The full story
Canada Life asked PoleBrand to join up a large set of websites, sales channels and in-house tools. Over five years, we worked on six sites, customer paths, search, the CRM and the needs of advisers and customers.
The task
Canada Life ran several sites for different people, products and rules. Years of change had left mixed user paths, split content and sales work that did not join up.
Teams worked in different ways. Search results varied by site. Customers could do few tasks on their own. In-house tools did not share enough data.
This was not one site redesign. The whole digital set had to change while it met finance rules and served thousands of current customers.
Rules and trust
A finance site must meet strict rules. A change can affect trust, advisers, content checks, search and sales work.
The platform had to be easier for customers and still meet the rules Canada Life must follow.
What we did
Five-year plan
We made one long-term plan for six Canada Life sites. We treated them as a joined system, not six lone web jobs.
Search work
We cleaned up search code, page order and content form across the sites and product areas.
Customer paths
We made the menus and paths simpler for advisers and customers. Key facts and product files became easier to find.
Salesforce customer records
We worked with the IT team to link Salesforce to sales and customer work. Site actions, customer groups and follow-up could share a path.
We linked email sends to site actions and customer groups. This let each group get more useful messages.
Help teams change together
We helped senior leaders guide the wider change. Sales, IT, rule-check, content and data teams could work toward one plan.
How the full set connects
The work joined customer sites to content tools, Salesforce, email and sales tasks, site data, reports and customer care.
One system, not six projects
We did not treat each site as a lone job. We viewed all six sites and their tools as one system.
- Search work helped more people reach the sites
- Clearer paths helped people use more content
- The CRM link gave sales teams better lead data
- Site reports gave teams facts for the next call
The programme tracked the result across the joined work, not just one page launch.
Reported results over five years
- 30% more website views
- 83% more PDF file downloads
- 18% fewer customer service calls
- 60% higher email click rate
- 36% more video use
- 172% more people at online talks
The working result
The programme made more than six new sites. It joined search, customer records, site data, content tools and customer contact across parts of the business.
Teams gained clearer reports and a shared way to work. The platform could change over time without a full rebuild for each new need.
What the work taught us
Change in a large firm is not just a tech job. Sales, IT, rule-check, content and data teams must move together.
When each team works alone, the digital path splits. When teams share one plan, one change can help the next. We still use that lesson at PoleBrand.
A large change works when teams and tools join up. One more tool for each team will not do that on its own.
The key point
The number of new sites is not the main test. The real test is whether the firm becomes easier to run.
The Canada Life work joined design to team, data and tool changes across five years.