Logged-in service to streamline membership onboarding for Svenskt Näringsliv
Digitalise your organisation's onboarding of new members with the Nova tool. An ingenious combination of automation, self-service and manual processing created for Svenskt Näringsliv.
What is Nova?
Nova is a SaaS (Software as a Service) tool that Svenskt Näringsliv offers its member organisations for managing membership applications. But why is a tool needed at all? What can be streamlined in the handling process?
First and foremost: Members are the reason for existence for every organisation within Svenskt Näringsliv. Every year, large numbers of companies apply for membership in one of their organisations — and most are approved. But employer organisations want serious and honest companies as members, and those companies must meet the requirements for the membership to mean something. Screening members is an important but time-consuming task for the case handlers who must also offer good service and answer all manner of questions as part of the membership intake process.
Examples of questions that need answering before membership is approved:
- Is this a fraudulent company? In some industries, membership value includes proof that the company exists with honest intent and without money laundering. Background checks involving accounting and credit history become very important in such industries.
- What kind of membership suits the applicant best? Some member organisations have many different types of members, where a series of follow-up questions about business orientation places the applicant in the relevant sub-category, to receive the right member benefits.
- The application should go to someone else… There are also many applicants who believe they belong in one organisation but would be better suited in another.
- What does membership cost? What determines the size of the annual membership fee?
- A started application that isn’t completed… when should it be archived?
Better member service
A more efficient process means less burden on case handlers and therefore faster responses. In short: better member service.
Less time is wasted on detective work through threaded email chains, misfiled paper letters, priority questions around dormant cases, “that mobile number is no longer valid,” and internal dependencies on individuals. Energy can instead be focused on pure support cases, special problems that are hard to anticipate, and on improving the application process itself.
Nova is currently used by employer organisations representing more than 60% of members within Svenskt Näringsliv:
- Almega utbildar
- Byggföretagen
- Innovationsföretagen
- Installatörsföretagen
- Kompetensföretagen
- Medieföretagen
- Svensk Handel
- Säkerhetsföretagen
- TEKO Sveriges Textil- och Modeföretag
- Techsverige
- Teknikföretagen
- Tjänsteförbunden
- Tjänsteföretagen
- Tågföretagen
- Visita
- Vårdföretagarna
Samuel Brynolf
UX Designer, Äventyret
Samuel Brynolf, UX Designer at Äventyret, continues: The challenge with Nova was not about automating a single process — but processes. Member organisations have different needs depending on their sector, which is entirely natural. So how do we best build a process — for building processes? Which steps are recurring, and what do the solutions look like for needs that are entirely unique between organisations?
To get useful answers, we needed not only to map the processes themselves, but to break down sub-steps further and map these against purpose and chronological order. In this way, two historically different ways of solving the same need can agree on one and the same equivalent solution in a single system. (Reality is complex, however: it was clear early on that Nova needed to support manual functions, configurable by a skilled membership handler in the system — without requiring Äventyret’s involvement and support.)
When these boundaries fell into place, I felt the project shift from “innovating” to “executing.” Thanks to all the membership advisors who gave their time to many obvious-seeming questions throughout the process!
Nova under the hood
Technology: Nova is a custom-designed and custom-built Vue.js app working against the APIs of the standard business system Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Henrik Malm
Tech Lead, Äventyret
Henrik Malm, Tech Lead in the project, continues: Both the most challenging and the most enjoyable aspect of Nova is that different member organisations have different needs, but they must use the same service. It was therefore important to build Nova with a configurable and flexible design in many respects — the clearest example being that member organisations need entirely different forms for collecting information about applying companies. We solved this by building a “form builder” where each member organisation uses drag-and-drop to design their own forms.
In addition to forms looking entirely different, the application process itself can also look different for different member organisations.
This configurability is what really made us think carefully about design decisions in the code and put various design patterns to use. Fun — and hard! / Henrik
Methods and ways of working
- TDD (Test driven development),
- BDD (Behaviour driven development),
- DDD (Domain driven design),
- CQRS
- Design patterns
- CI/CD (Continuous integration/Continuous delivery)
Technology stack
- .Net
- Vue
- Sql server
- Docker
- Dapper
- Respawn
- MediatR
- xUnit
- FluentAssertions
- Azure
- Azure DevOps
Psst! Äventyret has also built a certification tool for Kompetensföretagen. It is similar to Nova but is less of a “one-timer”: The certificate is evaluated in annual cycles for the member to retain their certification. But that is another story.
How new members are assessed and welcomed via Nova:
1. Enter the admission process in Nova admin
Which steps in the process are automated? What is delegated to the applicant (as self-service) and what is handled manually? The organisation decides how important steps are best handled, and designs the case management steps in Nova.
Internal roles with permissions, language versions, and design customisations are created and adapted via a simple drag-and-drop interface.2. Publish externally
Nova is installed on a suitable subdomain, e.g. apply.organisationname.se.
Prospective members are directed to Nova via existing channels (website, sales contacts, newsletters, etc.).3. Applications come in
To initiate a membership case, the applicant (a company) only needs their company registration number and an email address.
Nova automatically supplements the data with information from connected third-party services such as Bisnode and Svenskt Näringslivs own registers — both for verification and to simplify the data entry process as self-service.
Notifications are sent to both the case handler in Nova and the contact person at the company: New application underway!4. Back-and-forth admission
Of all ongoing applications, Nova filters out the cases that have passed the “Ready for review” requirement for the case handler. This status means that the details entered by the applicant have validated and passed basic requirements.
The case handler therefore does not need to spend energy on incomplete applications. But when a case is notified as “Ready for review” in the case list — then it is time to put down the coffee cup!
A case handler may need to request additional information. The field to be corrected is unlocked by the handler and commented on. The applicant is notified with a link directly to the correction. If specialist knowledge is needed to review parts of an application, it is easily delegated within the organisation in Nova — to ensure the right expertise and authorisation for approval.5. The authorised signatory signs
When the reviewer at the membership unit is satisfied with how the application looks, it is marked in Nova as “ready for signing.” The contact person on the applicant’s side is notified and delegates signing to the authorised signatory via Nova (if they are not the same person).
Signing usually takes place digitally, via the integrated service.6. Welcome!
Nova registers the new member in Svenskt Näringslivs membership register, using the details collected during admission. The case is archived in Nova (including all case history). Nova automates the welcome with the messages and information required. Welcome!
Nova has been in use since 2021
Äventyret has innovated, designed, and coded Nova for Svenskt Näringsliv end to end. Work started in 2018 and first went live in 2021.
The current status is that more member organisations are joining and Svenskt Näringsliv is offering a shared backlog that continuously benefits all connected organisations. Äventyret’s team remains the partner for further development and ongoing management.
We know digitalisation.
We have tried to summarise here the efficiency gains Nova brings, and to show that Äventyret is a partner to build SaaS with. Whether you want to connect to Nova, or you are planning a business-critical internal tool — I can point you in the right direction 🙂
Kind regards, Debbie Gartz,
Team lead, Äventyret
