Success story ZLM Verzekeringen

Aia helps insurer maintain personal touch across two correspondence systems

The customer: ZLM Verzekeringen specializes in personal approach

In contrast to service trends of online banking and digital portals, Dutch insurance firm ZLM Verzekeringen focuses on personal sales. This personalized approach is reflected in every ZLM correspondence. The composer of a letter actually signs it and personally puts it in an envelope and sends it out.

ZLM serves the Dutch provinces of Zeeland and Noord-Brabant. Most of ZLM's clientele are individuals and agricultural businesses. From the main office in Goes, 160 employees serve 180,000 customers. ZLM also works with agents. All ZLM representatives are committed to providing personalized service, including correspondence.

The problem: Integrating old and new correspondence systems

A new corporate identity, along with a new insurance application (AVZ by Aquila) prompted the search for a more suitable document composition solution that could support interactive correspondence. These are documents that ZLM employees and agents complete using an electronic template with specific information provided by the creator of the correspondence.

The new document composition software also had to be compatible with applications housed on the company’s existing AS/400 system and the new interactive insurance application. The existing AS/400 system would continue to be used for some time. Not all components from the old system would be immediately migrated over to the new system. Before the new AVZ insurance system could be fully implemented, both systems would run in parallel during a transition period.

The solution: ITP creates common interface for both systems

The first project phase involved implementing ITP based on the existing system, while phase two made ITP compatible with the new AVZ insurance system. Previously, staff used Lotus Notes to produce letters based on templates. These templates were the starting point for designing document models for ITP. On delivery, the ITP Document Platform featured 600 models populated with content.

Aia built a solution for ZLM using a data interface for the existing system, while incorporating the new corporate identity Now ZLM users can create new models and maintain existing ones on their own. As development continued, Aia also built a data interface for the new system and modified the infrastructure, so all letters could be composed from both the existing and new systems.

The result: ITP puts document creation in hands of business users

The ITP Document Platform was fully customised to meet ZLM's specific needs. ZLM staff began working with ITP immediately after attending an internal training workshop. From that moment on, all correspondence has been produced with ITP. Employees across the organization take advantage of the benefits of ITP to create personalized communications for their customers.

Janneke de Jonge, acceptor in the Personal Insurance division: "ITP has made it even easier to correspond with the customer. In addition to the fixed, recurring correspondence that we produce with ITP, it is also quick and simple to compose letters for one-off actions yourself. We now make the models for the letters ourselves. This allows us to communicate with the customer in an efficient and uniform manner."  

ZLM employees have become quite adept at making new ITP Models. They no longer need to submit requests for change via the IT department. This has turned correspondence into a process that is business-owned, business-managed and IT-controlled.

Erik Froijen, ICT System Administration & Service Desk team leader: "ITP requires very little attention. The previous system required a more maintenance and more work to keep everything running. Now that ITP is operational, the IT department has more free time to address other issues."

A standard solution for customized results

ZLM can use this standard solution to produce customized results. Since implementation, the number of document models has been expanded considerably, resulting in professional correspondence for any situation. For example, it is a delicate matter to send a survey to next of kin of an accident victim. This highly sensitive document is composed and sent out using ITP; a customized product made with a standard solution to ensure the proper communication. In addition, multilingual documents have been incorporated into ITP. ZLM corresponds in English, French, German, and Spanish with tourists on holiday in Zeeland and Brabant.

Martin van der Borgt, Marketing & Communication: "Our growth comes as a result of customer satisfaction. Our marketing and promotion budgets are not that big, but we are growing by four to five percent a year, thanks to customer satisfaction. The quality of our output, that is, our documents, is critical. With ITP, we are more secure in our business, and the users are proud of their work. If your letter is well written but looks unprofessional, your words lose their weight. ITP, in conjunction with our new corporate identity, will maximize our advantage in customer correspondence."