Case Studies

BravePoint Increases NFCC's Accessibility

National Foundation for Credit Counseling

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) is a 501C3 nonprofit organization that provides financial counseling and education to consumers through its network of 100 member agencies with over 830 locations throughout the United States. In 2007, due to the housing crisis, the NFCC concluded that there was a need for a web-based portal to speed the process of connecting clients with an agency based on their location and according to their counseling need and preferred counseling method.

After some research about which firms could create such a product and sending out requests for proposals, BravePoint was ultimately chosen for the task.

The project consisted of designing, creating and implementing a system called the National Counseling Locator Service (NCLS) to guide and track the intake of the consumer and the various stages of the counseling process, based on criteria specifically defined by the consumer. The system improved NFCC's business by expanding their ability to give consumers in financial trouble an additional vehicle and more modern approach to quickly seek counseling.

Ortwein was so pleased with BravePoint's work that NFCC decided to expand the system, which they originally used for two types of counseling, to handle six additional counseling practices. He said, "Since the beginning of our relationship with BravePoint, we turn to them for help every time we identify a need."

Combination of knowledge and skills...

"The prime decision to use BravePoint was a combination of their knowledge, people skills, and the cost-effective approach. In the end, the people really made the difference," said Al Ortwein, Senior Vice President of Products & Operations for NFCC.

Improved Resource Planning

CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder was effectively managing headcount requirements with their 200 full-time employees in recruiting, back office work, and inbound customer service, but wanted to improve. The market leader in resource planning software was more costly than the budget allowed. Recognizing this, the organization searched for other solutions and found Bravepoint.

BravePoint built and implemented a data warehouse and custom user interface at a significantly lower cost than competitors. "BravePoint's work will pay off within one year. We'll be able to save money by more efficiently using our resources," said Brian Cummings, Senior Operations Manager at CareerBuilder.

BravePoint tapped into CareerBuilder internal workload databases and, using their existing algorithm, built a solution to forecast headcount requirements across multiple business functions. As a result, they have a dashboard that shows CareerBuilder how close the forecast is to reality each day, and allows them to make adjustments when missing the mark. An additional benefit was realized when CareerBuilder was able to implement the solution with minimal training or changes to their current business process.

"Working with BravePoint on this project was great; they were very accommodating," stated Brian. "They worked with us on an iterative cycle – as more complexity arose, they were flexible and willing to do whatever it took to keep us on budget."

Rapid Return on Investment

"BravePoint's work will pay off within one year. We'll be able to save money by more efficiently using our resources."