Nationwide Advisory Solutions - Sales Distinction of the Year

Company: Nationwide Advisory Solutions, Louisville, KY
Company Description: Nationwide Advisory Solutions, formerly known as Jefferson National, is a recognized innovator with a mission to help RIAs and fee-based advisors build their practice by helping their clients to potentially accumulate more wealth and reach their financial goals - by developing and delivering value-added investment products, services and technologies that dovetail with fiduciary obligation.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Distinction Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Distinction of the Year - Financial Services

Nomination Title: Nationwide Advisory Solutions’ Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience

Tell the story about what this nominated organization achieved since the beginning of July 2017 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

OBSTACLE

Nationwide Advisory Solutions (NAS) targets Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and fee-based advisors. Committed to an unbiased fiduciary standard, these advisors are averse to traditional insurance products due to cost, complexity and limited choice—and opposed to the traditional commission-driven sales pitch due to potential conflicts of interest. While more companies begin to deluge these advisors with products, few truly align to their values, fit the way they work or meet their clients’ needs.

To help our sales team outpace the competition and penetrate this hard to reach market, we pioneered a responsive and adaptable Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience that employs advanced analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and real-time data personalization.

Now, our team of highly trained sales consultants can provide an even greater level of one-on-one service by leveraging this Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience to deliver precisely the right educational content and products RIAs and fee-based advisors need—at exactly the right moment they need it. By combining high tech with the human touch, our sales team can position themselves as the advisor’s advocate, offering them the customized consultation they need to make more informed decisions, grow their business and help their clients achieve their financial goals.

INNOVATION:

This Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience is the engine that helps our sales team drive more business. They can integrate and track every step of the lead management, prospecting and sales process across all touchpoints—to ensure consistency and customization of communications using social channels, email, phone and in-office visits.

Using the Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience, our sales team can drive more repeat sales, through ongoing real-time, hyper-targeted solutions that are informed by a continuous feedback loop across multiple touchpoints—including our website, advisor portal account management and trading platforms.

The Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience is unique because it turns the sales process into an opportunity to create greater value for advisors and their clients, and informs the development of new content, products and services, now and in the future.

ADVANTAGES:

While most competitors rely on a costly and labor-intensive wholesaling model, our Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience cuts account acquisition to one-tenth the cost—savings we give back to our advisors and the clients they serve.

Ultimately the greatest strength of our Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience is not any single technology—it’s the way we combine multiple technologies into a single technology stack, using data from multiple sources, to establish a single holistic 360-degree view of each individual advisor—and then create an infinite number of journeys for each one.

Our intelligent technology stack includes:

Data Management Platform: 1st, 2nd & 3rd party audience activation/targeting across all advertising
B2B Lead Management Platform: Track behavior & engagement for segmentation & lookalike models
Sales/Service Platform: Measure all aspects of interactions and experience
Marketing Platform: Personalize across email, social, ads & web
Survey Tool: Integrated with CRM & AI
Artificial Intelligence: Optimize individual needs, interests and intent, to create a custom journey

OUTCOMES:

With precise customization to meet RIAs and fee-based advisor needs, our Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience has helped our sales team drive significant growth across all key metrics for the 16 month period from 7/1/17 to 10/31/18:

-Sales: Topped $1.5 Billion; up 57% in 2017 and above goal YTD.
-AUM: Over $5.5 Billion; up 33% in 2017 and above goal YTD.
-Revenue: More than $37 Million; up 29% in 2017 and above goal YTD.
-Advisor Satisfaction: 97% overall, with more than 8 in 10 Very Satisfied
-Quality of Service: 92% rate us Excellent/Very Good, up from 90% in 2016
-Competitive Fees/Costs: 91% rate us Excellent/Very Good, up from 88% in 2016

Nationwide Advisory Solution was built from the ground up to serve RIAs and fee-based advisors. Our commitment to meeting their unique needs by combining the human touch of our highly trained sales consultants with the innovative technology of our Analytics-Driven Advisor Experience distinguishes us from the competition.