In theinsurance industry, the two most common customer acquisitionapproaches both have unique challenges. First, the "traditional"approach of a large field presence, of either employed insurancerepresentatives or independent agents, must attempt todifferentiate its product and approach, even when there may be fewdifferences from company to company. The most effective way is tomarket one-to-one with direct marketing and offers that speak to anindividual's preferences and current needs. This requires a blendof having the correct pieces of marketing materials available andgiving the field sales representatives flexibility to personalizefor each prospect.

Ideally you're leveraging your field staff as well asindependent agents because they are each experts on their prospectsand customers. An added goal is to do this in the most efficientand cost-effective way. This means that alignment of sales andmarketing may have less to do with when a lead is sent to a salesrep and more about using the most current version of each marketingmaterial and not printing more than is needed. For example, as partof a continued effort to rationalize its cost structure, Europeaninsurance company P&V Verzekeringen sought to reduce the costsassociated with the production and administration of its sales andmarketing collateral. Julien Hayen, P&V corporatecommunications officer explains, "To ensure a sufficient supply forour agents, we'd produce flyers and brochures in large quantities.Every year, however, we had to dispose of collateral because it hadbecome outdated as a result of changes in the market, the legalenvironment, or simply because certain promotional offers would belimited in time."

Agents would order standard collateral by phone or by e-mail,often more than required as they didn't want the extra bother ofregular re-ordering. With this manual process, it was difficult toprevent the use of out-of-date information being distributed, whichhad liability implications as well as possibly affecting the salesprocess. Hayen adds, "We also identified a need forpersonalization, having noticed that our agents increasingly usedself-produced, personalized communication materials. Unfortunatelythese communications, however well-intentioned, didn't alwayscomply with legal requirements, let alone brand standards."

By providing customizable templates on acentrally-managed sales and marketing platform, P&V is now ableto make sure its agents always have the most current information.In addition, because the customizable templates are highlypersonalized, the agents are able to match their materials withwhat will work in their territory or even with a specific customer.Because relationships are key to selling and retaining customers,particularly when selling something as personal as insurance, thispersonalized approach is the most effective.

As for addressing the goal to cut costs and wasted materials,because P&V is now printing its materials to order, thesuperfluous stock has been eliminated. Hayen shares the impressivecost savings, "During the first year of operation we have alreadyachieved a cost reduction of 30 percent and we expect this toincrease to more than 50 percent."

One last lesson from P&V is how headquarters' marketing wasable to get sales agents in the field to use this new technology.To ensure acceptance of the new system, it was absolutely vitalthat it was easy to use by busy agents with priorities other thanordering marketing collateral. By using a system designed for userswith little or no marketing or graphic design expertise, P&Vmade their investment in technology an asset instead of justanother cost of doing business.

The second approach is even trickier. This is when an insurancecompany has a direct and highly automated relationship with itscustomers. For example, InShared, which launched in Europe inJanuary 2009, is an Internet-only insurance company. "We are set upas a small, networked organization," says InShared IT manager PeterToonen. As a completely Internet-based insurance company "...we cankeep the costs and premiums to a minimum. We didn't invest in anetwork of local branch offices, an extensive back-office or othersupport departments. Instead we outsource most of our operations tospecialized partners."

Although this approach has enabled InShared toprovide its customers low rates, it added the challenge ofdelivering information, particularly personalized information,without local branch support. The company's answer has been tooutsource all document production and delivery such as e-mail,policy terms and conditions, quotes, and claim forms. "While wecommunicate electronically where possible, rather than by paper,it's sometimes better to send documents via ordinary mail insteadof e-mail," says Toonen. "We needed the flexibility to easily alterthe mode of delivery, or to adapt it to each client."

InShared's clients receive quotes and apply for policies onlinevia the Inshared Web site. This Web site provides access to productinformation and simulations, acting as the online equivalent of aninsurance agent. In essence, InShared's quest to align their salesand marketing program needed to happen within its own deliverysystem. The question was "how do you offer a personalized approach,when you have very few people interacting with customers?"

For such a company, digital asset management as well as anautomated direct mail implementation program is essential. When somuch is riding on alignment of humans and programs, it is criticalthat the chosen sales and marketing solutions integrate securely,reliably and seamlessly with the online insurance company's own webservers as well as the rest of its IT infrastructure. For example,all of InShared's templates and other assets are stored in a Luma'scentral database. By having online demands processed in real timeand triggering document distribution, InShared is able to have atimely interaction with its widespread and diverse clientele.

We've now reached the point in business when alignment meansmore than just tactical steps or philosophical approaches.Alignment is key for creating a more efficient sales approach thatstreamlines the process and removes wasteful steps and additionalcosts. Although P&V and InShared have very different businessapproaches, by embracing technology that answers the concerns ofmarketing, sales AND the company's overall business, both companieshave found the right way to align for me.