Sage CRM and The REaD Group CRM Case Study

With an expanding company and the need for an efficient, centralised data source, The REaD Group Plc progressed from contact management software to a multifunctional, company-wide, 40-user CRM system.

Summary

The Concentrix CRM solution helped The REaD Group Plc to:

  • Significantly reduce duplication of effort through a single, centralised Sage CRM system
  • Decrease errors through reduced data input
  • Improve management effectiveness through powerful measurement and reporting tools
  • Streamline business processes, improve workflow and formalise procedures
  • Provide a more consistent customer service experience
  • Develop the company knowing they have an powerful yet flexible system which will grow with them in the future.

About The REaD Group Plc

Clean data is of vital importance to the direct marketing industry. Badly targeted and wrongly addressed mail is a waste of resources, has negative effects on a company's brand image and raises environmental concerns.

Founded in 1991, The REaD Group Plc is synonymous with the development and supply of innovative, high-quality products which help direct marketers ensure their mailing lists are clean.

Market-Leading Products

The REaD Group Plc supplies data suppression products which improve the accuracy, dynamism and security of data for direct marketing. Used by both business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketers, its market-leading products include the Gone Away Suppression File (GAS), GAS Reactive, The Bereavement Register (TBR) and suppressiononline.com.

A Customer Focussed Company

There's a strong customer focus to everything The REaD Group Plc does. Staff at the company carefully and actively listen to what customers have to say. What's more, because of the organisation's structure, The REaD Group Plc reacts to client needs and market changes with outstanding speed and agility. This approach has helped the company to become a market leader in terms of product development, innovation and customer service.

The REaD Group Plc is extremely influential within the direct marketing industry. For example, Mark Roy, the company's Chief Executive, is a member of the Direct Marketing Association's Data Council and heads up both the Environmental and Best Practice groups. He also advises two separate All Party Parliamentary Groups, and was ranked 4th in Marketing Direct's Power 100 of Data Players in 2008.

The Need for CRM

Before investing in a CRM solution, The REaD Group Plc had been using a well-known contact management system. However, the functionality and flexibility of contact management systems is limited, and the product was unable to fulfil the company's business requirements.

The REaD Group Plc was concerned about the way certain tasks were being carried out, and in particular duplication of effort. The company had many documents which recorded similar information in different ways. This led to inefficient working, with staff entering the same data in different places. Not only did this increase the likelihood of errors, it also caused reporting problems. There was no way of easily sorting and filtering existing information, and specific data was generally difficult to find, correlate and access.

Luci Penn, Product Development Manager at The REaD Group Plc, comments “we had a contact management system, but it was not meeting our needs and had no scope for future development as the company expanded. We needed a CRM system to centralise our resources and refine our business processes. A CRM system would also provide stability and allow for future growth.”

Objectives

The REaD Group Plc identified a number of objectives for the new CRM system. As well as providing a single, centralised resource and wider platform for recording client information, the CRM system would also have to provide a range of practical tools for both management and individual staff. The system needed to deliver better time and contact management, increase workflow efficiency and improve communications throughout the business. In addition, the company wanted to embrace the greater capabilities of CRM, starting with accurate and reliable reporting, sales management and pipeline measurement.

Choosing a CRM Supplier

The REaD Group Plc performed systematic and extensive research to find the right CRM partner. The vigorous selection criteria took into account the size of the company, background, proven CRM project experience, expertise, client base and depth of understanding of The REaD Group Plc's needs.

The company chose Concentrix, a fully accredited Sage Business Partner, to supply and implement the CRM system. Discussing this choice, Luci explains, “Concentrix demonstrated an in-depth understanding of our needs and showed professionalism and high-standards, along with good customer-service across the board.”

The CRM Solution: Sage CRM

The REaD Group Plc chose Sage CRM as the company's customer relationship management solution. While providing the single, central source of data The REaD Group Plc required, Sage CRM has the powerful tools and functionality, outstanding pipeline management and reporting capabilities the company was looking for.

Being web-based, Sage CRM is particularly strong at bringing together information from across a business, eliminating repeat data entry and task duplication. Sage CRM also presented the flexibility and adaptability The REaD Group Plc needed for future expansion. What's more, Sage CRM provided an easy-to-use, intuitive solution for the 40 staff from the company's marketing, sales, legal, finance, project development and IT departments who would be using the system.

The Results

Sage CRM has delivered many tangible benefits to The REaD Group Plc. It has streamlined the company's internal processes and eliminated multiple recording and duplication of cross-departmental effort.

Asked if the new CRM system has benefited customers or suppliers, Luci Penn replies “It's benefited both. It has tightened and formalised procedures so we provide a more consistent service to customers and suppliers. All information is in one place, and our customers benefit with more efficient renewals.”

As well as the practical benefits of replacing a contact management system with a CRM system, the project has also highlighted areas in which the company feels it can improve further still. Luci continues “The full benefits are still to be seen, however the project has identified areas to be addressed in centralising data, and gaps in our existing information.”

The Future

A few months after introducing Customer Relationship Management, the introduction of Sage CRM has changed the way The REaD Group Plc works. As well as tightening and formalising procedures, enabling more efficient workflow and improving consistency and levels of service, staff throughout the company can now conveniently and accurately produce and access detailed reports. The improved measurement of key business performance criteria has resulted in better management of sales, marketing and customer service functions. And because of the flexibility of the solution, there's scope to develop the system according to future needs.

Sage CRM

More about Sage CRM

Download a PDF of this case study

Learn more

Find out how CRM can benefit your business

Get in touch with us!

Visit The REaD Group website.