Boston, MA, Dec. 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today DALBAR released the 2013 winners of its annual award for excellence in sales support. For the third consecutive year, Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and JPMorgan Funds emerged as the leaders in sales support in 2013.
For over two decades, DALBAR has conducted rigorous testing of sales support and, each year identifies those firms that were found to be above their peers in sales support for financial professionals after a full year of comprehensive evaluation.
The sales support these firms provide was found to be far superior to the industry. Two significant areas of excellence this year were:
- Advisors want to make sure the majority of their day is spent working with their clients. Allianz and JPMorgan understand this and ensure that they are efficient and thorough when answering questions and setting expectations for next steps. The personnel at these award-winning firms did this 85% of the time versus an industry at only 51%.
- Allianz and JPMorgan understand that first impressions are powerful and will set the stage for the rest of the call. Representatives at these firms set themselves apart by greeting advisors with the highest degree of professionalism and respect 96% of the time, compared to the industry at large at 76%.
"Allianz and JPMorgan understand that when advisors call for sales support, it is imperative that they get what they need, when they need it. Advisors are often calling because they are about to sit down with a client and want to ensure they have all the information necessary to help them make sound investment choices," said Kathleen Whalen, Managing Director at DALBAR. She added, "Allianz and JPMorgan make it easy for advisors to do business with them, a key factor in securing long term relationships."
The Award for Excellence in Sales Support is based on systematic testing of sales support throughout the year. DALBAR conducts thousands of tests to measure how financial companies respond to the need for sales support from financial professionals. Companies that exceed a variety of industry benchmarks after one year of testing earn the Award for Excellence in Sales Support.
DALBAR, Inc. is the financial community's leading independent expert for evaluating, auditing and rating business practices, customer performance, product quality and service. Launched in 1976, DALBAR has earned the recognition for consistent and unbiased evaluations of insurance companies, investment companies, registered investment advisers, broker/dealers, retirement plan providers and financial professionals. Dalbar awards are recognized as marks of excellence in the financial community.