Digital Cable Company Connects to Better Customer Relationship Management
Sales Information Communication and Product Catalog Finally Consistent

Abstract

Recognizing a pressing need to coordinate sales efforts while maintaining a commitment to customer service, a leading cable company calls on Acumen Solutions to develop a much-needed customer relationship management solution. In the wake of its implementation, sales efforts gain momentum thanks to more reliable information delivery, universal reporting power, and the creation of a consistent product and service portfolio.

Challenge	More than 30 divisions in seven regions nationwide needed to correct major operational disparities that were hindering performance, hurting customer satisfaction, and impacting profit.
Solution	An advanced customer relationship management solution unified the efforts of sales reps, improved management coordination of 30 nationwide divisions, and allowed executives to ensure overall operational excellence while improving company performance.
Results	Customer information delivery, along with a complete catalog of services, is now consistent companywide. This is speeding internal decision making, expediting reporting, and empowering the sales team. Customer service and product delivery have been optimized, freeing management to concentrate on maximizing overall profit.

Business Challenge

A major provider of residential and business digital cable services faced an urgent need for more efficient sales operation management. With more than 30 divisions operating throughout seven distinct regions nationwide, the company needed a robust yet flexible solution that could be quickly implemented in order to address severe operational disparities throughout the organization. Furthermore, internal communications were dependent on email and spreadsheet sharing, making information exchange and organization painstakingly outmoded.

Major issues included:

• The absence of unified reporting, hampering management with inadequate information

• Dissimilar sales processes and procedures among company divisions

• Inconsistent customer information gathering and data entry

• Unification and management of each division’s portfolio of product and service catalogs

A comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) strategy and solution would be needed to meet these objectives. Compounding the challenge, however, was the fact that this cable provider was in the midst of developing new back-office systems that needed to be easily integrated into its new CRM solution.

Solution

Intent on better customer information management, with particular emphasis on improved up-front data in order to expedite internal decision-making, this cable company turned to Acumen Solutions to design and deploy a powerful new CRM solution.

Acumen Solutions brought a welcome familiarity with the cable industry to this effort. We understood that managing massive amounts of customer and billing data, streamlining business processes, and implementing effective support systems are the cornerstones of customer satisfaction. If the cable company hoped to maintain a lead in the highly competitive digital cable industry, its CRM would more than fulfill these objectives.

Working with Acumen Solutions, the cable company chose SalesForce.com to:

1. Standardize the sales funnel and get control of the sales process

2. Ensure a consistency of information through universalized data entry

3. Implement enterprise-wide reporting for a more complete corporate view

4. Obtain a complete view of the implementation process for management

5. Get fast, multi-faceted data access (e.g., integrating with Google Maps to display all prospects within a 15 mile radius of the customer’s site)

6. Facilitate integration of existing and future back office systems

7. Streamline product catalog management

The resulting SalesForce.com solution improves contract initiation, tracks building and construction projects, allows sales reps and management to monitor sales-initiative status throughout any phase of the sales cycle, and gives marketing and sales teams the power to track the effectiveness of new customer outreach campaigns.

Return on Investment

Almost immediately after partnering with Acumen Solutions, this cable company is benefitting from a CRM solution that:

• Improves information delivery companywide, offering unprecedented ability to quickly collaborate on business decisions

• Provides a universal reporting structure that ensures executive management sees a complete, accurate picture of sales opportunity and service delivery

• Supports the sale of all company services thanks to the implementation of a universal product catalog

Digital Cable Company: Better Customer Relationship Management (PDF)