Client increases sales call volume over 40% ...

Client Profile:

Industry: Media/Education

Employees: 45

Annual Sales:  $9MM

Problem Statement:

The client currently was using Goldmine as its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, with Microsoft Commerce server for its eCommerce store and Microsoft Great Plains for its back-office accounting.  Their contact management system (Goldmine) was completely separate from their accounting and sales system.  There was no effective or efficient way for sales staff to view accurate customers sales or transaction information, and this was having a significant impact on their productivity.  The client wanted to have a seamless front and back office system that would allow their internal sales staff to increase their daily call volumes, while at the same time provide better customer service to their clients.

The Technical Challenge:

To create a fully integrated CRM, accounting, and eCommerce solution leveraging the existing online store and accounting package.  We successfully integrated over a half dozen Microsoft server and business application products into one seamless integrated solution by using VMWare's powerful GSX virtual server platform .  Over several months we were able to prototype, develop and test the complete server and application stack all in a virtual environment, which made deployment of this solution a simple weekend affair.

Results:

Within the first week of deploying this integrated sales solution the client realized a average 40% increase in sales call volume for its internal sales staff.  Prior to this solution, sales staff were averaging 80-100 calls per day.  The sales staff now averages 130-150 calls per day.  Additionally, the sales staff is better able to service its clients by viewing online orders in real time as well as run daily sales reports, helping them to more effectively target their higher-end customers.

Technologies Deployed:

VMWare GSX Server, Microsoft CRM, BizTalk Server 2002, Great Plains ERP, Commerce Server 2000, Exchange 2003, SQL Server 2000, SQL Reporting Services, Windows 2003 Enterprise Server

Awards:

Microsoft Partner Recognition Award - Microsoft issued a Partner Recognition award for this project due to its complexity and the fact that this was the first solution of its kind in North America to successfully combine all of these related technologies.