Global CRM Opens Up Synergy Effects
“Today, we have a better overview of the entire business. Key performance indicators help us to focus our attention on what is really important.”
Vanessa Bovenschen, CRM Project Manager at ISS Facility Services GmbH
When, more than 100 years ago, about 30 Copenhagen night watch service companies joined their forces to found one of the first security companies in the world, nobody knew about the development of this start-up company. Today, ISS A/S is a global company which has 11,291 employees and a turnover of EUR 314 million in Germany operating under the name ISS Facility Services GmbH. The ISS portfolio ranges from technical facility management and catering to cleaning, security and office services.
Initial Situation
For a long time, ISS has particularly grown with the acquisition of small local building service providers. As of 2009, the Danish headquarter has started focusing on organic growth within the scope of consolidation. "For our sales teams, this means that they had to move closer to the customer. However, we wanted to prevent that a contact is processed several times by sales teams of different business areas. But we did not have the right software in place to exploit the synergy effects entirely," remembers Vanessa Bovenschen, CRM Project Manager at ISS Facility Services GmbH. Even though they were already using the CRM solution SalesLogix, it did not meet the requirements of its users. "SalesLogix was a German project which was reasonable to use for a specific field of application. Now the Danish headquarter has taken the initiative to solve the CRM issue with the goal to harmonize our customer management processes," explains Bovenschen. Finally, the Danish headquarter decided to implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Germany was to become the pilot for this project as it represents one of the largest international markets – a decision which the German subsidiary in Dusseldorf could live well with. "Dynamics CRM is completely integrated into Outlook which is a standard application commonly used by our employees. And this had a positive effect on the user acceptance," emphasizes Bovenschen.
Solution
ISS Germany used the opportunity to analyze and to revise its key sales processes. "What does our sales pipeline look like? Which address databases are able to best fulfill our requirements? Which contracts will expire soon? From now on, we have had Dynamics CRM to give the right answers to these questions," explains Bovenschen. ISS made use of the expertise of the systems integrator and Microsoft partner PRIM Management Consult GmbH. PRIM helped to describe and to optimize the ISS processes and to derive the required implementation measures. "PRIM understands our business and has the required know-how to define and to implement new requirements in a technically accurate manner. This made it easier for us to communicate with Denmark and saved us from unnecessary detours," underlines Karsten Mostersteg, IT Director at ISS Facility Services GmbH. A number of customizations were particularly made in the Sales area – for example, by adding a number of dimensions such as “Sales Projects” or “ERP Sales” to enhance the lead management features, by simplifying the existing forms and by defining mandatory fields to ensure a consistent and uniform quality of data across the entire company. In addition, the CRM system has been connected to the SAP business software – with the integration platform Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 acting as a data hub. Thanks to this interface, all customer data can now be made available within Dynamics CRM. "The cross-platform, sales-oriented processes represent the actual value added in our everyday business," adds Holger Kienel, managing partner and project manager at PRIM. This way, ISS can eliminate any confusion concerning the data or the definition of terms. Also in the opposite direction, any new customers created in Dynamics CRM are automatically synchronized with the ERP system.
Benefit
Dynamics CRM finally went live in Germany in spring 2010, followed by installations in other countries in the course of 2011. Today, the ISS sales teams benefit from efficient and standardized processes. "With Dynamics CRM, we are able, for example, to increase the efficiency of phone calls with regard to scheduling appointments as the relationships with our customers are seamlessly documented in the customer files," emphasizes Bovenschen. The full transparency of data allows ISS to work more efficiently with its customer data. The best example is the close cooperation between the internal sales and the field service. "Our call center employees know exactly in which areas our consultants currently are. This way, they are able to contact the prospects and customers in the surrounding area," adds Bovenschen. Also in the Sales Controlling area, the Dynamics CRM software enables us to increase the overall efficiency and competency. The ISS reporting is now comprised of at least ten detailed analyses and reports, such as statistical analyses on pending sales quotes or expiring contracts. By using sales opportunities valued by probabilities of occurrence, ISS is able to forecast the development of its business in a more precise manner. "Today, we have a better overview of the entire business. Key performance indicators help us to focus our attention on what is really important," says Bovenschen who is completely satisfied with the performance of PRIM: "Forward-thinking consulting services have been a major success factor for us. The PRIM consultants distinguish themselves by their detailed know-how of the ISS processes. And they have been very well prepared to handle new requirements."
Next Steps
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