JNJ Electrics Energises Success Strategy with FrontRange GoldMine CRM

Challenge
To manage non-maintenance work-related contacts for account servicing, business development and sales pipeline.

Solution
FrontRange Solutions' GoldMine CRM.

Results
Centralised contacts database with easy access to information.
Simplified reporting of maintenance and financial data.
Ability to identify further growth opportunities within existing client base.

Background
JNJ Electrics Pty Ltd is an electrical contracting company that focuses on the provision of programmed and preventative maintenance services.

JNJ Electrics also provides the following specialised services
Appliance testing and tagging
Emergency and exit light testing
Thermographic surveys
Restricted access and hazardous locations works
Cherry picker service
Confined spaces works
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) removal

JNJ Electrics is currently concentrating on the development of new and existing relationships with clients who understand and appreciate the value of proactive solutions to their day to day operational challenges

Challenges
With a business plan forecasting continual growth over the coming years, JNJ Electrics faced a challenge tracking and managing the increasing amount of both work and non-work related contacts used for business development and account management.

As Brett Dawson, sales and marketing manager at JNJ Electrics, explains: "We have sales people, work schedulers and an accounts payable department, all of whom may be in contact with clients, but previously we had no way of tracking the ensuing contact or conversation. So if, for example, a client returned a call, we had no way of knowing why they were contacted and in most cases couldn't take care of the issue until we could speak with the staff member who made the initial call. We needed to ensure that, with our projected growth, we could stay in contact with all our clients internally and externally."

All work-related contacts are stored in The Service Manager (TSM), a maintenance job management system built on a Microsoft Visual FoxPro database, in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook. As a result, JNJ Electrics required a structured solution to manage non-work related contacts, particularly for business development purposes.

"The system we were using for business development had no checks and measures so no-one was directly accountable. We also couldn't accurately track conversations with prospective clients over the telephone or by e-mail other than going into each user log-in on the Microsoft Exchange mail server, which was impractical at best," said Dawson.

In addition to tracking new business, JNJ Electrics also required the ability to track its sales pipeline.

"The pipeline was important so we could see what work we had coming up, what new work was coming in and what measures we needed to take to avoid problems in our cash flow management," explained Dawson.

Solution

JNJ Electrics selected FrontRange Solutions GoldMine CRM due to its integration with TSM and the company's accounting package, MYOB.

GoldMine enables organisations to manage business and customer relationships, improve sales and increase productivity using advanced software tools for collaboration, centralised information and streamlined sales processes.

The company engaged Forward Thinking Consulting Services - a Melbourne-based FrontRange Premier Partner, to assist with the implementation. "It took Forward Thinking only a few days to get the solution working, and it has worked really well since. We also did user and administrative training through Forward Thinking as well - I don't mind singing their praises because they've really helped make the system a success," enthused Dawson.

Results

Since implementing GoldMine, JNJ Electrics has been able to standardise its customer management processes.

"Now if a client calls, we need only to click on their name in GoldMine and it brings up a list of everything that's transpired with them in chronological order, whether the contact was made by e-mail, phone or fax and so on, which means we can respond to them immediately and take care of the issue rather than having to call them back later," explained Dawson.

"For example, we deal with approximately 15 contacts within our main client, and each person is a separate profile we need to manage. GoldMine enables us to log the best number and time to reach each person, their job function, favourite footy team - anything that will assist us in knowing who we're dealing with, regardless of who may have had the most recent contact with that person. GoldMine makes it really easy to cut to the chase when making contact," said Dawson.

The company also uses GoldMine to manage day-to-day diaries and appointment schedules for its office-based staff.

"For example, it enables us to schedule on-going activities that may relate to or grow from our initial contact with a prospective client. In addition, we can manage our sales cycle solely through GoldMine," said Dawson.

Because GoldMine interfaces with both TSM and MYOB, JNJ Electrics is able to quickly produce relevant reports.

"All of the TSM financial information comes through GoldMine so we can report on it at that level, before it is transferred into MYOB. Also, if our schedulers are using TSM and receive a new job from a client not in the TSM database, we can import the contact directly from GoldMine," Dawson explained.

One of the key benefits of using GoldMine is the ability to keep audit trails of information to back up staff in case an issue arises, or to drill down on the number and type of contacts made by JNJ Electrics' business development managers.

More importantly, the system has enabled JNJ Electrics to accurately map business relationships with clients to identify further growth opportunities, particularly within the client base.

"We might only have five per cent of a client's total business," said Dawson, "but by mapping out all the business relationships in GoldMine, we now know what they're worth to the business and, as a result, the investment has already paid for itself."