How a Mountain bike ride helped Enerdrive Recharge their failed CRM

Nov 18, 2015 | ACT!, CRM, Customer & Contact Management, Customer Stories, General, Software, Solution Type

Enerdrive Case Study

We’ve been in this business for over a decade and over that time we’ve heard our share of customer relationship management (CRM) horror stories.

No one uses it, it’s not working, and it’s not fit for purpose.

If you’ve ever been involved in a CRM implementation, either as a consultant or within your company, you unfortunately may have heard these sentiments.

Starting the conversation

Chris McClellan and Darren Flood finding a solution...

Chris McClellan and Darren Flood finding a solution…

This was how the conversation started between Enerdrive’s Chris McClellan and Evolution Marketing’s Darren Flood whilst mountain biking together.  Riding together over 18 months Chris chatted about his frustrations with his existing CRM.

We originally bought the Rolls Royce of CRM – and it was a disaster. [space value=”5″] It was expensive to the amount of $60,000 and it became a white elephant in that no-one could use it.

Twelve months and many conversations later Evolution Marketing revived Enerdrive’s confidence in how to use CRM in business.    

Enerdrive’s CRM implementation has been an overwhelming success for one reason: we didn’t set out to simply fix their CRM issues. Instead, we provided an effective sounding block for Chris’s dilemma and took the time to understand his business objectives.

Through conversation and consultation we tailored an integrated, innovative and sustainable solution combining ACT! , Quoteworks, MYOB Exo accounting system and email marketing.

The steps we took with Enerdrive are the same ones we follow with all our CRM implementations. 

Evolution Marketing has refined this process over the years with hundreds of CRM deployments for accounting, engineering, professional services, financial services, government departments and not for profit organisations Australia-wide.

Understanding business objectives

Brisbane-based Enerdrive have been providing independent power systems to the Australian market since 1996.  The company represents a range of independent power products as well as its own private label products for the Australian market.

In a move to control its own destiny the company commenced its own manufacturing program in 2011 to produce a range of AC and DC2DC battery chargers along with Lithium battery systems in 2013.

It was with Lithium battery systems where Enerdrive really began to innovate. After almost 18 months of research, testing and proving, the company designed and created a complete Lithium Battery and Installation System, primarily for the caravan and RV market.

The development of the complete Enerdrive power system proved a breakthrough for the industry’s adoption of lithium batteries.

For the first time Australian caravan manufacturers were being offered a locally manufactured, fully supported and warranted lithium power system, where previously they had to import these systems from China without any local support or accountability.

The stage was set for rapid market expansion for Enerdrive’s complete lithium power system, and the company needed its business systems to step up.

It needed the business systems to support its sales staff and to sustain innovation, continued improvement and growth.

Continuing the conversation

Darren sat down with Chris to develop the solution.

It quickly became apparent that Enerdrive’s existing system was nothing more than an address book, with no ability to improve business processes. [space value=”15″]They were getting a lot of technical errors that were preventing them from progressing[space value=”15″]Unfortunately, Chris didn’t have a relationship with anyone who he felt could rectify the situation.

From contact management to true CRM

We reviewed the available software and decided to go with ACT! and use other complimentary products to fill the gaps that are commonly left by CRM.

This included 123 Synchronizer that integrates ACT! and Microsoft email server.

All email correspondence is linked to a contact record in ACT! without users having to do anything. When anyone looks up a customer record they can see all the correspondence across the company plus any attachments.

Enerdrive have found that to be invaluable, seriously improving their record keeping and visibility of communication to important clients.

Most importantly, the sales team were finally able to use the CRM as a tool to support their own success and manage more accounts and leads.

Enerdrive were now able to categorise their accounts based on geographic territory and industry, as well as track client status to improve service for existing clients, and develop sales with prospective clients.[space value=”15″]The sales team could easily identify all their clients and prospective clients in specific locations within territories so that they can ensure contact with those clients when visiting that area and address their individual needs.[space value=”15″]It also significantly improved reporting with sales representatives no longer needing to produce activity reports, they simply record a file note against the account they visited.[space value=”15″]Once the CRM was in place we realised they needed a quoting system that linked into the CRM that would copy the details of the customer on the quote, attached to customer record and schedule a follow-up reminder.[space value=”15″]We also needed to connect Enerdrives CRM to their accounting system for an up to date view of product information, pricing and stock availability – which we were able to provide using an off the shelf third party integration product as well as some custom programming.[space value=”15″]What Enerdrive has now is a best of breed quoting system with automation and integration with CRM.

Solutions not just software

Chris McClellan director of Enerdrive
Chris McClellan director of Enerdrive
Darren and the Evolution Marketing team matched the needs of the business to the software.[space value=”15″]A good-better-best option was presented and delivered.  The most expensive option was not pushed and presented – in the end a very affordable solution was chosen and it has been effective.[space value=”15″]In comparison to previous experiences, it was money well spent.[space value=”15″]The previous product was not matched to our business. Darren and his team were able to match the ‘box to the business’.[space value=”15″]The solutions was powerful enough to do what was needed and it was also easy for staff to use.[space value=”15″]Everyone in the business who needs to use ACT! has been trained and can use the platform as intended.[space value=”15″]Evolution Marketing have supported the product effectively, with Damon and Jarod available by phone within a short time frame to solve problems during business hours.[space value=”15″]This has been an invaluable support for our business, particularly during the early implementation phase.[space value=”15″]We’ve seen 30 percent year on year growth since introducing our own private label products and putting in place the business systems to support this growth.