Super Householding, Do we need it?

The answer is; We all need it.  However is your organization ready for it?  There are so many aspects at this level that must be considered before implementation could even begin to work.  The good thing is I'm not aware of any company that has been successful at it at all.  There is the process of collecting the data, the matching, and then behavior changes needed in an organization.

What is super householding anyway?  If you are a part of the MCIF world you will understand how important householding can be.  (See my previous blog about Householding.) Super householding take the process one step further.  It combines businesses owned by the same client, as well as, their personal accounts.  Each group has very different characteristics that don't allow any system to automatically combine the two.  You could even go a little further and bring in ancillary households or individuals that could be influenced by the account, however not roll up into a super households balances.  These could be accountants, lawyers, boards, other family members, etc.

The one thing Super Householding does is builds an individuals center of influence.  What all does the account holder influence across you institution.

Let us quickly review how households are built then how Super Household enhance the data.  After that we will get into the best way to collect, report, and maintain the data.  Then on to how to distribute the information.

Households are made up from multiple accounts with the same social security numbers which becomes an individual.  Individuals that share the same short name and address make up a household.

Super Households take this process further by combining all households that have something in common.  However determining that commonality becomes one that only a portfolio manager can determine.


Here is the reason none of these are successful.  It seems most vendors that have played around with the process go right to the line of Super Householding but never cross it to make it  viable to use.


When I made the reference to a portfolio manager being the only one that would understand how a super household is made, that is because only they are the one that touches the client.


Some companies have built the tool so that the operator of the MCIF physically makes the match.  There are multiple issues why this process has lead to the failure of it ever catching on.  First who has the time to enter the information? Second how are you going to consistently squeeze the data from a co-workers brain?  It complicates it more if you have 10, 20, 50, 100 or more managers. And three what do you do if the manager leaves or if you leave?  The process dies right then and there.  So why start it to begin with?


The collection of this data if pushed to the front line or to commercial officers can be invaluable for cross-sell opportunities.  The better you know somebody the better service you or even someone disconnected from commercial, brokerage, wealth management, insurance or the front line can act knowledge to a customer at all times.


So really there are multiple fronts that must be attacked with Super Householding that must be addressed to make the program successful. However, let us look at, for this example, the collection of the data and leave the behavior and delivery changes to someone else for now.


As I said earlier some vendors expect the individual that runs the MCIF to connect the dots on Super Household.  I'm here to tell you this is not nor will it ever happen.  Take any organization of size that has over 50,000 households and you have a full time position on your hands, however what if you pushed the data collection out into the field were you would have had to ask in the first place and require them to enter it?  The managers who will receive the most benefit from the data, would be in control.


I'm going to provide some high level software development here so if their are any vendors that read this, here is your freebie.

Each household is given a number that is permanently fixed to the group. This is system driven already.   Each portfolio manager would have the ability to view MCIF data along with the household number.  A function within the viewing table would allow for multiple household numbers to be entered.  So If the primary household is 855 and the client also owns two separate businesses that have different TIN numbers and their own household numbers are different,  all one has to do is enter the additional HH numbers.  All households would be connected when the Super Household tab is selected.

Now to go one step further once a household number is entered a relationship code would have to be selected.  These could be owner, attorney, accountant, relation, etc.  These centers of influence selections would correspond to reporting function that would provide instant totals for  balances and services.  Those outside relationships would not be counted in the totals.


In addition, most organization have established officer or employee codes.  It would be necessary to build reports within the tool to monitor and be able to make changes when an employee has been terminated, the portfolio manager has changed, or even if incentive compensation models are built.


So if there are vendors out their that push household information to the front line taking this next step can be very important.


This process is not something that can happen over night.  It will take time for each portfolio manager to understand and bring together all the households they can.  It is an on going process that will never stop.


This is only a high level resource guide into how Super Household can be successful, however there are many more aspects of the process, reporting structure, behavior issues, software development and senior manager acceptance that still must be addressed.


If you have additional questions or would like to see additional topics discuss, e-mail me or make a comment.