Success Story
Manufacturing

Introduction of Salesforce Sales Cloud as a scalable CRM system and cornerstone for further processes and future growth

The client needed an existing CRM to be replaced entirely by Salesforce Sales Cloud, which would be introduced as the cornerstone for all related processes (e.g., product service and interface with ERP). In this first phase of working together with the client, the objective was to provide marketing and sales via an expandable and future-proof CRM.

The client develops, manufactures and markets digital surgical microscopes with a focus on modern ophthalmology. It specialises in high-quality medical devices in the field of diagnostic imaging and develops innovative digital systems for surgical imaging.

Location	Germany
Employees	25 - 50
Industry	Manufacturing, Medical Technology
Solution	Sales Cloud, Service Cloud
Go Live	January 2020

Success story at a glance

CHALLENGE

Replacement of the previous CRM system (SugarCRM) and extension of the scope of functions (extension of master data to include opportunities and service data)
Fragmented/inconsistent storage of customer-relevant data on different platforms
Partially unexploited leads due to a lack of a lead management process
Lack of qualification process for new leads and a purely manual contact process
No reporting: all evaluations had to be created manually from Excel tables
Lack of sales pipeline
Platform breaks due to lack of standardised process for marketing emails (contacts were exported manually from lists and contacted individually)
Onboarding of less tech-savvy employees

SOLUTION

Configuration and implementation of Sales Cloud and data migration (leads, accounts, contacts, products and opportunities)
Complete migration of data records from the old CRM and Excel tables to the Sales Cloud
Online lead entry (via HTML integration of a Salesforce form on the customer homepage) with automated assignment rules
Introduction of an opportunity process for recording and documenting all sales enquiries
Implementation of mailing campaigns
Dedicated training sessions focussed on specific topics, implementation of live training and creation of video instructions and manuals

RESULTS

Successful introduction of Sales Cloud as the sole basis for the future consolidation of all data (instead of using different platforms)
Lead pipeline with real-time data (dashboards) available in less than 60 seconds
Ability to capture and evaluate opportunities related to products:
- Users can see which products and add-ons, accessories or maintenance contracts are sold, how often and at what price
- ⇨ this enables targeted marketing campaigns to offer suitable service contracts or add-ons for specific products, among other features
Simplified, standardised and easy-to-analyse sending of marketing emails
Safer handling and more efficient onboarding of all employees via functions provided by Salesforce

Initial situation

Outdated CRM with inconsistent processes and marketing activities

An existing CRM had to be entirely replaced and employees moved to the new CRM system in order to build a foundation for the future digitalisation of processes.

Before the project started, there were no standardised processes for developing or handing-over leads, and a purely manual process for contacting customers. As a result, there was no comprehensive sales pipeline to provide the basis for standardised sales and forecasting processes.

All of this led to difficulties in marketing being able to identify suitable customers and leads for their campaigns in order to address them in a targeted manner, especially via email.

No interlocking processes

Little planning certainty

No scalability

Implementation

Agile implementation of the Sales Cloud, data migration, lead-to-opportunity process

Along with the introduction of Sales Cloud, we also implemented an extended Salesforce base configuration, which served as the basis for the necessary migration of all available data. In the course of this, the entire lead-to-opportunity process, including product and product demo information, was enriched and completed with important additional information on the status of the lead and the customer.

It was now possible to create reports segmenting the target group(s) in just a few steps (e.g., for universities or hospitals, which could now be addressed through more targeted marketing communications). In addition, campaign management was strengthened through targeted mailing lists and the possibility of intelligent mail campaigns tailored for specific target groups (e.g., by product).

Results
Synchronised sales and marketing, enhanced reporting

The introduction of Sales Cloud represented the first milestone for the implementation of further phases. The sales team was pleased with functions such as Outlook integration and the numerous reporting options. The marketing team now had the possibility to run interest-targeted email campaigns.

In the next phase, the Service Cloud was also successfully introduced. Planning and implementation of further processes is now underway.