Linking CRM to revenue generation

Protection equipment supplier RMD uses iEnterprises’ customer relationship management (CRM) solution to weather tough times. Budget-friendly and on the BlackBerry, the CRM brings more leads and less administration.

Founded in 1932, Robert M. Donaldson (RMD Limited) are a leading power protection equipment supplier and installer. The company was started as an electrical wholesaler but has advanced into a major power protection company.

Although its head offices are located in Scotland, RMD has total coverage of the UK for sales and servicing. The company also has an international network of contacts which allows it to supply, install and service equipment globally.

Challenge: Disjointed business processes lead to lost opportunities.

RMD wanted to find a way to encourage its scheduled service and hardware sales departments to more effectively and proactively share information, as well as streamline their disjointed business processes. The company's goal was to create a single, unified source of customer and product related information which could easily be accessed by the entire organisation, so new opportunities were identified and followed up on.

In searching for a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, RMD evaluated many vendors' applications and found that most were designed for big budget implementations. Often each optional module required additional expenditure and investment. RMD also wanted a solution that could easily be configured to address their detailed logistical, sales and customer support requirements and it had to integrate into their existing Lotus Notes platform. 

Solution: iExtensions CRM Helps Generate New Revenue, and Improves Visibility-even through the BlackBerry

After an extensive RFP approach, RMD decided to deploy iExtensions CRM due to its flexibility, reasonable cost and broad scope of modules and functionality. RMD chose to deploy all of the iExtensions CRM modules including contacts, leads, pipeline, calls, projects, services, support center and document library as they wanted a total business solution.

Within two months of deployment, RMD found that their sales and customer service departments could finally "talk to each other" as important information was shared between the two groups. The iExtensions CRM Services database, for example, enabled the company, on a scheduled basis, to identify customers whose  equipment warranties  were about to expire, alert them to this fact, and instantly create a sales opportunity to extend or upgrade their warranty cover.

RMD's engineers are now being automatically notified and scheduled for visits to maintain equipment, helping them fulfil contract requirements and generate additional service revenue for the company. Product descriptions and customer service issues can be easily retrieved, eliminating the need for time intensive searches or double entry of information, when interacting with a customer.

For engineers who were frequently offsite, iExtensions CRM offered tight integration with the Lotus Notes calendar, which can be accessed easily on RIM BlackBerry smart phones for information about customer visits, contacts, equipment information, and serial numbers.

"The visibility into what needs to be done at any moment in time with more than 3,000 contacts in the absence of our sales, engineering or customer service representatives is one of the biggest benefits we have gained," said Gavin Maxwell, Office Manager of Robert M. Donaldson, Ltd. "The amount of phone calls around customer service issues has gone down substantially. We can immediately see the status on an issue and can now trace what has not been completed and quickly address it. iExtensions CRM has improved our customer service."

iExtensions CRM has allowed users to have 360 degree view of all data, from contacts to products, from support issues to opportunities. RMD have, via configuration, allowed users to view delivery tracking numbers, and confirm with the customer that goods have been received. RMD's sales team are now able to focus on their core tasks, rather than spending time on administration. iExtensions has been configured to prioritise opportunities and follow-ups to ensure that the sales team work as efficiently as possible. Such streamlining has led to significant time efficiencies: the company has been able to cut their administration by half, saving 1,100 man days.

"As long as you enter the data at the outset, you can't forget an action item because iExtensions CRM automatically alerts you. With such great visibility, we lower our risk of missing sales opportunities," said Maxwell. "This has helped us hold steady in this tougher economy and grow organically within our existing customer base."

Where costs are concerned, RMD found that iExtensions CRM's multiple modules have been a good investment, and without the added expense for development, it has helped the company save on ongoing costs.

"It paid for itself last year and we expect it to make us money this year," said Maxwell. "iExtensions CRM has created a stronger link between our departments, and has helped us improve our overall process. Now, opportunities don't fall through the cracks."