Our clients are innovators and leaders in their respective industries.
They nurture relationships with their customers, consumers and supporters in a caring and professional manner. For them, quality service is paramount.
Check out the challenges they overcame, and opportunities that were created, once using NoticeMATCH - it may surprise you.
CHARITY EDUCATION LEGAL FINANCE PROPERTY TRUST OTHER
Effective, Empathetic, and Prompt Service Builds Rapport
Saunders & Co is a full-service Christchurch law firm who are experts in most areas of law.
The firm has a broad range of clients, ranging from private individuals and families, through to large companies, statutory bodies and local iwi.
The Estates team has extensive experience in all aspects of elder law, estate planning and administration. They take a forward-thinking approach to minimise stress and delays for families.
“Major life changes, such as death, is often a time when clients require us to proactively engage in a timely manner to carry out estate administration,” says John Bates, General Manager.
The Challenge:
With roots in Canterbury since 1922, Saunders & Co have a significant number of clients.
Keeping on top of client deaths was a challenge especially if the matter, such as a will, was handled many years ago and families may not have known of it.
“Prior to discovering death notification applications we, along with many other law firms, would either rely on relatives making contact, or checking the death notices in the daily newspaper, to discover when a client had passed away,” said John.
The Solution - Match400:
John and Office Executive, Laura McDonnell, had trialled other solutions but opted to subscribe to NoticeMATCH..
“The high quality death data, ease of use and guidance that came from NoticeMATCH Director, Sue Skeet, are just a few reasons why we use this solution almost daily. It allows us to distribute the death notifications to relevant authors in the firm promptly,” Laura said.
The Outcome:
Since subscribing in December 2018, Laura has been in charge of running NoticeMATCH and it has significantly improved her ability to identify a deceased client, notify the client's lawyer and the deceased estates team.
“NoticeMATCH has enhanced our client satisfaction. This is due to its efficiency in matching our client data against deaths,” John added.
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Kate Brinsdon & Justin Bagust & Joy Burt
Timaru District Council
Council Addresses Death
The Timaru District Council weren’t always made aware of a death, they relied on families and lawyers being in contact.
This meant they often missed a death, were unable to update their data, and inefficiencies and risks were heightened.
“This was an area we knew we could be better at as data hygiene is vital to all areas of our business, said Justin Bagust, Chief Information Officer.
“Investigating months and years after a death, was inefficient and time-consuming. It was also uncomfortable for our staff to be on the back foot, plus we want to be the best we can for our residents”, Justin added.
The Trial:
The Council undertook a seven day trial of NoticeMATCH. They ran the programme daily and also undertook an historical wash of death data dating back 12 months. The results spoke for themselves, deaths were missed and the early notification improved efficiencies all round.
Set Up:
Set up was, says Justin, super easy.
“We simply exported the name data of our ratepayer, dog control, parking and library databases and created a csv file. NoticeMATCH provide the field header template, and we were up and running in minutes ”, he said.
The Solution:
Joy Burt and Kate Brinsdon, both Application Support Analysts, were trained onsite within 15 minutes and ran the trial.
“It was easy to learn and very fast to glean results. The summary service and name search features have also helped us connect with family of the deceased,” said Kate.
NoticeMATCH is now run daily and the entire task takes a single operator around five minutes a day.
“We are now confident that we are doing the best we can in this area and that our data is as clean as possible, said Justin.
“The solution has given us a number of advantages and the information gleaned is extremely beneficial in helping us update or finalise accounts quickly.
“Another big plus is that we are able to avoid sending insensitive communication to the deceased and their families,” Justin concluded.
NoticeMATCH has partnered with ALGIM and is able to provide a solution to all local government members.
Innovative Firm does the Right Thing by Clients at a Time of Need
National law firm Duncan Cotterill is a well-respected full service firm with four offices in Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch. The firm has a large client database that has grown significantly since it was established in Canterbury in 1857.
Known for its innovative business practices, it is not surprising the firm was instrumental in helping pilot the first version of NoticeMATCH in 2010.
The Challenge:
Prior to engaging NoticeMATCH, Duncan Cotterill either relied on contact from relatives of a deceased client or reading death notices of local newspapers, which lead to concerns the existing systems were not sufficiently adequate. The Christchurch earthquakes confirmed the need to move to an electronic-based system to manage this important aspect.
The Solution - Match400:
The firm began using the first NoticeMATCH desktop application in 2010 and when they changed software providers in 2014 NoticeMATCH customised a solution.
In 2018 Duncan Cotterill moved to the web app version.
The Outcome:
NoticeMATCH is used across all client and contact databases daily, allowing the firm to promptly distribute notifications to relevant offices and staff.
The system offers many functions including identifying when a contact linked to a client account has passed away and estate beneficiary searches.
“NoticeMATCH is an integral part of our business that has significantly improved our efficiencies and enhanced client satisfaction,: says Catherine Kerr. Office Manager.
Victoria Murray-Orr & Andrea Boyd
St Margaret's College
Timely Notification Transforms Community Relations for College
Keeping connected with past pupils and building future relationships is a key aspect of Victoria Murray-Orr’s role at St Margaret’s College in Christchurch.
The Challenge:
Victoria is the Director of Community Relations and says the college was wanting to maintain connections with former students and their families but that maintaining the accuracy of the data was difficult due to limited resources and the enormity of the task.
“It was difficult to keep track of old girls which meant our communications could be badly timed if they had just passed away when we did a mailing and that was the last thing we wanted for their families.
“This was an area that was critical for us to get right,” says Victoria.
The Solution - Match52:
In 2017 St Margaret’s College subscribed to NoticeMATCH. They ran an historical wash of the of death data dating back to 2007 in order to bring their database up to date.
Andrea Boyd, Database Administrator, now runs NoticeMATCH weekly and orders notice summaries for more detailed information enabling the College to reconnect with surviving family.
The Outcome:
“NoticeMATCH has had a positive impact our day-to-day operations. We are confident we are up to date with old girls and other contacts passing, and this has resulted in a marked reduction of returned mail and related administration,” said Victoria.
The College now also acknowledges a death with a sympathy card and advises the Old Girl network so that they are able to support families when needed.
“Timing is everything as we need, and want, to stay connected with our families long after they have left the school,” Victoria added.
Andrea says that the notice summaries also provide a wealth of family information which helps them reconnect with former pupils in the same family.
“Having the tools to quickly and efficiently do a task that used to be time-consuming has been wonderful. The programme was easy to learn and implement, and Sue and the team have been excellent to deal with, nothing was too much trouble for them.
“We now feel confident we are doing the best we possibly can for our families at this sensitive time,” Andrea added.
Perpetual Guardian - the Innovator and Leader in End of Life Administration
As New Zealand’s premier provider of estate planning services, Perpetual Guardian, is an innovator and leader with many industry-firsts under its belt. NoticeMATCH is one of them.
Perpetual Guardian, which has a significant client base, started using NoticeMATCH in 2012,initially through its legacy companies Guardian Trust and Perpetual Trust (which merged in 2015). It was the first Trust company to adopt the software.
The Challenge:
Prior to NoticeMATCH, the company relied on each branch physically checking their local newspapers or waiting for family to contact them for support said Joeline Carney, Client Services Team Leader.
“Searching manually was both time-consuming and unreliable as it was difficult to ensure we’d capture all client deaths and be able to provide the support and services they and their families needed.
“Add to that the challenge that some families aren’t sure of where a loved one's Will is held, or even aware there is one,” she said.
The Solution - Match400:
In 2012 the company centralised their death notification system and has used NoticeMATCH, daily, since.
It takes one staff member less than 30 minutes a day to identify deceased, request summaries and review the information provided.
The Outcome:
NoticeMATCH has enabled Perpetual Guardian to reach out to family and begin the sensitive Estate Administration process within days of a person passing away. While it saves hundreds of hours a year of checking records, it has also significantly reduced the risk of missing a client’s passing and not being able to support the family throughout.
“NoticeMATCH gives us a number of advantages and the information gleaned is extremely beneficial in helping us help the bereaved very quickly,” says Selina Phillips, Client Services Manager, who operates the programme.
“Another big plus is that we don’t send insensitive communication to the deceased and their families.
“We are very confident in this area of our business. NoticeMATCH and the death notice summary service is an essential tool we use daily,” Joeline concluded.
Elizabeth Jennings
Melville Jessup Weaver
Reassuring Clients, and their Families, Rates High for Actuarial Company
Melville Jessup Weaver are consulting actuaries with offices in Auckland and Wellington. The firm consults in the areas of insurance, superannuation administration, KiwiSaver, investments, financial analysis and risk management.
In their administration of superannuation schemes it is “absolutely vital” they know as soon as a client dies.
The Challenge:
Elizabeth Jennings, Plan Manager, says clients deaths affects their business and it is good practice to be proactive about it as it saves time, money and, most importantly, potential upset.
“It’s absolutely vital we know as soon as possible as we either have to recalculate a spouse's pension or stop payments all together.
“The challenge we had was that any delay meant we were tasked with trying to claw back overpayments, which was upsetting for families and our staff, and our administrative tasks became cumbersome as a result," said Elizabeth.
The Solution - Match400 multiple users:
In 2018 Melville Jessup Weaver subscribed to NoticeMATCH with all Plan Manager’s running matches on their own client portfolios.
Currently seven Plan Managers use the software and the task takes each seconds a day.
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The Outcome:
Within a few days Elizabeth’s team was set up and trained to use NoticeMATCH and the time spent on death verification is now 1/20th of what it used to be.
“Using NoticeMATCH has increased our efficiencies and confidence that this important part of our business is managed as well as it possibly can.
“We actually tell our clients we have a system in place to be notified. It gives them confidence that we won’t put their families, surviving spouse, or estate under unnecessary pressure” Elizabeth said.
“We are very happy with NoticeMATCH as it was very easy to implement, reliable and is simple to use.” she added..
Scotty Jenkin
NoonePlus
Embracing Technology that's “Relevant, Easy to Use and Drives Efficiency”
Noone Plus is an award winning business advisory and chartered accountancy firm based in South Canterbury. As a Xero Gold Partner with clients throughout the country, they are not shy of embracing new technology that gets the job done.
The Challenge:
Mitigating risk, says Scott Jenkin Senior Business Advisor, was a difficult when it came to a client, who they are not regularly in touch with, dying.
“It was time-consuming managing and we couldn’t always find more person detail to do a thorough job.
“This exposed us to potential brand damage, made things extremely uncomfortable and had the potential to ruin future relationships with the surviving family,” Scotty said.
The Solution - Match12:
In 2017 Noone Plus subscribed to NoticeMATCH. They run matches monthly, utilise the name search feature when trying the locate individuals, and order notice summaries for more detailed information.
Setting up and learning was, says Scotty, “very easy”, taking less than 30 minutes effort. The monthly matches takes less than five minutes each month.
The Outcome:
“NoticeMATCH has made us very aware of client death and we’re now confident that we are maintaining our data and able to follow up on outstanding matters with a greater level of sensitivity.
“Using the software, and the comprehensive database of deceased behind it, means we are able to send out sympathy cards and make phone calls in good time,” he added.
In so far as the ROI, Scotty says this was within a few months.
“Our staff’s energies have been redirected to income generating work and that’s made an impact on our bottom line, not only increasing efficiencies internally but also improving our customer’s experience.
“NoticeMATCH is a useful tool for any business of any size, the team are friendly, implementation is easy, and I have no hesitation in recommending it,” Scotty added.
Helen Campbell-Smith
Look Good Feel Better
Cancer Support Charity Relies on Timely Notification
Look Good Feel Better gives support to those facing cancer and with up to 30% of their clients dying, it is vital they avoid the negative domino effect poorly timed communication has.
The Challenge:
With a substantial database of clients and supporters throughout the country the charity needed to manage their communications sensitively, especially when families were already grieving and in pain.
“We had no data washing facility in place and knowing that approximately 30% of our participants do die, it was critical to put a process in place to give us the most current and accurate information on a participant’s status. NoticeMATCH could do this for us,” says Helen Campbell-Smith.
“Handling returned mail and upsetting phone calls from the bereaved did, as an organisation who helps at painful times, completely contradict our purpose.
“But we didn’t have the time or resources to do a thorough job so needed a solution which gave us timely notification” says Helen.
The Solution - Match12:
In 2015 Look Good Feel Better subscribed to NoticeMATCH. They ran an historical wash of the of death data dating back to 2007 in order to bring their database up to date.
Every month Helen exports her current database from Salesforce, runs NoticeMATCH, advises her team of the results and updates the database before any communication is sent. The task takes around 30 minutes a month.
The Outcome:
Phone calls and returned mail after newsletter distribution dropped significantly within the first few months as subscribers.
“NoticeMATCH has features which also make our tracking of the status of our clients, and how we manage that internally, very easy and quick.
“Without doubt we are extremely satisfied with NoticeMATCH, we trust them 100%, and are very confident in identifying our deceased clients,” Helen added.
While Look Good Feel Better currently do not have a bereaved contact plan in place, it is something the the organisation may look at in the future.
“With NoticeMATCH we no longer face the unbearably awkward moments we did in the past and it has also given us the power to be proactive in a terribly sad time should we decide to,” she said.
Vanessa Kent & Peter Richardson
Linwood Law
A More Streamlined and Predictive Pathway
Christchurch firm Linwood Law offers its clients a lifetime of support and stands by that. It has a database of around 20,000 and previously found the task of identifying deceased client's wasn’t as consistent as it could have been.
The Challenge:
Partner Peter Richardson says they didn't have the resources to do a thorough job of checking for deaths. As such the risk of missing a client death became an increasing concern, especially when it came to uncovering a Will they may have held and they wanted a "more streamlined and predictive pathway".
"It’s really important to us that families do not lose confidence. And it’s important that we build strong relationships with them as we rely heavily on extra work they bring our way regardless of whether they hold a Will with us or not," he said.
The Solution - Match400:
In 2012 Linwood Law was an early subscriber to NoticeMATCH and in 2018 they moved to the new web app which, says Vanessa Kent the firm's receptionist, has been easy to learn and and takes only a few minutes a day,
"We run matches daily, utilise the name search feature when trying the locate other individuals, and order notice summaries for more detailed information as needed," she said.
The Outcome:
Having taken a proactive approach to death gives clients confidence in the firm and, says Peter, the additional work they attract from the bereaved is diverse and rewarding.
“Our clients do move from town to town and thier death can be announced anywhere. This software is now giving us a greater catch and match of data, removed the need to manual searching, and we are now extremely confident we are doing the best we can.
"NoticeMATCH has proven to be ideal for a smaller practice like ours with limited resources," he added.
Kate Russell
Canterbury Medical Research Foundation
Placing High Value in Donor Care
Over the past 57 years, the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation has funded more than $27 million in research into some of the world’s most devastating conditions.
The Challenge:
Being 100% reliant on the generosity of the community to support their work through donations, bequests and sponsorship means the organisation places high value on each and every contact.
"The Foundation places a very high value on excellence in donor care and as such we are very motivated to keep our database ‘clean’ and free of error,"said Kate Russell, Chief Executive (2014-2018).
Part of this is keeping abreast of anyone who has passed away so that communications with the family are managed respectfully.
“Not only do we absolutely want to avoid upsetting people, we also wanted the opportunity to extend our condolences and let the family know how much we appreciated the generosity of their loved one”, she said.
The Solution - Match12:
The first match run the Foundation undertook was the day before a donor mailout. Three donors who had passed away were quickly identified.
“This was very important for us. We had a chance to do the right thing by the family and felt we were armed with the right information and support treat the donor with respect, even when they had died”, she added.
The Outcome:
As subscribers of the Match12 plan they have the ability to run a match 12 times a year and Kate and her team use NoticeMATCH before each mailout. They also use the Name Search and Summary Service whenever more information is required.
“Using NoticeMATCH has enabled us to reduce risk, connect with the bereaved quickly to acknowledge the deceased’s generosity at a time when it matters most to the family. We also know we’ve done our best in this delicate area”, Kate said.
Dave Marsh
Christchurch Methodist Mission
Little Gestures, Big Results
Efficiency and reducing potential brand damage was Dave Marsh’s motivation for using NoticeMATCH.
Dave is the Fundraising and Communications Manager of the Christchurch Methodist Mission (CMM) an organisation that relies significantly on the generosity of donors and supporters to provide programmes and services that help thousands of children, families and older people in the local community every year.
The fundraising and bequests programme is critical, so too is building strong relationships with families.
The Challenge:
"Identifying deceased supporters is important because we need to acknowledge their past generosity and avoid insensitive communication moving forward.
"We feel very strongly about this. Simple gestures such as extending sympathies is a win-win for all," says Dave.
The Solution - Match12:
When they first subscribed to NoticeMATCH the CMM opted to run an historical wash over ten years death data.
The exercise uncovered a number of deceased donors and enabled Dave to connect with the families to extend sympathies, and ascertain if they wished to continue to receive their newsletter.
"This was a powerful exercise. It was appreciated by the families and helped emphasis that our supporters are not just part of our income stream, they are people who have helped us to help others, and we are grateful.
"They deserve recognition and reaching out in good time is the right thing to do." he adds.
Moving forward the organisation runs a monthly match of deceased records.
"Each month we do a search to see if any of our donors has passed away. If they have, a sympathy card is sent to the family and we update the database as needed. This ensures timely acknowledgement of the donor’s death and their contribution to CMM. he said.
A recent match run also uncovered that a bequestor had passed away, which ordinarily would not have been known for a couple of months.
"We were able to connect with the family of the donor in a timely way and communicate our sympathies. We also acknowledged the many years of support the donor had given..Dave said.
The Outcome:
Using the NoticeMATCH summary service has enabled personalised communication and they recently printed a sympathy card especially for this.
"We are a small organisation with limited resources and the small gestures we are able to make at a time of loss has big rewards for all. NoticeMATCH has been instrumental in helping us achieve this" he concluded.