IN-DEPTH CASE STUDY. IronFX Online trading giant achieves impressive gains with Sugar

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1 IN-DEPTH CASE STUDY IronFX Online trading giant achieves impressive gains with Sugar

2 IRONFX BOOSTS REVENUE, TRIMS COSTS AND ENHANCES CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SUGAR Minutes mean millions in financial markets, whether you are the trader or the brokerage house. Timing and speed are essential to success. So when IronFX, an international leader in online trading, wanted a robust, enterprisegrade Customer Relationship Management platform, it chose one that could shave time off transactions by seamlessly integrating with other financial software while providing exceptional security and ease of use. MEETING SOME TOUGH REQUIREMENTS When IronFX set out to find a CRM platform, they began with a demanding set of requirements. CIO Panayiotis Panayides wanted a workhorse that would handle process automation, incorporate complex regulatory requirements and archive data without incurring expensive developer time for stacks of new code. He also needed to sync seamlessly with the company s Forex trading platform, the IronFX revenue backbone, and other proprietary applications unique to the IronFX business model. ABOUT IRONFX: IronFX is a global leader in online trading, specializing in trading CFDs (contracts for difference) on Forex, spot metals, stocks and futures. IronFX serves customers in 180 countries on six continents in 45 languages. Its customer-centric strategy provides customers with 24/7 access to experts who speak the language of the customer s country and can immediately discern client needs because of the company s 360-degree customer view. A dedicated account manager and local offices ensure the personal service that differentiates IronFX in the trading market. When he tested for user interface and data migration, one Customer Relationship Management solution stood out for functionality, ease of use and versatility in integrating other applications: Sugar. CHALLENGE: Implement a Customer Relationship Management solution that easily integrates with the sophisticated software of the financial services industry, provides a 360-degree customer view, promotes digital document storage, is easily and efficiently customized, and fosters process automation and regulatory compliance. SOLUTION: IronFX chose Sugar for its ease of use, flexible deployment options, integration with global enterprise applications and data sources, and in-depth customizability. RESULTS: Increased new account sign up from 250 per day to 4,000 per day by compressing screening and processing time from 30 minutes to less than one minute Increased trading volume from 4,000 trades per day to more than 100,000 worldwide Created 360-degree customer view, with country-specific information regarding trading regulations and regulatory compliance Implemented advanced automated leads routing based on geography, language and nature of campaign Realized $100k annualized savings by eliminating paper and copier costs through digital documentation Enhanced safeguards against money laundering Managed 1,300 percent employee growth over two years without losing focus IRONFX - 2

3 Sugar provides IronFX with in-depth customer information that equips sales and marketing with a panoramic view of customers: investing preferences, attitudes toward risk, longand short-term goals, and a variety of other personal preferences. Nothing is more personal than investing, and Sugar helps us build customer confidence because our internal transparency means we can see the entire customer picture, says Panayiotis. When the customer is successful in meeting goals, that means return business and upsell possibilities for IronFX. By hosting Sugar on-premise, which is not possible with many other CRM systems, IronFX avoided potential exposure and liability connected with cloud databases, which are more vulnerable to data security and privacy threats. With Sugar, we get an individualized view of each customer, their preferences and trading patterns. Panayiotis Panayides, CIO, IronFX The ability to host on-premise was a critical consideration for our customer s data security, Panayiotis says. With Sugar, IronFX has increased sales, enhanced customer relationships, increased security, improved profitability and virtually eliminated printing and document storage costs. RAPID TIME TO MARKET Implementing or changing a CRM system is a huge strategic decision for a maturing business. Before IronFX implemented Sugar, it had been through two CRM iterations: an in-house platform that focused mostly on sales leads, and a Salesforce implementation that was difficult to use and expensive to modify. After data-migration and user testing, IronFX knew Sugar was the only choice -- for its rapid, flexible deployment, ease of integration, usability and cost-efficiency. Because the Sugar team worked closely with IronFX in the discovery phase, the Sugar implementation took fewer than 90 days. Not in a single department, but throughout a company that works on six continents and in 45 languages. Time to market was crucial for us in choosing a CRM. In order to keep up with the pace of business growth, our data integrations couldn t be time-consuming or expensive, says Panayiotis. With Sugar, IronFX keeps pace with growth, executes more trades per day and makes the signup process more convenient for customers. After implementing Sugar, IronFX went from closing 4,000 trades per day to more than 100,000 worldwide. Its new accounts went from 250 daily to 4,000. Customer enrollment was faster and smoother; trades were executed more quickly in every currency; and deposits were verified and available to eager traders in minutes instead of hours. IRONFX - 3

4 HIGHER QUALITY SALES LEADS Being in the financial services business, IronFX has more stringent regulatory compliance obligations than most businesses. It does the typical credit and financial history profiles on new customers, but it also is required to make sure customers are not laundering money through investment accounts. Although the company had its own Anti-Money Laundering software prior to implementing Sugar, the benefits of the credit checks and deposit verification weren t being fully realized. Sugar brought the divergent systems together and produced in-depth prospect profiles for all the teams to see. The effort paid off in improved sales productivity as well as in security. By having our prospective client data cleansed and pre-screened, we are producing betterquality sales leads with a higher potential for closing, says Panayiotis, adding that the CRM has trimmed the sales cycle. We can welcome new customers almost immediately and understand the needs of current customers because our representatives have a complete view of the appropriate customer data -- name, number of accounts, trading pattern and history, he says. With Sugar, customers get convenience and continuity, while IronFX staff enjoys a faster, easier workflow with a higher percentage of closes on qualified prospects. We are producing better-quality sales leads with a higher potential for closing. Panayiotis Panayides, CIO, IronFX 2,500% increase in trading volume to 100,000 trades/day A CUSTOMER-FOCUSED CRM While most CRMs still focus on managing sales, Sugar has matured into a business transformation engine that enhances revenue by providing companies with a deep understanding of their customers. The IronFX experience is just one of many Sugar success stories; its metrics tell a familiar tale of the company-customer relationship enhancement. Within months after deploying Sugar, IronFX began attracting new daily leads by the hundreds via website and marketing campaigns that relied on Sugar as their backbone. 1,600% increase in new account creation when Sugar cut processing time from days to milliseconds We were able to achieve daily growth from 500 to 1,000 and up to 3,000, Panayiotis says, explaining that just by instituting new business process in Sugar that focused on the customer, IronFX created more leads and closed more sales. IRONFX - 4

5 For example: Customers who inquired about opening new accounts were now being automatically routed to people who spoke their native language. Documents -- such as user instructions, regulatory compliance requirements and legal agreements -- were made immediately available in the customer s own language, drawn automatically from the Sugar documents archive and delivered effortlessly. The process eliminated hundreds of hours of manual translation, and made customers feel more welcome. New signups, trading orders and deposits were being processed more rapidly, because sales and portfolios were managed through a single system in Sugar, giving IronFX account managers clear and timely information about accounts. Sugar has surpassed expectations in its ability to handle the work and integrate with our other applications, Panayiotis Panayides, CIO, IronFX With Sugar s enhanced customer-focused approach, IronFX improved business development, saved time in translations and gained new customers. BETTER FRONT- AND BACK-OFFICE INTEGRATION MEANS HAPPY CUSTOMERS Most business cultures include habits and techniques that evolve in response to needs. Often, these workarounds or shortcuts become institutionalized. They may look right in the short term, but in the long run can often impede change and lead to convoluted, inefficient business processes. IronFX had the familiar problems: standalone, fragmented systems that didn t communicate well, if at all. Pick a team -- accounting, sales, document translation, customer validation and credit checks all had outdated practices. Panayiotis and Lead Developer Christos Ioannides attacked the margin-eaters first, by creating new, streamlined, automated workflows. We knew we could do a lot of things with Sugar, but the workflows had to be first, that s where the highest return was, says Christos. Change was quick and effective. Now, leads, previously assigned manually, are routed via Sugar to the appropriate regional office the moment they arrive. New account signups are processed in milliseconds, instead of days, says Panayiotis. Credit and anti-money laundering checks, which used to occupy days and hold up deposits, are done in minutes. Because Sugar is handling so much of the front-office work, the IronFX back office today processes 20 times more customer applications and deposits each day, and feeds that new, qualified customer information into Sugar. Clients are guaranteed they can start trading within a few hours after signing up, and funding automation means deposits can be verified and available for trades in one to two minutes. IRONFX - 5

6 The increased transaction speed has accelerated IronFX s daily closed trades past 100,000 a record any business would envy. The velocity on closes has moved the company from an international Top 20 brokerage into the Top 10, based on trade volume measured against similar companies, says Panayiotis. When you are handling that kind of volume, you have to have a CRM capable of the load, and Sugar has surpassed expectations in its ability to handle the work and integrate with our other applications, Panayiotis says. A SWEET FUTURE FOR CUSTOMER LOYALTY It is a given that it costs more to develop new customers than to retain current ones. In the financial services industry, keeping customers can be more challenging than in most industries. Sometimes bad Trading decisions can lead investors to switch to new financial service providers. A trading firm can t prevent a trader s market loss, but it can mitigate the damage by influencing a trader s perspective about doing business with the firm. With Sugar, IronFX tracks customer goals and increases customer satisfaction and retention by clearly understanding individual needs. Some incentives are straight-forward--financial bonuses for new customers or rebates when customers add money to existing accounts. But in-depth customer information helps IronFX make things more personal, and even more fun. Because IronFX has a 360-degree view of its customers, it tailors contests -- lotteries, trading matches, highest returns competitions and pinpoints a customer s interests. World Cup tickets for the Manchester United fan; supercars for the auto racing buff; financial bonuses for the straight-ahead investor. We can do this today because Sugar helps us know our customers. With our value-added service and personal touches, we keep customers because Sugar helps us know our investors, says Panayiotis. IRONFX - 6

7 CUSTOMIZATIONS AND INTEGRATIONS INTEGRATIONS SAP & Client Portal: Enables full automation of back office functions around client and account management, including review and approval of funding related records Meta Trader 4: Forex trading platform integration real time view of trading activity through Sugar SendGrid: Handles unique list and distribution; automatically assigns leads/clients to ing list using configuration modules WorldCheck: Database used to validate the prospective trader CUSTOMIZATIONS Dynamic lead assignment across 1,200+ sales staff, based on multiple filters/rules through business rule automation Proprietary Anti-Money Laundering Module Proprietary translation form module with side-by-side view of translation form and document. Proprietary automatic trading account processing using custom configuration modules Automatic trading server selection (account opening) based on business rules (configurable at run time) Automatic processing of additional accounts Fully customizable and interactive ticketing system built on Cases Module. Status sequence control mechanism that allows only pre-defined statuses to be available for specific users types and case statuses Sub-ticket mechanism that automatically creates sub-cases from status sequences. Able to control closing or status change of parent ticket when sub-ticket is closed Automatic ticket creation and assignment Custom workflow engine with complex rules Quick view and edit Custom workflows that integrate business logic across modules to allow automatic processing of records IRONFX - 7

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