A growing number of organizations are deploying customer communications management (CCM) solutions to streamline how they create, personalize, and distribute essential customer communications. For Calamos Investments, using CCM to generate quarterly account statements provides a powerful way to strengthen its relationships with clients.

Calamos Investments wanted to raise the bar. A Naperville, Illinois-based firm with $39.8 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2008, Calamos places a premium on providing exceptional client service to its institutional investors and private wealth management clients.

One of the main vehicles for communicating with clients is the quarterly client package (QCP), a detailed account statement that ranges from eight to 25 pages. In addition to reporting on an account's performance, the QCP is tailored for the specific account's investment perspective. For example, it includes comparisons to relevant industry benchmarks and relevant market commentary from Chairman, CEO, and Co-CIO John P. Calamos, Sr. and Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Investments, and Co-CIO Nick Calamos, CFA.

Staying ahead of the crowd

Explaining Calamos' decision to deploy a CCM solution to accelerate the creation and distribution of the QCP, Maryann Bianchini, senior vice president, director of client relationship management and chief administrative officer for institutional clients, says, "John and Nick are one of the longest-standing investment management teams and are very well respected in the industry. We want to get their views into clients' hands as soon as possible."

In the past, it typically took from 28 to 30 days after a quarter closed to generate the QCPs and to correct any errors that may have crept in as a result of manual processes. With a new CCM solution based on EMC Document Sciences xPression software, Calamos has cut that process down to 18 to 20 days and is working toward a target of 12 to 15 days. "The system has allowed us to dissect our client base and create a process where commentaries are written for particular clients and asset classes. All this client-specific information is automatically updated into templates and applied to the appropriate accounts," says Bianchini.

Making mass customization a reality

She offers an example of how content is automatically tailored to reflect a client's unique investment framework. "Some clients who invest in Calamos' convertible strategy may view convertibles as an enhancement to their fixed-income allocation. Other clients see convertibles as a low-risk equity alternative or as a separate asset class. For each client, the system inserts the relevant market commentary and industry benchmarks into the QCP, based on the client profile. It is all presented in a visually rich and easy-to-read format."

In the first months after the system was deployed, clients reported that the new format was a vast improvement over the old, and relationship managers indicated that their quarterly follow-up conversations with clients were much more productive. "Clients have a good grasp of what we think about the markets and a better understanding of performance," says Bianchini.

An overview of CCM

Like Calamos, many organizations are exploring the benefits of CCM, which brings together four technologies that previously were deployed as point solutions: imaging, archive, document composition, and electronic forms. Citing the financial services sector as an example, Gartner Vice President Toby Bell says, "Banks and insurers often have numerous, discretely managed components that generate letters, statements, policies, etc. But they are rarely harnessed collectively toward broader strategies like improved brand identity management or enhanced customer engagement across all touch points. With customer communications management technologies and disciplines, achieving the 'intimacy at scale' these platforms can provide in terms of production, personalization is easier. CCM can deliver other value, ranging from royalty to upsell to improved institutional image—even as costs and complexities are reduced."

Built on service-oriented architectures and offering XML data integration capabilities, CCM solutions automate the process of pulling data, graphics, images, and written content from multiple sources into design templates that present the content in a consistent and visually compelling way. The customizable templates also ensure that an organization's brand elements such as logos and type fonts, are correctly applied. Simultaneous creation for electronic and print formats enables flexible distribution via the client's preferred channel: e-mail, HTML, PDF, or traditional mail. (For example, PDF copies of Calamos statements are stored in the customer relationship management (CRM) system so relationship managers can easily access them.)

Bell notes that "chief marketing officers are investing in the technology partly because it promises ease of use for nontechnical process participants and reduces reliance on IT for support. Business and marketing owners can actually manage their own content from design through delivery." In addition to the creation of client account statements, CCM is being used to create insurance policies, business contracts, and marketing collateral. In the derivatives markets, CCM is seen as a possible solution for reducing a backlog of trade confirmations, which are highly complex in nature.

What makes for success?

Coordinating 11 different business and technical groups and leading the firm's CCM implementation was Joe Palumbo, IT head of sales, marketing, and Internet for Calamos. He sees several factors contributing to a successful deployment. "From day one, we made sure our IT staff understood this was not about implementing some new piece of software," says Palumbo. "This was about creating a whole new way to communicate with our clients on a completely personalized level, unlike anyone else in the industry. Adapting that mentality changed everyone's focus, vision, and attention to detail."

Equally important was Calamos' decision to treat CCM as an enterprise program rather than just a one-off project. "A program-level initiative was fairly new to the firm, so we really had to justify the numbers to gain executive buy-in and commitment," says Palumbo. But the initial investment has already paid off. "With a robust infrastructure now in place, we can plug in new applications with minimal effort, providing frequent and consistent business value."

More of a good thing

Based on requests and feedback from business units, Calamos routinely rolls out system enhancements. For example, new templates will allow relationship managers to easily create off-quarter statements to take to customer visits or to use to answer inquiries. "In the past, a client relationship manager might spend two hours creating a PowerPoint presentation," says Bianchini. "Now they can customize the statement in 20 minutes or less, leaving more time to speak with clients." Relationship managers can add personalized comments for individual clients, and the marketing team can highlight specials events or products that complement a client's current holdings. "IT maintains the technology and develops new enhancements, but we have moved the content creation and management to our CRM and marketing teams, and that has really optimized the process," says Palumbo.

Bianchini notes that advance planning is one of the keys to success with CCM. "You need to sit down and think the process through from beginning to end, considering all the little details. If you start at the end and work your way back, you'll get the best results."