case study: customer relationship...
TRANSCRIPT
CASE STUDY CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
COMPANY nTelos Wireless
HEADQUARTERS Waynesboro Va
EMPLOYEES 1300
SERVICE LOCATIONS Kentucky Maryland North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Virginia and West Virginia
SALES STRATEGY 65 brick-and-mortar stores plus inside sales
BUSINESS nTelos Wireless provides high-speed nationwide voice and data coverage for over 430000 retail subscribers across a seven-state area The companyrsquos licensed territories have a total population of approximately 81 million residents of which its wireless network covers approximately 6 million residents The company is also the exclusive wholesale provider of wireless digital personal communications service to Sprint Nextel in the western Virginia and West Virginia service area for all Sprint CDMA wireless customers
At a Glance
PUTTING CUSTOMERS ON SPEED DIAL
With Microsoft Dynamics CRM nTelos Wireless revolutionizes how it handles customers post-sale at retail stores mdash and thatrsquos only the beginning
ldquoOur CEO is very data-driven When I give him information wersquove gleaned from our CRM system he takes notes and takes actionrdquo says Ralph Kirtland vice president of IT for nTelos Wireless
TWEET THIS
2 CASE STUDY CRM
At nTelos Wireless new and old
blend seamlessly Itrsquos a tradition
that began in 1897 when the
regional phone carrier was
launched as the Clifton Forge-
Waynesboro Telephone Co
Twenty-two years ago nTelos
entered the mobile arena when
it launched its wireless division
Then two years ago it spun off its
wire-line division into a separate
enterprise called Lumos Networks
leaving it as a pure-play wireless
company
At the time of the split nTelos realized it needed a better
way to follow up on new sales generate leads and improve
customer satisfaction at its 65 brick-and-mortar stores
spread across Appalachia and the Mid-Atlantic
ldquoWhat we needed was a call-back program that allowed
us to reach out to customers to make sure they were happy
with the phone and the service they had selectedrdquo says
Ralph Kirtland vice president of IT for nTelos Wireless
ldquoWersquod had this type of program in the past but it was all
driven by emails and Post-It notesrdquo
With the high staff turnover rates typical of retail a lot of
those calls were never made Even when they were nTelosrsquo
400-plus sales staff had no easy way to record the outcomes
of the calls capture new leads or share that information with
other parts of the organization And management had no
way to measure its top performers on the store floor
So nTelos turned to CDW for help finding a customer
relationship management solution that fit its needs After
weeks of meetings with relevant stake -
holders across the organization CDW rec-
ommended Microsoft Dynamics CRM and
brought in technology experts Ledgeview
Partners to implement the system
Sweeping ViewLike a lot of midsize and large companies
nTelos had developed a series of technology
silos over the years that prevented it from
easily and strategically sharing information
across the organization notes Ray Casey a
CDW CRM technical specialist who served as
an adviser to nTelos Wireless during its CRM
design and deployment
ldquoWe started by looking at nTelosrsquo
e-commerce siterdquo Casey says
ldquoWe took a strategic look at how
their business was currently set
up and figured out how to tap
horizontally into all components
We positioned CRM as a framework
that could reach into every part of
the operation offering one catalog
of products across the web point
of sale and inside sales as well as
inbound servicerdquo
Initially nTelos experimented with
cloud-based CRM services from another company It was a
good way to both test how CRM could help nTelosrsquo business
and demonstrate the potential benefits to key stakeholders
and management sponsors Casey says
Once the company could demonstrate a solid business
case for CRM it decided to leverage its existing investment in
Microsoft products and adopt Dynamics CRM Kirtland says
ldquoWe are already largely a Microsoft shop We use
NET for our in-house point-of-sale system SQL Server
for our data warehouse and a Microsoft stack for our
e-commerce platformrdquo he says ldquoAnything that isnrsquot a
telecom billing app or middleware solution is Microsoft So
the fact that Dynamics was made by Microsoft and highly
rated by Gartner made our decision a slam dunkrdquo
Another key selling point was its smooth integration with
Microsoft Office Kirtland adds ldquoOther CRM vendors claim
to work seamlessly with Office but they canrsquot compare to
how Dynamics operatesrdquo he says ldquoItrsquos just another folder
in Outlook it feels just like yoursquore working with emailrdquo
50 of all CRM systems will be cloud-based by 2020SOURCE Gartner Research
ldquoWersquore not yet at the point where the CRM is the system of record for all of our customer information but that is our long-term goalrdquo mdash Ralph Kirtland vice president of IT for nTelos Wireless
TWEET THIS
38008004239 | CDWcom
Take Note Critical CRM Planning DecisionsAdopting a customer relationship
management solution often involves
systemic change across many different parts of the
organization Here are five questions whose answers will
help you shape your CRM strategy
1 Cloud or not Organizations need to decide up front if
they feel comfortable putting their most valuable assets mdash
their customer data mdash in the cloud says Ralph Kirtland vice
president of IT for nTelos Wireless
2 Whatrsquos your legacy Most organizations underestimate
the amount of time and effort required to deal with legacy
data says Chuck Hoffmann an applications consultant for
Ledgeview Partners But many IT shops donrsquot realize that it
may not be necessary to import years of old data to run the
business he adds
3 Can you be honest Moving to CRM requires both an
honest reassessment of existing business processes and
the willingness to change them says Ray Casey a CDW CRM
technical specialist ldquoYou need to be able to look at your
existing systems and say lsquoThe emperor isnrsquot wearing any
clothesrsquo rdquo he says
4 Got local expertise Itrsquos worthwhile to have a CRM expert
inside your IT department Kirtland advises ldquoMy belief is
that every business-critical system needs its own expert
in-houserdquo he says ldquoThings break from time to time You
need someone who can assess how bad the breakage is and
what it will take to fix itrdquo
5 Wherersquos the boss Systemic changes such as CRM
adoption require participation of all key stakeholders mdash
as well as strong support from senior management
When it came to implementation nTelos Wireless opted
for an on-premises solution rather than a cloud-based tool
The primary reason Data security Kirtland says
ldquoWhen we started this process the operating
assumption was that we would go to the cloudrdquo he says
ldquoBut as we put the question in front of a bigger audience
it became clear that we werenrsquot comfortable putting the
crown jewels mdash our customer data mdash in the cloud yetrdquo
Eventually Kirtland believes the company will move
such data to the cloud ldquoEvery day as the cloud gets more
mature that decision point moves a little bitrdquo
Data-Driven ChangeWith the new CRM in place nTelos salespeople now are
guided through a series of scripts identifying whom to call and
when the questions to ask and how to record the results
Initially the system prompted them to make three calls
bull On Day 1 New customers received a call asking if they were
satisfied with their purchase and the sales experience
bull On Day 5 They received another call to see if they needed
any accessories or knew of potential customers they
were willing to refer
bull On Day 30 New nTelos Wireless subscribers received a
call to make sure they understood their bill
From the get-go new customers were no longer falling
through the cracks Kirtland says If a salesperson left the
company a store manager was quickly able to assign that
personrsquos responsibilities to another employee Whatrsquos
more nTelos was able to ensure that all calls were made and
to grade salespeople on their proficiency at making follow-
up calls he points out
The results have been so dramatic and the system has
worked so well that nTelos has been able to reduce the
number of times it needs to contact customers post-sale
Now its salespeople call on Day 3 and Day 45 after an initial
purchase Customer referrals have risen while calls for tech
support have dropped saving nTelos tens of thousands of
dollars in support costs Kirtland says
ldquoWersquove been able to head off a number of calls that might
have otherwise gone into our customer care organizationrdquo he
says ldquoIf a customer has a question about how the phone works
the sales rep can usually handle it And we get more referrals
now because we have a better completion rate when calling
customers Without that phone call you may have a happy
customer who wants to refer other people to you but canrsquotrdquo
Even better the number of product returns attributed
to ldquobuyerrsquos remorserdquo has dropped by 20 percent within the
first 90 days saving the company more than $200000
over two years
ldquoIf you catch customers within the 14-day return period
you have a chance to educate them about whatrsquos really Vla
stim
il Šes
taacutek
Vee
r
48008004239 | CDWcom
This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified121684 mdash 130903 copy2013 CDW LLC
CASE STUDY CRM
causing any problemsrdquo Kirtland says ldquoTheyrsquore less likely
to storm into the store after two weeks and demand their
money back A better-educated customer is a happier
customerrdquo
Rapid DeploymentDeploying the system was relatively speedy says Chuck
Hoffmann an applications consultant for Ledgeview
Partners who managed the project Once the decision
was made to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics in-house the
initial implementation took about a month
Despite the fact that nTelos Wireless was essentially
starting from scratch cleaning and importing the companyrsquos
legacy data mdash typically one of the biggest headaches with
most CRM implementations mdash was a nonissue he says
ldquoThe hardest part was making sure users interacted
with the new system in as straightforward a way as
possiblerdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYou tend to have more
turnover in retail stores and a relatively new user base
compared to other businesses The Dynamics dialog
boxes had to be easy for newbies to use so we spent a fair
amount of time refining what the scripts looked likerdquo
One key to successful implementation was the amount
of careful thought and discussion nTelos put into the
process as well as its willingness to re-examine how
it operates
ldquoOrganizations may think their selling process is set
but once you open up the window of introducing CRM you
get to talk about whether thatrsquos really the best way to go
about it or if therersquos a better wayrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoThe
team at nTelos really had to think through what it wanted
to have happen during the sales process what kinds of
questions it should be asking customers when they call
and who should make the callsrdquo
Another key was the strong support from upper
management he adds
ldquoYou need to have your leadership team actively engaged
in making the project a successrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYoursquore
disrupting employeesrsquo lives changing how theyrsquore used to
doing their jobs There has to be a good business reason for
doing that and you have to be able to communicate that
business reason to all of your personnelrdquo
Ready to ScaleSince the initial build Hoffmann says Ledgeview has
worked with nTelos to add more flexibility so the company
can design and refine its own scripts without the need for
third-party help
ldquoThey now have the capability to branch out into other
parts of the business besides retailrdquo he says ldquoWe were
able to take it to the next level in terms of flexibility and
the ability to tailor the system to meet other business
needsrdquo
In fact the retail store project barely scrapes the
surface of what nTelos plans to do with Microsoft
Dynamics Kirtland says
ldquoWersquore not yet at the point where the CRM is the
system of record for all of our customer information but
that is our long-term goalrdquo he says ldquoWe hope to achieve
that by the end of 2014rdquo
The ripples of change have already begun spreading
across the organization
ldquoOur CEO is very data-drivenrdquo Kirtland says ldquoWhen I
give him information wersquove gleaned from our CRM system
he takes notes and takes action It gives him a view into
the business what wersquore doing at the retail level and the
success wersquore havingrdquo
44 of all CRM implementations are used by sales organizationsSOURCE Gartner Research
TWEET THIS
2 CASE STUDY CRM
At nTelos Wireless new and old
blend seamlessly Itrsquos a tradition
that began in 1897 when the
regional phone carrier was
launched as the Clifton Forge-
Waynesboro Telephone Co
Twenty-two years ago nTelos
entered the mobile arena when
it launched its wireless division
Then two years ago it spun off its
wire-line division into a separate
enterprise called Lumos Networks
leaving it as a pure-play wireless
company
At the time of the split nTelos realized it needed a better
way to follow up on new sales generate leads and improve
customer satisfaction at its 65 brick-and-mortar stores
spread across Appalachia and the Mid-Atlantic
ldquoWhat we needed was a call-back program that allowed
us to reach out to customers to make sure they were happy
with the phone and the service they had selectedrdquo says
Ralph Kirtland vice president of IT for nTelos Wireless
ldquoWersquod had this type of program in the past but it was all
driven by emails and Post-It notesrdquo
With the high staff turnover rates typical of retail a lot of
those calls were never made Even when they were nTelosrsquo
400-plus sales staff had no easy way to record the outcomes
of the calls capture new leads or share that information with
other parts of the organization And management had no
way to measure its top performers on the store floor
So nTelos turned to CDW for help finding a customer
relationship management solution that fit its needs After
weeks of meetings with relevant stake -
holders across the organization CDW rec-
ommended Microsoft Dynamics CRM and
brought in technology experts Ledgeview
Partners to implement the system
Sweeping ViewLike a lot of midsize and large companies
nTelos had developed a series of technology
silos over the years that prevented it from
easily and strategically sharing information
across the organization notes Ray Casey a
CDW CRM technical specialist who served as
an adviser to nTelos Wireless during its CRM
design and deployment
ldquoWe started by looking at nTelosrsquo
e-commerce siterdquo Casey says
ldquoWe took a strategic look at how
their business was currently set
up and figured out how to tap
horizontally into all components
We positioned CRM as a framework
that could reach into every part of
the operation offering one catalog
of products across the web point
of sale and inside sales as well as
inbound servicerdquo
Initially nTelos experimented with
cloud-based CRM services from another company It was a
good way to both test how CRM could help nTelosrsquo business
and demonstrate the potential benefits to key stakeholders
and management sponsors Casey says
Once the company could demonstrate a solid business
case for CRM it decided to leverage its existing investment in
Microsoft products and adopt Dynamics CRM Kirtland says
ldquoWe are already largely a Microsoft shop We use
NET for our in-house point-of-sale system SQL Server
for our data warehouse and a Microsoft stack for our
e-commerce platformrdquo he says ldquoAnything that isnrsquot a
telecom billing app or middleware solution is Microsoft So
the fact that Dynamics was made by Microsoft and highly
rated by Gartner made our decision a slam dunkrdquo
Another key selling point was its smooth integration with
Microsoft Office Kirtland adds ldquoOther CRM vendors claim
to work seamlessly with Office but they canrsquot compare to
how Dynamics operatesrdquo he says ldquoItrsquos just another folder
in Outlook it feels just like yoursquore working with emailrdquo
50 of all CRM systems will be cloud-based by 2020SOURCE Gartner Research
ldquoWersquore not yet at the point where the CRM is the system of record for all of our customer information but that is our long-term goalrdquo mdash Ralph Kirtland vice president of IT for nTelos Wireless
TWEET THIS
38008004239 | CDWcom
Take Note Critical CRM Planning DecisionsAdopting a customer relationship
management solution often involves
systemic change across many different parts of the
organization Here are five questions whose answers will
help you shape your CRM strategy
1 Cloud or not Organizations need to decide up front if
they feel comfortable putting their most valuable assets mdash
their customer data mdash in the cloud says Ralph Kirtland vice
president of IT for nTelos Wireless
2 Whatrsquos your legacy Most organizations underestimate
the amount of time and effort required to deal with legacy
data says Chuck Hoffmann an applications consultant for
Ledgeview Partners But many IT shops donrsquot realize that it
may not be necessary to import years of old data to run the
business he adds
3 Can you be honest Moving to CRM requires both an
honest reassessment of existing business processes and
the willingness to change them says Ray Casey a CDW CRM
technical specialist ldquoYou need to be able to look at your
existing systems and say lsquoThe emperor isnrsquot wearing any
clothesrsquo rdquo he says
4 Got local expertise Itrsquos worthwhile to have a CRM expert
inside your IT department Kirtland advises ldquoMy belief is
that every business-critical system needs its own expert
in-houserdquo he says ldquoThings break from time to time You
need someone who can assess how bad the breakage is and
what it will take to fix itrdquo
5 Wherersquos the boss Systemic changes such as CRM
adoption require participation of all key stakeholders mdash
as well as strong support from senior management
When it came to implementation nTelos Wireless opted
for an on-premises solution rather than a cloud-based tool
The primary reason Data security Kirtland says
ldquoWhen we started this process the operating
assumption was that we would go to the cloudrdquo he says
ldquoBut as we put the question in front of a bigger audience
it became clear that we werenrsquot comfortable putting the
crown jewels mdash our customer data mdash in the cloud yetrdquo
Eventually Kirtland believes the company will move
such data to the cloud ldquoEvery day as the cloud gets more
mature that decision point moves a little bitrdquo
Data-Driven ChangeWith the new CRM in place nTelos salespeople now are
guided through a series of scripts identifying whom to call and
when the questions to ask and how to record the results
Initially the system prompted them to make three calls
bull On Day 1 New customers received a call asking if they were
satisfied with their purchase and the sales experience
bull On Day 5 They received another call to see if they needed
any accessories or knew of potential customers they
were willing to refer
bull On Day 30 New nTelos Wireless subscribers received a
call to make sure they understood their bill
From the get-go new customers were no longer falling
through the cracks Kirtland says If a salesperson left the
company a store manager was quickly able to assign that
personrsquos responsibilities to another employee Whatrsquos
more nTelos was able to ensure that all calls were made and
to grade salespeople on their proficiency at making follow-
up calls he points out
The results have been so dramatic and the system has
worked so well that nTelos has been able to reduce the
number of times it needs to contact customers post-sale
Now its salespeople call on Day 3 and Day 45 after an initial
purchase Customer referrals have risen while calls for tech
support have dropped saving nTelos tens of thousands of
dollars in support costs Kirtland says
ldquoWersquove been able to head off a number of calls that might
have otherwise gone into our customer care organizationrdquo he
says ldquoIf a customer has a question about how the phone works
the sales rep can usually handle it And we get more referrals
now because we have a better completion rate when calling
customers Without that phone call you may have a happy
customer who wants to refer other people to you but canrsquotrdquo
Even better the number of product returns attributed
to ldquobuyerrsquos remorserdquo has dropped by 20 percent within the
first 90 days saving the company more than $200000
over two years
ldquoIf you catch customers within the 14-day return period
you have a chance to educate them about whatrsquos really Vla
stim
il Šes
taacutek
Vee
r
48008004239 | CDWcom
This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified121684 mdash 130903 copy2013 CDW LLC
CASE STUDY CRM
causing any problemsrdquo Kirtland says ldquoTheyrsquore less likely
to storm into the store after two weeks and demand their
money back A better-educated customer is a happier
customerrdquo
Rapid DeploymentDeploying the system was relatively speedy says Chuck
Hoffmann an applications consultant for Ledgeview
Partners who managed the project Once the decision
was made to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics in-house the
initial implementation took about a month
Despite the fact that nTelos Wireless was essentially
starting from scratch cleaning and importing the companyrsquos
legacy data mdash typically one of the biggest headaches with
most CRM implementations mdash was a nonissue he says
ldquoThe hardest part was making sure users interacted
with the new system in as straightforward a way as
possiblerdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYou tend to have more
turnover in retail stores and a relatively new user base
compared to other businesses The Dynamics dialog
boxes had to be easy for newbies to use so we spent a fair
amount of time refining what the scripts looked likerdquo
One key to successful implementation was the amount
of careful thought and discussion nTelos put into the
process as well as its willingness to re-examine how
it operates
ldquoOrganizations may think their selling process is set
but once you open up the window of introducing CRM you
get to talk about whether thatrsquos really the best way to go
about it or if therersquos a better wayrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoThe
team at nTelos really had to think through what it wanted
to have happen during the sales process what kinds of
questions it should be asking customers when they call
and who should make the callsrdquo
Another key was the strong support from upper
management he adds
ldquoYou need to have your leadership team actively engaged
in making the project a successrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYoursquore
disrupting employeesrsquo lives changing how theyrsquore used to
doing their jobs There has to be a good business reason for
doing that and you have to be able to communicate that
business reason to all of your personnelrdquo
Ready to ScaleSince the initial build Hoffmann says Ledgeview has
worked with nTelos to add more flexibility so the company
can design and refine its own scripts without the need for
third-party help
ldquoThey now have the capability to branch out into other
parts of the business besides retailrdquo he says ldquoWe were
able to take it to the next level in terms of flexibility and
the ability to tailor the system to meet other business
needsrdquo
In fact the retail store project barely scrapes the
surface of what nTelos plans to do with Microsoft
Dynamics Kirtland says
ldquoWersquore not yet at the point where the CRM is the
system of record for all of our customer information but
that is our long-term goalrdquo he says ldquoWe hope to achieve
that by the end of 2014rdquo
The ripples of change have already begun spreading
across the organization
ldquoOur CEO is very data-drivenrdquo Kirtland says ldquoWhen I
give him information wersquove gleaned from our CRM system
he takes notes and takes action It gives him a view into
the business what wersquore doing at the retail level and the
success wersquore havingrdquo
44 of all CRM implementations are used by sales organizationsSOURCE Gartner Research
TWEET THIS
38008004239 | CDWcom
Take Note Critical CRM Planning DecisionsAdopting a customer relationship
management solution often involves
systemic change across many different parts of the
organization Here are five questions whose answers will
help you shape your CRM strategy
1 Cloud or not Organizations need to decide up front if
they feel comfortable putting their most valuable assets mdash
their customer data mdash in the cloud says Ralph Kirtland vice
president of IT for nTelos Wireless
2 Whatrsquos your legacy Most organizations underestimate
the amount of time and effort required to deal with legacy
data says Chuck Hoffmann an applications consultant for
Ledgeview Partners But many IT shops donrsquot realize that it
may not be necessary to import years of old data to run the
business he adds
3 Can you be honest Moving to CRM requires both an
honest reassessment of existing business processes and
the willingness to change them says Ray Casey a CDW CRM
technical specialist ldquoYou need to be able to look at your
existing systems and say lsquoThe emperor isnrsquot wearing any
clothesrsquo rdquo he says
4 Got local expertise Itrsquos worthwhile to have a CRM expert
inside your IT department Kirtland advises ldquoMy belief is
that every business-critical system needs its own expert
in-houserdquo he says ldquoThings break from time to time You
need someone who can assess how bad the breakage is and
what it will take to fix itrdquo
5 Wherersquos the boss Systemic changes such as CRM
adoption require participation of all key stakeholders mdash
as well as strong support from senior management
When it came to implementation nTelos Wireless opted
for an on-premises solution rather than a cloud-based tool
The primary reason Data security Kirtland says
ldquoWhen we started this process the operating
assumption was that we would go to the cloudrdquo he says
ldquoBut as we put the question in front of a bigger audience
it became clear that we werenrsquot comfortable putting the
crown jewels mdash our customer data mdash in the cloud yetrdquo
Eventually Kirtland believes the company will move
such data to the cloud ldquoEvery day as the cloud gets more
mature that decision point moves a little bitrdquo
Data-Driven ChangeWith the new CRM in place nTelos salespeople now are
guided through a series of scripts identifying whom to call and
when the questions to ask and how to record the results
Initially the system prompted them to make three calls
bull On Day 1 New customers received a call asking if they were
satisfied with their purchase and the sales experience
bull On Day 5 They received another call to see if they needed
any accessories or knew of potential customers they
were willing to refer
bull On Day 30 New nTelos Wireless subscribers received a
call to make sure they understood their bill
From the get-go new customers were no longer falling
through the cracks Kirtland says If a salesperson left the
company a store manager was quickly able to assign that
personrsquos responsibilities to another employee Whatrsquos
more nTelos was able to ensure that all calls were made and
to grade salespeople on their proficiency at making follow-
up calls he points out
The results have been so dramatic and the system has
worked so well that nTelos has been able to reduce the
number of times it needs to contact customers post-sale
Now its salespeople call on Day 3 and Day 45 after an initial
purchase Customer referrals have risen while calls for tech
support have dropped saving nTelos tens of thousands of
dollars in support costs Kirtland says
ldquoWersquove been able to head off a number of calls that might
have otherwise gone into our customer care organizationrdquo he
says ldquoIf a customer has a question about how the phone works
the sales rep can usually handle it And we get more referrals
now because we have a better completion rate when calling
customers Without that phone call you may have a happy
customer who wants to refer other people to you but canrsquotrdquo
Even better the number of product returns attributed
to ldquobuyerrsquos remorserdquo has dropped by 20 percent within the
first 90 days saving the company more than $200000
over two years
ldquoIf you catch customers within the 14-day return period
you have a chance to educate them about whatrsquos really Vla
stim
il Šes
taacutek
Vee
r
48008004239 | CDWcom
This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified121684 mdash 130903 copy2013 CDW LLC
CASE STUDY CRM
causing any problemsrdquo Kirtland says ldquoTheyrsquore less likely
to storm into the store after two weeks and demand their
money back A better-educated customer is a happier
customerrdquo
Rapid DeploymentDeploying the system was relatively speedy says Chuck
Hoffmann an applications consultant for Ledgeview
Partners who managed the project Once the decision
was made to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics in-house the
initial implementation took about a month
Despite the fact that nTelos Wireless was essentially
starting from scratch cleaning and importing the companyrsquos
legacy data mdash typically one of the biggest headaches with
most CRM implementations mdash was a nonissue he says
ldquoThe hardest part was making sure users interacted
with the new system in as straightforward a way as
possiblerdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYou tend to have more
turnover in retail stores and a relatively new user base
compared to other businesses The Dynamics dialog
boxes had to be easy for newbies to use so we spent a fair
amount of time refining what the scripts looked likerdquo
One key to successful implementation was the amount
of careful thought and discussion nTelos put into the
process as well as its willingness to re-examine how
it operates
ldquoOrganizations may think their selling process is set
but once you open up the window of introducing CRM you
get to talk about whether thatrsquos really the best way to go
about it or if therersquos a better wayrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoThe
team at nTelos really had to think through what it wanted
to have happen during the sales process what kinds of
questions it should be asking customers when they call
and who should make the callsrdquo
Another key was the strong support from upper
management he adds
ldquoYou need to have your leadership team actively engaged
in making the project a successrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYoursquore
disrupting employeesrsquo lives changing how theyrsquore used to
doing their jobs There has to be a good business reason for
doing that and you have to be able to communicate that
business reason to all of your personnelrdquo
Ready to ScaleSince the initial build Hoffmann says Ledgeview has
worked with nTelos to add more flexibility so the company
can design and refine its own scripts without the need for
third-party help
ldquoThey now have the capability to branch out into other
parts of the business besides retailrdquo he says ldquoWe were
able to take it to the next level in terms of flexibility and
the ability to tailor the system to meet other business
needsrdquo
In fact the retail store project barely scrapes the
surface of what nTelos plans to do with Microsoft
Dynamics Kirtland says
ldquoWersquore not yet at the point where the CRM is the
system of record for all of our customer information but
that is our long-term goalrdquo he says ldquoWe hope to achieve
that by the end of 2014rdquo
The ripples of change have already begun spreading
across the organization
ldquoOur CEO is very data-drivenrdquo Kirtland says ldquoWhen I
give him information wersquove gleaned from our CRM system
he takes notes and takes action It gives him a view into
the business what wersquore doing at the retail level and the
success wersquore havingrdquo
44 of all CRM implementations are used by sales organizationsSOURCE Gartner Research
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48008004239 | CDWcom
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CASE STUDY CRM
causing any problemsrdquo Kirtland says ldquoTheyrsquore less likely
to storm into the store after two weeks and demand their
money back A better-educated customer is a happier
customerrdquo
Rapid DeploymentDeploying the system was relatively speedy says Chuck
Hoffmann an applications consultant for Ledgeview
Partners who managed the project Once the decision
was made to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics in-house the
initial implementation took about a month
Despite the fact that nTelos Wireless was essentially
starting from scratch cleaning and importing the companyrsquos
legacy data mdash typically one of the biggest headaches with
most CRM implementations mdash was a nonissue he says
ldquoThe hardest part was making sure users interacted
with the new system in as straightforward a way as
possiblerdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYou tend to have more
turnover in retail stores and a relatively new user base
compared to other businesses The Dynamics dialog
boxes had to be easy for newbies to use so we spent a fair
amount of time refining what the scripts looked likerdquo
One key to successful implementation was the amount
of careful thought and discussion nTelos put into the
process as well as its willingness to re-examine how
it operates
ldquoOrganizations may think their selling process is set
but once you open up the window of introducing CRM you
get to talk about whether thatrsquos really the best way to go
about it or if therersquos a better wayrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoThe
team at nTelos really had to think through what it wanted
to have happen during the sales process what kinds of
questions it should be asking customers when they call
and who should make the callsrdquo
Another key was the strong support from upper
management he adds
ldquoYou need to have your leadership team actively engaged
in making the project a successrdquo Hoffmann says ldquoYoursquore
disrupting employeesrsquo lives changing how theyrsquore used to
doing their jobs There has to be a good business reason for
doing that and you have to be able to communicate that
business reason to all of your personnelrdquo
Ready to ScaleSince the initial build Hoffmann says Ledgeview has
worked with nTelos to add more flexibility so the company
can design and refine its own scripts without the need for
third-party help
ldquoThey now have the capability to branch out into other
parts of the business besides retailrdquo he says ldquoWe were
able to take it to the next level in terms of flexibility and
the ability to tailor the system to meet other business
needsrdquo
In fact the retail store project barely scrapes the
surface of what nTelos plans to do with Microsoft
Dynamics Kirtland says
ldquoWersquore not yet at the point where the CRM is the
system of record for all of our customer information but
that is our long-term goalrdquo he says ldquoWe hope to achieve
that by the end of 2014rdquo
The ripples of change have already begun spreading
across the organization
ldquoOur CEO is very data-drivenrdquo Kirtland says ldquoWhen I
give him information wersquove gleaned from our CRM system
he takes notes and takes action It gives him a view into
the business what wersquore doing at the retail level and the
success wersquore havingrdquo
44 of all CRM implementations are used by sales organizationsSOURCE Gartner Research
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