London First
A Microsoft CRM Case Study
Case Study Summary
Situation:
London First is an influential business membership organisation whose mission is to make London the best city in the world in which to do business. London First required a replacement for an existing Goldmine system, and a CRM partner that could successfully migrate the existing database to a new CRM system.
Solution:
Excitation successfully migrated London First's existing Goldmine database in to Microsoft CRM and then provided system customisations that allow the profiling of both individuals and businesses against exact categorisation.
Benefits:
- Existing data retained and integrated
- All data profiled against exact categorisations
- Easy to build effective and targeted lists
- One-click registration direct from email campaigns
Our client said:
"Excitation has enabled us to easily build highly targeted lists against member profiles, and to select from as many or as few as 150 interests in order to build a communication"
Andrew Tibbitts, London First
The Client
London First is an influential business membership organisation whose mission is to make London the best city in the world in which to do business. London First undertakes this by mobilising the experience, expertise and enthusiasm of the private sector to develop practical solutions to the challenges facing London. London First aims to influence national and local government policies and investment decisions to support London's global competitiveness. London First delivers its activities with the support of the capital's major businesses, who collectively represent a quarter of London's GDP.
London First provide a public voice and a conduit of communication to government for its members and stakeholders. It helps direct investment decisions relevant to the city and influences both local and national government policy.
The Challenge
London First maintain a large database of high profile members and contacts. The team wanted to improve operational performance and reduce administrative overheads by better harnessing the power of their data and making information more accessible. The successful delivery of these two requirements would allow London First to provide better value to its members.
London First required a replacement for an existing Goldmine system, and a CRM partner that could successfully migrate the existing database to a new CRM system. The new system would act as a powerful membership management system as well as supporting key operational processes around events and communication management.
Solution
Microsoft Dynamics CRM was chosen for a number of reasons. Firstly, Microsoft CRM offers exceptional usability through its tight integration with Microsoft Outlook and the Microsoft Office suite. Secondly, through powerful workflow tools the system can be tailored easily to support operational and business processes guiding and supporting staff to improve performance. Finally, Microsoft CRM provides a powerful development platform allowing cost-effective customisations to deliver a system that meets exact requirements.
To this end, Excitation has provided system customisations that allow the profiling of both individuals and businesses against exact categorisation ensuring that communications are relevant, timely and delivered using the preferred medium; the holy grail of marketing communication.
"With members and stakeholders from such varied services in London, it is imperative that we are able to segment our database effectively. Excitation has enabled us to easily build highly targeted lists against member profiles, and to select from as many or as few as 150 interests in order to build a communication", said Andrew Tibbets, Business Development Manager at London First.
The speed with which London First can now build effective and targeted lists, coupled with an innovative way of registering candidates with one-click direct from email campaigns, has resulted in considerable time savings allowing the organisation to make greater investment in promoting member's interests and promoting the needs of London as a business centre.
A business focused project
Excitation was chosen to due to their considerable experience with the Microsoft CRM system and their commitment to delivering a lean project to a tight budget. Excitation's close links with Microsoft as well as their large team of Microsoft accredited technical staff provided reassurance of their ability to deliver a first class system, tailored to the specific needs of London First.
Excitation's flexible and collaborative deployment method delivered a project that was both cost-effective and time-efficient.
"Excitation managed any changes to the scope of the project with professionalism - on-time and to-budget", said Andrew Tibbitts at London First.
Microsoft CRM provides London First with a fully integrated membership and stakeholder management system and has saved the organisation considerably in both time and resources. Excitation's successful delivery of a tailored CRM system, on-time and to-budget, has improved productivity from day one.
"London First aims to give maximum value to its members. As a small, not-for-profit organisation, this means making modest resources go a long way. Excitation's customisation enables us keep on top of a complex network of contacts - across public and private sectors, local and national Government - and pinpoint all communications precisely and intelligently", said Andrew Tibbitts.