Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are a difficult challenge for any company to undertake. While the core of every company is its customers, CRM is often overlooked as just another component to the integration puzzle. In fact, it is the most critical puzzle piece. With any M&A activity, existing and new clients will experience significant change. Businesses that fail to manage this change will head in the wrong direction. By focusing on customers and CRM, enterprises can maximize the benefits from their M&A journey. 

An M&A CRM Excellence Framework for Capital Markets

While all industries have M&A needs, the capital market space has many unique elements and processes, particularly where customers are concerned. Wipro’s M&A CRM Excellence Framework for Capital Markets is specific to CRM and can be a critical component in companies’ overall integration management office.

Using Salesforce CRM and a variety of Wipro tools, assets and methodologies, this framework has helped enterprises get the most out of their M&A activities and accelerate their outcomes by identifying both qualitative and quantitative benefits of the integration at each step in the journey.

There are many benefits to any integration or acquisition. It’s important not only to know what those benefits are, but also to be able to identify them in an objective way. The M&A CRM Excellence Framework for Capital Markets guides companies to define success specific to their objectives and goals, with successful integration based on four key building blocks: Client Success, Worker Success, Operational Success, and Financial Success.

Goal #1: Client Success

• Everything companies do should be focused on their clients, both new and existing. Through any M&A experience, customers will go through tremendous change. Companies must not only understand the impact of these changes but take proactive steps to manage change appropriately. Wipro’s framework has a set of tools and templates to define client success and measurable KPIs to determine that success by answering questions such as:
• What will your client’s new experience look like, and how will that change from what they know now?
• How can clients be successful in their new environment?
• How will we measure success and adjust based on client feedback?

Goal #2: Worker Success

Don’t overlook worker success as a key goal. As important as customers are, employees must also be prepared for M&A-related change. There are many ways to accomplish this, from incentivizing the right behaviors and training workers on what to expect in an integration, to upskilling the team and adjusting compensation appropriately so their experience is rewarding.

In the 2020 M&A Report by PWC, only 10% of firms stated success in employee retention from an M&A integration. The M&A CRM Excellence Framework for Capital Markets helps define worker success by addressing issues including:

• What new roles might workers have? What skill sets do they need to be successful in their new role?
• How does the compensation system reward behaviors/skillsets? Can it be designed to include skills growth?
• What type of training should happen before, during, and after the integration?
• How do we make sure workers have a good experience throughout this process?

To keep the workforce happy, design what success looks like for them well in advance of any M&A activity – otherwise they may not stick around. This is key to worker success.

Goal #3: Operational Success

Operational success should be addressed during the integration process. M&As are often disruptive to a company’s operations, but companies can have a successful integration by addressing both the worker and operational sides of the equation. To ensure operational success, have a detailed process plan that addresses questions like:

• What are the steps?
  
• How long will they take?
• What is needed for each step (resources, approvals)?

In addition, it is important to think about how integration activities may impact broader business goals and strategy. Understanding this framework can help identify where there might be opportunities for improvement or change before any M&A activity takes place.

Goal #4: Financial Success

What does financial success look like for a company undertaking an M&A transaction? The answer is not always “more profit.” Companies define different measures of financial performance. For example, some firms use return on equity as their measure of financial success.

Think about why a company is undertaking an M&A transaction, what it wants to achieve, and the overall cost associated with that decision – not just in terms of dollars, but also time and effort. By working through the M&A CRM Excellence Framework, companies can define their measures for financial performance and design how they are tracked through metrics or KPIs over time. The last thing a company wants is any surprises when it comes to this important aspect!

The goal of any M&A activity is to position the affected entities favorably for future success. Wipro’s M&A CRM Excellence Framework for Capital Markets is designed to provide a measurable framework that helps companies find client, worker, operational, and financial success before, during, and after an M&A transaction. To learn more about CRM’s role in M&A activities, please contact us at wsp-cloud@wipro.com.