In Conversation with Lockton Re International's COO: How Futureform helped unlock new possibilities in Salesforce
Lockton Companies Inc. is the world's largest privately held insurance brokerage firm, providing insurance, risk management, employee benefits and retirement services.Lockton Reinsurance (Re) was launched as an LLP in early 2019 as the reinsurance arm of the business. As a new business without legacy systems in place they required a solution that would allow them to share data globally and allow their brokers to quickly focus on driving value to the business.
They partnered with Futureform on their Salesforce Financial Services Cloud and MuleSoft implementation in 2019. We spoke with Jackie Aggett, International COO at Lockton Re about the business’s journey with Salesforce and how she worked closely with Futureform to bring her vision to life.
You’ve been described as a visionary. What were you trying to achieve at Lockton Re and what was behind your decision to seek a CRM in the first place?
I’ve always had an ability to imagine what’s possible and whatever we’re striving to do, there’s always something else we can do further. I have great imagination and a good vision of how a process needs to work, I can see efficiencies in how we operate, but I’ve also got a very logical brain on the steps you have to go through. I work on the basis that whatever we’re doing, we need to ask what does that do for me, how do I turn stats into a value proposition, a differentiator, a way of improving.
When we joined Lockton and we wanted to be a global firm, we were new, we needed a quick solution that would allow us to share data globally so we could work collaboratively, and we knew of Salesforce because we had all used it previously - everyone knew it. We needed to act globally, we needed to act transparently, and we needed to have it as open as possible. We wanted to reduce the administrative burden on anyone who is paid to bring revenue in. Agility is key, we’re not burdened by legacy data or a framework that dictates how we need to operate, we literally had a blank piece of paper. What we didn’t know at the time was just how much we could bespoke Salesforce and embed it completely into our business.
Why did you decide to partner with Futureform for your Salesforce implementation and what value did they provide Lockton Re?
Barney (Haywood) and Brian (Doogan) had just set up Futureform and the Salesforce Account Manager at the time couldn’t recommend them highly enough. It was key that they had that base understanding of what we do, and the risks associated because we deal with millions and millions of dollars. We liked their approach because they listened. We talked to them for a month about what we do. It opened our eyes to what could be possible with Salesforce.
It was so easy to absorb them into our business. It felt like they were part of us so quickly. We invested time in Futureform, in educating them on our business, we felt that was fundamental, we spent time during that period answering lots of questions.
What I was always very impressed with was the speed, when we spoke to them, we’d articulate what we’d need, they’d play back what they thought we were talking about, and they’d then draw it in their process flow in their language then go and build in Salesforce.
"I cannot applaud Futureform enough for what they’ve achieved. I’m proud to have been part of that journey with them, to have been one of their first customers makes me extremely proud."
- Jackie Aggett, International COO, Lockton Re
What’s been the lasting impact of Futureform’s Salesforce implementation at Lockton RE?
Without Futureform’s knowledge of Salesforce, we wouldn't be in the position we are today. We were the first broker to embed entity account management in the way that we had at the earliest point of the relationship so that we protect our people.
Lockton Re was the first Reinsurance broker to have a fully digital Trading Partner Onboarding journey all managed in Salesforce, this reduces risk to the business, removes any rekeying and delivers full transparency to the Broker on where things lie freeing up time for the other members of the team to focus on their customers. Salesforce is the only product for budget and pipeline processes. It’s very transparent.
It’s allowed us to be a much more professional organisation so that we have certainty when we engage with clients and underwriters, that we know we can trade with them, that we know we’ve got the business principals out and it’s all there and navigated. From an audit perspective, it means it just happens. Every audience can get what they need. For us, it's the bedrock of our whole operational process.
"Without Futureform’s knowledge of Salesforce, we wouldn't be in the position we are today."
- Jackie Aggett, International COO, Lockton Re
What advice would you give to others looking to implement a CRM and work with a partner to do so?
Make sure you partner with them, treat them as part of your core team, invest in their education, invest in their knowledge. Don’t tell them what to build for you, tell them what your problem is and what you’d like to solve, let them build it, they’re the experts.
I cannot applaud Futureform enough for what they’ve achieved. I’m proud to have been part of that journey with them, to have been one of their first customers makes me extremely proud.
Interested in learning more about how Futureform can help you maximise the power of Salesforce for your Insurance business? Book a demo with us today!
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