The client is a global software company, focused on small business
The Challenge
The client is a multinational business software company focused on serving consumers and small businesses. The firm delivers financial management, compliance, and marketing products and services across various segments: small businesses, consumers, credit, and tax preparation. Recently, company leadership approved a major shift to a cloud-based strategy, including the development of a unified console that would aggregate each customer’s activity under a single “Lead” or “Opportunity” tab. This would enable sales agents to quickly understand the scope of each customer’s business with the firm, and identify complementary products – i.e., potential cross-sell opportunities.
However, building such a console presented real challenges from a development and data management perspective. In the firm’s legacy system, each product line had a separate care channel, and each care channel used different tool sets. Furthermore, there was no single knowledge management tool set, and therefore no easy way to identify customers across different product lines. Sales agents wasted time switching between tools, and manual intervention was required at multiple places in the system. The company needed a modern cloud solution that would save time and drive new revenues.
The Solution
Persistent developed a cloud solution leveraging Visualforce components and pages, utilizing Salesforce Lightning Design System. The solution was structured as a Salesforce Console app, a tab-based workspace ideally suited for fast-paced work environments. This enabled company agents to manage multiple records on a single screen, and reduce the time spent jumping back-and-forth between tools.
Our solution architects focused particular attention on tools rationalization – with Salesforce Sales Cloud as a platform base, developers were able to remove and replace more than 220 tools, reducing the total count to 33 across all product lines. In addition, integrations across tools sets provided a seamless single-entry experience
We also implemented a 360-degree Customer View, and optimized workflows for speed and efficiency. And the use of VF and SLDS components and pages enabled a vastly more user-friendly UI, with custom metadata types that make it easier to deploy changes and enhancements.
The Outcome
The Persistent / Salesforce cloud solution delivered an astonishing 89% reduction in average agent call time, from 45 minutes to just five minutes. This improvement was achieved by avoiding contact switching and integrating several discreet systems into one agent console. In addition, the system realized a 90% reduction in opportunity creation time – our developers implemented a process to “clone” quotes whenever an agent needed to create multiple quotes for single account, thereby required time from 20 minutes to just two minutes.
Persistent also improved a key business process by reducing the number of clicks needed to attach quotes to a contract customer’s record, from 25 to five clicks. We also enabled agents to complete all necessary tasks “within the system,” rather than having to switch to external apps. This resulted in a 75% improvement in efficiency for the contract process. The firm continues its successful transition to a cloud strategy across their multiple lines of business.
Technology Used
- Salesforce Sales Cloud (CRM)
- Console Application
- Email-To-Case
- Reports and Dashboard
- External Data Source
- Canvas App
