignment between IT and the rest of the company Identifying which technologies to repurpose or replace Implementing new technologies to begin data integration and migration Implementing data governance and obfuscating data Identified change agents and thought leaders who would propel the organization to success With a data strategy roadmap in place, our client was able to get ahead of the evolving payment-processing market that would future-proof their organization.

How a Growing Bank Leveraged Machine Learning to Increase Sales Pipeline Predictability

Solution The bank’s leadership needed to understand who their ideal customer was, how to leverage their data, and how to strengthen their sales pipeline. Knowing they needed help from a team of experts, they reached out to Fusion to assess the situation and help them achieve their goals. We knew machine learning would be the best way to identify their ideal customer and find new opportunities in the market. This data science method analyzes historical data to predict or forecast future outcomes, behaviors, and trends. The data learns from itself without human bias, preconceived notions, or explicit instructions. Also, because the volume of data is often massive, machine learning can find the patterns that a person would likely miss. With a plan in mind, we began the process of leveraging machine learning to increase their sales pipeline predictability and stability. Our Goal Define the Ideal Customer First, we needed to define exactly who the stakeholders believed was their ideal customer and determine aligned attributes they identify with their target audience. This insight would allow us to select high-value use cases for the machine learning models. Our Solution Sat down with stakeholders throughout each department of the organization to discuss characteristics of their ideal customer. Brought stakeholders together in a workshop to get everyone on the same page as to how they would identify their ideal customer Selected high value use cases Our Goal Understand their Data Machine learning initiatives are only as successful as the quality of the data. We needed high quality, valuable data that would support the questions we were asking and give us accurate, reliable predictions we could use. So, before we developed the models, we needed a solid foundation in place. Our Solution Identified all available data and performed an analysis to assess data quality and completeness to support the defined objectives. Identified where to find the best sources for data Analyzed information to determine where data needs to be improved or where gaps are located Our Goal Develop a Machine Learning Model With characteristics identified and clean data, we developed a model that leverages the significant characteristics for use against prospects or existing customers. During this step, we allowed customer data to speak for itself. Our Solution Identified data elements that should be input for the machine learning model based on the data profiling Provisioned a cloud environment and developed data ingestion Defined and developed machine learning predictive models that supported the defined use cases Executed the model against real data and assimilated the output to graphically show customer segmentation Our Goal Finalize the Ideal Customer Definition We used stakeholder inputs, data profiling outputs, and machine learning to let data and actual outcomes influence the definition of the ideal customer. Our team explained what the model said and the characteristics of the target customer and how that compared to the stakeholder's thoughts. Using our information, we could create criteria or attributes and the bank could use those to build customer personas. Our Solution Took data from the model to share insight into the true characteristics of their ideal customers. Built machine learning models that would score customer and prospect lists against the customer model Operationalized the model to use in marketing campaigns At the end of the project, we developed the prospect target list and scored them based on the machine learning insights. The company can use this to execute a more informed marketing plan and grow their customer base.

Technology Changes Transform Primary Financial

Solution When PFC needed a technology strategy for their banking company, they turned to Fusion Alliance as we have partnered together several times and have developed a collaborative approach to fulfilling PFC's vision. Our expertise has lead their company into several initiatives and adopting functionalities that have paid off immensely over the years, and PFC was excited to see how we could help them with this next project. Our team sat down with PFC and determined their goals, specifically modernizing their platforms and application and transitioning away from their legacy system. More specifically, because PFC manages an investment trading platform, they need to have a reliable platform with access to new products and tools that also complies with strict industry regulations. With objectives and a plan in mind, we quickly got to work. Our Goal Overhaul Existing Systems and Streamline Processes To provide PFC with a clean slate, we developed a single platform with a more functional web interface to replace the legacy systems. This streamlined and automated numerous manual processes, instantly increasing productivity. We also helped PFC migrate to the cloud to eliminate on-premises servers, equipment, maintenance, and security while strengthening disaster recovery through cloud redundancy. Our Solution Removed expensive, geo-redundant datacenters Enhanced efficiency, scalability, and reliability Created significant process improvements Boosted productivity Enriched client and employee experiences Increased brand confidence Widened market reach Our Goal Adding New Product Lines Our team understood that PFC wanted to expand product lines to increase revenue and better serve their clients. With a modern cloud-native platform, PFC could extend their product offerings easily both at present and in the future. Our Solution Update coding Create an extensible framework so PFC could launch new products on their own Implemented Microsoft Power BI's visual analytics for improved reporting Updating security safeguards to protect data Our Goal Driving Sales Through Data PFC wanted to draw more insights, including who does and does not purchase products when interacting with their site and also learn how to improve sales targeting and identify more opportunities to increase sales. Our Solution Improve data access with modern data platform Launch machine learning initiative Tune machine learning model to better pinpoint investors who are more likely to purchase a specific product

Dynamics Licensing Assessment Results in 38% Reduction in Costs for National Cleaning Service

Challenge A leading home and commercial cleaning company needed to renew their Microsoft Dynamics software licensing, but before they did so, they wanted to ensure their licensing costs aligned with their true usage. They certainly didn't want to overpay for unnecessary enterprise licenses, but underpaying could result in hefty fines (sometimes millions of dollars) assessed by Microsoft. More companies who use Dynamics are looking at how they can ensure compliance as Microsoft increases focus on license reconciliation, and our client was no exception. They were already partnering with New Era Technology for Microsoft Dynamics support, so it was a natural solution to rely on our team to run a Dynamics licensing assessment. Solution As a Microsoft Dynamics partner, our New Era team helps clients reconcile the money they are spending on licensing to ensure they are neither over- nor underspending as part of our services. We had recently taken over as partner of record for this cleaning services company, so their New Era Dynamics support contract covered their licensing assessment, helping our client save even more. To perform the Dynamics licensing assessment, our team conducted a comprehensive round of interviews with Dynamics users in the organization. We spoke to a variety of individuals throughout the company, including employees who pump fuel into the work trucks to line-of-business managers, such as warehouse and IT managers, all the way up to the CFO. We then ran usage forensics and compared that to licensing needs. The assessment revealed that the company’s licensing was not accurate. They needed fewer enterprise and functional client access licenses (CALs) than their current licensing fees reflected. After calculating what they needed compared to what they were spending, our client would see a 38 percent savings on their annual costs. We facilitated the paperwork and all communications with Microsoft to make the necessary licensing changes and save our client a significant amount of time, and within two weeks, they experienced lower costs.

How Data Loss Prevention and Mobile App Management Boosted One Bank’s Security

Challenge Having a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) program often reduces costs and improves productivity by allowing contractors and employees to easily access information and communications no matter where they are. However, using personal devices can come with a higher risk of losing or compromising sensitive information. Having a solid data loss prevention (DLP) strategy in place is critical to protecting your company, your employees, and most importantly, your customers. A large Midwest banking corporation needed a BYOD program, but they faced two key concerns: Keeping their data secure, and Allowing employees to work on their personal devices without intrusive device control or a burdensome program enrollment While a mobile device management (MDM) solution would solve the concerns surrounding data security and industry compliance, it would require more management over their employees' devices. Instead, the financial company wanted to focus on a data loss prevention solution that would manage their enterprise applications to keep sensitive financial information secure and in compliance with industry regulations without requiring an overhaul of their infrastructure or an excessive financial investment. They partnered with New Era Technology Alliance to find and implement the right solution that would meet all their criteria. Solution Our client wanted to control access and security for their applications while minimizing their oversight over the device, and explained their goals to our team. After completing a security assessment, recommended Microsoft Intune's mobile application management without enrollment (MAM-WE) solution and provided them business cases and a roadmap to implement it. Intune MAM-WE allows them to manage any application that contains sensitive corporate data on almost any device, including employees’ personal devices they also use for work. It also also allows this bank to manage application protection policies to ensure corporate data is protected within the application and not accessed by or shared with any unauthorized person or program. By choosing this solution over an MDM, our client can maintain control over their data without requiring their employees and contractors enroll their personal devices into a program. This offers multiple benefits to the company, their customers, and their employees, including: Saving time and resources Offering the bank the flexibility to control corporate data in their applications on non-employee devices Protecting sensitive financial and personal information Protecting employee and non-employee privacy over their devices Our team implemented Intune MAM-WE within our client's IT department and worked to define the conditional access for applications. As they deploy the data loss prevention solution company-wide, they can control access and security for their data and applications without having to control and manage hundreds of devices.

M/I Homes Improves Customer Experience with Sitecore

M/I Homes wanted to improve their website to meet the demands of potential home-buyers looking for a customized experience. They had a vision, but they needed the technology to execute it. Challenge One of the largest homebuilders in the nation, M/I homes, knew their website was most likely the first opportunity to connect with potential homebuyers. While their existing website introduced visitors to their brand, their diverse community locations, and wide array of floor plans and amenities, they knew today's homebuyers were seeking more from a builder's website. In order to create a more positive customer experience, they wanted their website to offer a more customized experience to visitors that highlighted their design options while simplifying the buying process and reducing reduce stress on buyers. However, they needed assistance in overcoming core challenges. Their existing site had inconsistent messaging and branding and relevant information was challenging to find which created confusion for customers and reduced their likelihood of connecting and engaging with M/I Homes. They also wanted to drill down more in each market to speak to the unique needs and preferences of homebuyers in specific locations. While they were already working with a company to provide website and marketing content, they needed a technology expert to build a website that would overcome their existing challenges and align with their long-term goals. They chose Fusion Alliance as their strategic partner, and we after discussing their goals, we recommended Sitecore because it would allow them to create a more intuitive and engaging website experience for both existing and prospective customers, and they could consolidate and simplify existing website features. Solution Fusion met with M/I Homes to discuss their goals for their new website and get a better understanding of their existing challenges. We recommended Sitecore because our team could create a more intuitive and engaging website experience for both existing and prospective customers, and they could consolidate and simplify existing website features. Our team built out use cases beyond the basic requirements of the new website, and we also worked with the third-party digital team to create and include relevant content. As a result, M/I can grow the capabilities of their website in several significant ways. At the same time, having a more robust CMS with stronger marketing and analytics tools means that M/I can publish web content and new material more quickly and gain better insight to improve their customers' experience. In addition to addressing their content and marketing needs, Fusion included an overall search feature so users can search the full site using filters based on their specific needs and find relevant, market specific and buyer type information to ensure a more individualized experience. Fusion partnered with M/I homes to create an online experience that would meet their objectives: catering to the needs of homebuyers and streamlining the organization's internal processes for creating, publishing, and analyzing relevant content.

One Multinational Financial Firm’s Customer Experience Transformation

Solution Our Goal Determine the Cause of Delays We needed to gain a clear and accurate understanding of how the company engaged with customers, what role marketing automation played, and their current platforms and processes. We also wanted to get clarity into the obstacles and challenges that were slowing down their efforts. Our Solution Conducted extensive interviews with stakeholders across the internal email marketing process Analyzed the process from inception to creation, review, platform and delivery workflow through Salesforce Analyzed internal documents and platform specifications to identify patterns and needs Mapped out systems and procedures to visualize areas of opportunities Our Goal Recommend a System to Increase Efficiency With an assessment in place and seeing the obstacles that reduced speed in their email marketing, our recommendations went beyond tactical execution. We defined the need for standardizing email formats, integrating or reducing systems, and implementing marketing automation. Our team also shared opportunities for collaboration among siloed teams. Our Solution Streamlined delivery by leveraging current platforms Aligned skills with responsibilities Created a design pattern library and templates to streamline processes Utilized a content and digital asset management repository to reduce content duplication

Machine Learning Predicts Outcomes at Primary Financial

Challenge Primary Financial Company manages an investment program for institutional investors to invest substantial funds in federally insured CDs. This break down to managing nearly 40,000 CDs and over $7 billion in assets while supporting relationships with 5,000 financial institutions and institutional investors. They wanted to improve sales targeting to predict both CD issuing companies' funding needs and institutions' desire to invest. As a massive company with a large portion of the industry's market share, PFC had a vast quantity of valuable data at their fingertips, but they didn't know how to leverage it to look into the future to predict consumer behavior. Having partnered with Fusion on several projects in the past, they turned to us once again to explore how advanced analytics and machine learning in financial services could provide data-driven, predictive outcomes. Solution With a key objective in place, PFC and Fusion worked together to explore the following machine learning models: Identify the best issuers for sales solicitation, including former, current, and prospective issuers Provide rate guidance to investors and rate/term guidance for CD issuers Target investors by likelihood of close With a plan in place, our machine learning experts outlined the process, including data acquisition, transformation, model development, and predictive analytics. First, all private and public data sources were identified and acquired to gain insight into current and prospective customers. PFC and Fusion then worked together to determine meaningful and available factors. The next step was to transform the data so these factors would be consistent and accurate. With a solid foundation, Fusion developed machine learning models that would learn and identify patterns, then recognize those patterns when seen again to apply lessons to predict outcomes. We identified over 100 candidate "features" of data from both public and private data sources, then applied "practical analytics" which focuses on data that is applicable to the described use case. Having a clear understanding of the target accuracy of the predictive models was essential to the success of this project, but more important was client participation. By collaborating with our client, PFC learned to quickly identify and understand errant data and numbers to drive the value of our models even higher. Also, by defining the required utility of the models, PFC could realize business value without having to endlessly tune them.

Vectren Moves to Omnichannel to Improve Brand Experience

Challenge Traditionally, utility companies only interact with their active customers during negative triggers, such as outages or billing issues. However, Vectren, a natural gas utility company, wanted to provide the high-level engagement today's customers expect and create positive experiences to build lasting relationships. To meet this goal, they needed more insight into their customers' online behavior to build a holistic, predictive, and adaptable digital strategy. They needed their strategy to include integrating channel use, building a solid, flexible technology foundation, and creating a path to providing a more personalized customer experience. To elevate their omnichannel brand experience, they connected with New Era Technology to build a digital roadmap of solutions to meeting their goals. Solution New Era Technology worked closely with Vectren to evaluate the comprehensive customer journey. This included analyzing customer behaviors and experiences across online and offline channels and weighing these against how Vectren's data, technology, human resources, and organizational structure was capable of supporting omnichannel delivery. Our team started by mapping the customer journey. During this exercise, the Vectren team matched customer touchpoints to tasks and identified areas of operational and technical processes that triggered higher incidents of customer dissatisfaction. Completing this exercise helped Vectren identify: Siloed systems and data Bottlenecks in both processes and resources Interaction points that blocked customer engagement rather than nurtured it. After identifying areas of friction within the customer journey, the next step was analyzing these customer touchpoints. We conducted an in-depth analysis of their content and audited key customer touchpoints and their underlying processes and technologies, including their: Corporate website Online transaction and communication portals Mobile app functions Microsites Social channels Email Customer and organizational data Customer service channels In addition to analyzing the omnichannel brand experience, we looked at external data, including industry trends, competitor research, and best practices recommendations. Once we completed both the internal and external analysis, we helped Vectren leaders identify: How to fully integrate customer awareness channels into the digital journey Specific digital touchpoints and business processes that needed to be re-engineered to minimize friction and increase customer satisfaction Opportunities to improve brand value and engage in more effective and positive individual conversations with customers Key initiatives to prioritize based on customer preferences and behaviors (by programs, social channel, device, etc.) Opportunities for cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary collaboration After sharing this analysis, New Era Technology provided Vectren leaders with a digital roadmap that identified projects, showed skill gaps, and prioritized remediation. We also provided a communication tool to help educate Vectren teams about the overarching value of this approach to improving their brand experience. Our team also highlighted resource needs, technology impacts, and how to measure progress and success as they implemented their roadmap.

How McGraw-Hill Adapts to Market Demands through Technology

Challenge Over the past several years, classrooms have shifted to a more individualized model of education to better meet each student's needs. While this offered McGraw-Hill an incredible opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to providing customers with state-of-the-art, adaptive learning systems, it also required them to divide their focus from printed textbook and materials and redefine themselves to deliver more digital content and systems that allow personalized learning for students. However, developing, delivering, and maintaining these digital educational programs is time-consuming and costly, and at the time they wanted to break into this market, much of their resources were still devoted to printed textbooks and content. They needed a framework in place so they could continually grow and build out their digital content without over-extending their budget. At the same time, they already had established processes and operations in place to maintain the success of their printed content and didn't want to take away from this essential part of their company. Moving to a digital focus while continuing to deliver high-quality content required McGraw-Hill to improve their processes and products around advanced technology and increase efficiency when building applications and digital content. They knew partnering with a company experienced in developing technology solutions was key, and that’s how the long and collaborative relationship between MHE and our Fusion team began. Solution McGraw-Hill needed to partner with a company experienced in developing technology solutions and turned to Fusion for thought leadership, strategic vision, and to leverage our team of application developers, scrum masters/project managers, quality assurance resources and technical product managers. We initially sat down with them to determine three key objectives : Improve processes and products employing advanced technology Implement scalable frameworks Increase efficiency when building applications and content In order to meet these objectives, we started by leading the architecture and business-case discussion for deploying cloud-native application services that would serve over 4 million students. This project's success led McGraw-Hill to expand their application services across their digital platform group. At the same time, Fusion introduced Agile development principles and the Scrum development framework so they could successfully scale their classroom technology solutions. Our team helped McGraw-Hill continue to grow their footprint in the digital space by assisting them in developing and delivering several products to support their classroom technology endeavor. We also worked with them to build on existing processes and infrastructure to save time and reduce costs compared to building from scratch. Because of the continued partnership with Fusion, McGraw-Hill has quickly developed products that offer strategic value in learning-science initiatives, and now they are poised to compete on a new level beyond printed content and textbooks. Their foresight into digital education enabled them to stand out in a changing market as they continue to partner with Fusion to continue learning-science initiatives.

Beyond Support: Dynamics Challenges Resolved for Chemical Manufacturer

Challenge A global chemical manufacturer experienced performance problems and limited functionality after their original Dynamics AX implementation. A Dynamics update that would enable added functionality is already a significant challenge, but at the same time, the company faced an unresolved issue where their warehouse scanners weren't assigning the correct codes to the corresponding products, leading to significant inventory discrepancies. The vendor who performed the initial Dynamics implementation couldn’t diagnose the problem, and the only solution at the time was having warehouse workers manually enter product codes. However, this issue snowballed into multiple issues, including: Introducing human error while typing in codes, increasing inventory problems Reducing fulfillment speed which negatively affected client satisfaction Slowing down sales orders and product receiving With their challenges snowballing, the company knew they needed answers and results quickly. When they decided to take action, the chemical manufacturing company was already working with Fusion Alliance for Dynamics support. They came to us to discuss a Dynamics update as well as solutions for their challenging inventory issues so they could get operations and productivity back on track. Solution Our team sat down with leaders at the chemical manufacturing company to determine their goals and create a plan of action to meet them. Because Dynamics AX ERP is the structure behind so much of their operations, our first step was to evaluate the platform and look for areas of improvement and opportunities to increase functionality that was not available in its existing iteration. Based on our evaluation, our support team recommended a Dynamics AX CU 13 update. This cumulative Dynamics update that enhanced tools and functionality across multiple departments, including BI, supply chain management, warehouse and transportation, and finance. This also gave us the opportunity to: Fix and repair integrations with third party software Added custom code to address existing performance issues Collaborate with our client's various partners to complete the initiative to improve their experiences. As we implemented the Dynamics AX CU13 update, Fusion discovered that inventory dimensions were causing the scanning errors that led to inventory discrepancies. Inventory dimensions are the physical properties of inventory items, including size, site, and batch number and these characteristics act as the backbone of Dynamics AX. The platform uses accurate inventory dimensions to reconcile accounts, evaluate costs, and maintain correct inventory qualities. Fusion fixed the issue within the platform that was putting out incorrect inventory dimensions and then coordinated with the manufacturing company's sales, purchasing, and production teams to correct the accuracy of the inventory. This gave our client a clean slate to start working from and allowed the warehouse team to resume using the scanners. With comprehensive experience in Dynamics implementation and best practices, our Fusion team added essential functionality and solve a challenging inventory issue. With the update installed successfully and other problems identified and resolved, we continue to remediate fallout from the scanner issue and provide additional assistance as part of an ongoing support contract.

Altafiber Meets Customer Demands through Mobile Engagement

Solution Altafiber reached out to Fusion Alliance to help with both mobile application development and building a CX strategy. After looking at the challenges and their objectives, we developed a three-phase roadmap to determine customer needs, develop the application, and measure success. Our goal Address customer needs We started with digital strategy, specifically researching their existing customers' needs and frustrations to gain insight into the requirements our technology solutions needed to meet. Our solution Created a customer journey map with two customer personas Identified pain points and solutions Analyzed customer data that showed gaps in customer experience Our goal Goal: Develop the mobile application Knowing what their customers wanted and creating a solid CX strategy gave us the foundation for developing their mobile application. Our development team began working on a tight timeline to deliver the final product. Our solution Designed iOS and Android applications concurrently using Agile methodology Provided workable software for Cincinnati Bell to review every two weeks Replaced planned features for ones that addressed customer pain points Set up a continued process for feedback from testers and users Our goal Goal: Measure CX and business results Altafiber needed clear, measurable data to see how customers responded to the mobile app. Our solution Developed a measurement strategy to assess the impact of the mobile app on CX and business outcomes

UnitedHealthcare’s Website Redesign Hits a Home Run

Solutions UHOne partnered with Fusion Alliance to develop a solutions-based approach to website redesign. Using an Agile Scrum methodology, we implemented three concurrent workstreams: technical, digital and design, and content. Our goal Build a technical workstream We needed to ensure a stable, scalable website that offered the flexibility and comprehensive functionality UHOne needed to maintain multiple operations and adapt to a changing landscape quickly, and we knew Sitecore would support these goals. Our solutions Conducted an analysis of infrastructure and system parameters required to establish an enterprise-level Sitecore Content Management System (CMS) environment with appropriate security, capacity, and operation readiness Planned, designed, and rolled out Sitecore environments for development, test, model, and production Created a platform-as-a-service model that supported microsite creation and configuration for future web properties within Sitecore. Our goal Configure a digital and design workstream Even though UHOne had multiple microsites, cohesion across the entire website needed to go beyond visual design to include website structure, navigation, and functionality. We also wanted to provide this cohesion in a repeatable form for future needs to build out the website. Our solutions Created a repeatable design and user-experience strategy that can translate to multiple sites across the Sitecore platform while allowing each site to stand out individually Established critical success factors for website organization, experience architecture, navigation, functionality, and visual design Determined mobile usage needs and parameters for responsive web design Our goal Establish a content workstream Setting a brand identity, connecting with customers, securing search engine results, and building trust and authority requires consistent, high-quality content. However, it also needs to align with state regulations. Our solutions Restructured existing content to utilize Sitecore's CMS capabilities and deliver personalized, modular content for customers using a variety of devices Laid the foundation for a "localization" approach to creating personalized content to maintain compliance with state regulations Developed content governance protocols that leverage Sitecore's workflow capabilities and reflect current content marketing, SEO, and device best practices Implemented Google Tag Manager for accurate data related to visitor activity and conversion rates

A Digital Redesign Improves CX for an Auto Glass Service Company

Challenge Lack of customer insight The auto glass service company wanted to improve their customers' experience on the website, but they didn't know exactly what their customers wanted. Before redesigning two separate websites, they needed to get clear insight into the current customer journey so they could meet customer needs and provide the best user experience. Two unique websites The auto glass service company had two separate websites - one for their commercial clients and one for their independent repair partners. Each customer group had very different goals when visiting the website, and both redesigns needed to be tailored to each group. Need for increased interaction and engagement The main objective for both websites was to increase interaction through self-service capabilities. The company wanted to pinpoint what services and functions their customers and partners wanted to see on the website that would Improve CX. Solution Originally, the auto glass service company partnered with Fusion Alliance to design the two new websites that would increase traffic and implement self-service capabilities. However, we saw opportunities to build customer trust and improve CX by pinpointing the exact needs and wants of their target audiences. Goal: Understand the customer journey We wanted to know how customers felt about the existing website, what they wanted to see, and the pain points they experienced that brought them to the website to begin with. Our solution: Conducted interviews with existing customers about their experiences and needs Created customer personas that would inspire the design process Examined existing websites for how they stood up against competitors Goal: Build self-service capabilities into the new design Our client wanted to build in self-service capabilities and customer interviews gave us insight into exactly what they wanted from an auto glass service company's website, including what kind of interactions and functions they wanted to carry out. We looked at ways we could improve CX while getting quick feedback from the client. Our solution: Set a minimum viable product for each initiative Designed roadmaps to implement the MVP to keep Fusion and the client aligned on common objectives and goals Goal: Deliver web-enabled solutions on an expedited timeline To hasten time to market, our Agile team knew that working side-by-side with the clients' team on front-end and back-end development solutions would move the project forward quickly without hitting obstacles. Our solution: Worked within the client's existing processes to deliver solutions Planned and executed the project within an Agile framework Provided training and guidance to the client's team through the entire process to ensure faster adoption of initiatives Used sprint-based development to deliver features for client review more quickly

Leveraging Machine Learning to Retain Customers

Challenges Standing out in a Saturated Market National pizza brands have massive marketing budgets and immediate brand recognition. Donatos needed to stand out from those brands, but they didn't have a data-driven strategy in place for how they could differentiate from competitors. Their message and marketing got lost in the noise of competition, often costing them returning customers. Converting New Customers to Returning Customers Donatos wanted to identify customers who were at risk of leaving so they could take action to win them back. Without the ability to derive analytics from their data and gain insight into consumer behavior, strategic planning was unsuccessful. Achieving Company-wide Growth With over 160 stores, Donatos Pizza had many that were succeeding, but weak customer retention meant that many stores were struggling. The leaders needed a solution to increase sales in these stores to achieve consistent and company-wide growth. Solutions Donatos Pizza wanted to look at data solutions that would lead to increased customer retention. Through a prior statistical analysis, company leaders knew that if customers returned within a specific time frame from their prior visit, they were likely to become long-term or loyal customers. Those who didn't return were unlikely to return at all. They wanted to identify at-risk customers and target them with successful strategies to regain their business and loyalty. Fusion Alliance sat down with Donatos to discuss their goals and determine the right course of action. Because they had a vast quantity of customer data readily available, we knew machine learning would offer the best opportunity to identify patterns and predict consumer behavior. Fusion Alliance created a three-month pilot program to implement and apply machine learning models in specific stores. We predicted that at the end of the program, the stores using machine learning would retain 30 percent of the identified at-risk customers. Goal: Identify the Algorithm that would Produce the Most Accurate Predictive Analysis The value of results is directly dependent on the value of data the platform receives. With so much data available, we needed to be very specific in what we used and which algorithms we identified as the most accurate. Our solution: Assessed the quality and quantity of data Developed predictive models Cleaned the data to use as a training set and use it to identify the best algorithm for accurate predictive models. Goal: Accelerate the Process while Reducing Costs Machine learning and predictive analytics are often very expensive and risky. Fusion minimizes risk and cost through a use-case driven strategy where we start with the use case, pull in only necessary data, and create an iterative approach to deliver a working solution that brings more value to the client on a faster timeline. Our solution: Started with the use case. Specifically, identifying at-risk customers Performed an ETL (extract, transfer, and load) on their data to a cloud platform to improve efficiency Evaluated and selected the data most likely to provide accurate insight including pulling in source data, aggregating it, and removing aberrations Goal: Hone in on a Specific Question to use in Machine Learning Models to Identify at-risk Customers Machine learning offers the best outcomes when there is a specific, defined problem to solve. Our solution: Formulate and test questions Iterate over the model to achieve a desired state Run the previous day's sales against the model to produce a list of at-risk customers

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