MLP: Simpler Processes and
Improved Usability with SAP®
Customer Relationship Management
Partner Pictur e Cr edit | MLP Finanz diens tleis tung en AG , W ie sloch, German y. U
sed with permis
Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
For more than 40 years, MLP Finanzdienstleistungen AG has followed a clear
corporate strategy: offering high-quality financial advice to academics and other
discerning customers. By specializing in specific lines of business and corporate
structures and by maintaining full independence in its choice of products, the
company is able to ensure tailored and targeted advice.
MLP Finanzdienstleistungen AG
Industry
Financial consulting
Products and Services
Financial services and insurance
Web Site
www.mlp.de
SAP® Solutions
SAP® Customer Relationship Management application
Partner
Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
As an independent financial consulting company, MLP aims to serve its customers. Rather than choosing products from a select group of providers, it instead analyzes the entire market to find the best concept for the customer. Overall, the MLP Group manages assets worth more than €24 billion. Founded in 1971, the financial and investment adviser has a full banking license.
The company’s greatest assets are its consultants and employees, and significant resources are invested in their selection and development. All con-sultants work for MLP in an independent capacity. Since 2008, the company has been using the SAP® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application for its central customer data management. In the current upgrade project to SAP CRM 7.0, the company hopes to increase end-user acceptance – thanks to the accelerated access to information through an improved user interface and enhanced
Independent financial advice
as a recipe for success
€
568
M
Revenue (2012)
Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
When MLP implemented SAP Customer Relation-ship Management in 2008, the declared aim was to support the development of targeted marketing campaigns and increase consulting performance. Although the application offered a number of useful functions in this area, the consultants tended not to use them, instead valuing their own independence and tried-and-tested processes. As a result, the appli-cation did not achieve the desired acceptance levels. MLP manages its customer base centrally in SAP CRM. The application offers consultants and branch offices role-specific access to their customers’ data. In return, consultants and branch offices are
expected to keep basic customer records up-to-date in the system. Initially, the company failed to find the desired levels of penetration with the application. “Give us good software with a standardized dash-board and without multiple user interfaces that complicate our processes!” was the message from consultants to the MLP head office. So the company reviewed the user requirements and evaluated the new release of SAP CRM. The intuitive operation, customized interfaces, improved search options, and better overall system performance convinced MLP’s IT department of the application’s benefits. The migration plans took shape.
Up-to-date customer data and
Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
As a long-term strategic partner, MLP has been using SAP solutions for a long time and has an extensive SAP software landscape. In addition to using SAP CRM for its customer relationship management, the company also deploys the SAP ERP applica-tion as its enterprise system, the SAP NetWeaver® Business Warehouse application for analyses, and SAP NetWeaver Process Integration technology for importing data to its commission system and for inventory reconciliation.
But this was not the only reason for choosing SAP. The main reason for the continued collaboration was the very highly rated features of SAP CRM 7.0. As its implementation partner, the company chose SAP CRM specialists maihiro GmbH.
“The migration project involved several prior visits to SAP and
consultations with SAP. This allowed us to ensure that our
requirements for the CRM system had been fully implemented
in the standard.”
Udo Lorczyk, Team Lead, IT Broker and Banking Applications, MLP Finanzdienstleistungen AG
Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
Technical consultants maihiro, who have a proven track record in customer relationship management, were used in the implementation phase. The imple-mentation focused on the central project objective: upgrading from SAP CRM 5.0 to SAP CRM 7.0 with a 1:1 porting of functions and processes. No existing processes were modified, and no new processes were introduced.
The scope of the project was split into seven work packages: business partner master data, client trans-fer, contact management, mass business partner changes, interface and portal integration, authoriza-tions and user roles, and interface and navigation.
The introduction phase involved the following: • In clean technical concepts, the team first
assessed which requirements were actually necessary.
• The requirements were fully mapped in the standard system so that the software supports all standard processes.
• Existing processes were migrated, with optimiza-tions being introduced subsequently.
• SAP services, such as analyses of optimization potential, were used in the upgrade.
• The go-live service from SAP allowed support at short notice.
• Verification sessions indicated how the system behaved and provided a platform for follow-up work.
Clean technical concepts as the
basis for implementation
Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
The MLP project management team’s key motivation for migrating to SAP CRM 7.0 was to establish the CRM system as the central customer data system – with the further aim of ensuring gradual uptake of the application’s numerous other functions. To this end, user acceptance is a key criterion.
Dr. Raimund von dem Bussche, head of customer intelligence management at MLP, summarizes the project: “We wanted to give our consultants and employees software that is so attractive that they use it not only to maintain the core data of their customers, but to organize their complete working day in the system.”
This is why the company particularly values the modern and more flexible interface offered by SAP
CRM 7.0. It offers a greater degree of customization and allows users to tailor their view of customers. The ability to assign colors to customers is another useful feature in this area. Complex searches can also be created and saved. As a result, consultants and branch offices enjoy faster and simpler access to information.
Thanks to its functions, SAP CRM 7.0 offers a complete process chain, from information retrieval and management through to data analyses and systematic quality assurance. MLP bundles isolated customer processes into an integrated information pool, which is made available via MLP’s network irrespective of location – which clearly benefits consultants, who can access this up-to-date infor-mation in real time during customer meetings.
Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
One of MLP’s mottos is: “The company’s greatest assets are its consultants and employees.” This is why it was so important for MLP’s IT department to provide consultants and employees in customer ser-vice with an attractive and high-performance CRM software solution.
The migration to SAP CRM 7.0 has already seen the following benefits:
• Modern interfaces with high degree of customization • Intuitive and simpler operation
• Faster access to information
• Extensive, flexible searches that can be saved • Greater end-user acceptance
At MLP, the CRM system forms the central platform for standardizing the consulting applications and is the perfect framework for further process improve-ments. Another significant benefit is that SAP CRM 7.0 is fully supported by SAP standard maintenance. Overall, the CRM upgrade was viewed as a success throughout the company. It has integrated the project fully into the successful series of MLP “New Generation” renewal projects.
Good start with the standardized
dashboard for consultants
Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Future plans
Various projects for extending the CRM deploy-ment are already being planned for the near future. The interaction center was recently commissioned, and greater integration of Outlook with SAP CRM is planned for 2014 with e-mail and calendar functions. With the idea of “BYOD” (“bring your own device”) playing an ever-greater role in a consultant’s every-day life, MLP’s head office is also assessing how consulting applications could be made available as cloud solutions for a wide range of mobile devices. SAP is again the ideal partner in this area too. And MLP IT is also casting covetous eyes toward the SAP HANA® platform. The team is currently inves-tigating how in-memory technology could be used to run real-time analyses of customer and inventory data. Until now, such ideas were filed under “Wishful Thinking,” but who knows for how much longer?
MLP and SAP –
neighbors and partners
diens tleis tung en AG , W ie sloch, German y. U
sed with permis
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