Bank on DC is a government program that partners with financial institutions and non-profit organizations to provide financial services and products to unbanked or under-banked households. Financial illiteracy and poor access to banks are major problems in the Columbia district, affecting over 100,000 households.

By having a dynamic online presence, the company could encourage people to open bank accounts while educating the public about the state of their finances.Bank on DC wanted a website that didn’t tell customers what to do, but enabled them to connect with interactive banking tools that would help reduce expenses and improve overall cash flow.They needed a website that was still functional during the renovation process so it won’t affect visitors from registering for upcoming events, while providing an immersive and enjoyable user experience.

Although Bank on DC already had a website that connected customers with their products and services, the company had a hard time converting one-time visitors into re-occurring ones, resulting in a lack of user engagement. The static website also failed to attract much-needed attention from major sponsors.

Solution

Having worked with other accounts in the financial education industry (e.g. FELA), TechnoMile’s developers and web consultants knew that re-launching the Bank on DC for easier user navigation and functionality was only the beginning. By building the website on WordPress, an easy-to-use website hosting service, they were able to take advantage of plugins to further customize the website, exceeding their customer’s initial set of requirements.

To maximize user engagement, TechnoMile developed a Finance Calculator that gave visitors the opportunity to diagnose their current financial situation by calculating one’s salary, expenses, and the amount it takes to process a cheque. This simple formula gives visitors a rough estimate of their current financial situation free of charge. Cleverly positioned under the “Why I Should Get An Account” tab it’s a survey that increased Bank on DC’s credibility while providing a free money management tool for visitors.

TechnoMile also made other aspects of the website more interactive by integrating Bank on DC’s event calendar with Google Calendar, allowing information inputted on Google Calendar to show up on their company calendar and vice versa. This seamless integration makes it easy for potential attendees to copy event and seminar information onto their personal Google calendar and register at a click of a button.

Recognizing the power of social media, TechnoMile, also integrated Bank on DC’s social media platforms onto their website once it went live. This allowed for further user engagement outside of their main web property. To help maintain the website, TechnoMile provided Bank on DC with on-going administrative and technical support through a series of weekly webinars.

Results

• Secured more sponsorship from various non-profit, financial, and employee partners
• Experience increase in volume of visitors to website
• Easier to convert leads to customers and receive outstanding customer feedback
• Partner up with online education platforms like money management tool, Hello Wallet, and FELA to launch Innovative Financial Education Initiative on January 31^st 2012
• Partner with EverFi, Inc to provide innovative financial literacy tech platform for District residents May 30^th 2012

-Joy Parisi, Grant Writer
Enterpreneurs’ Organization

Story

The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a non-for-profit that provides budding entrepreneurs with the right tools to run their own business. Since there is no better way to learn how to run a successful operation than by learning from those who have already succeeded, EO strives to connect small growing businesses with established organizations in order to create a global network that works towards encouraging individuals to use their creativity to transform the world.

While they offer an online forum and a one-on-one mentoring program, the company relies heavily on in-person networking events to create and nurture a strong community of social entrepreneurs.

In order to sustain and grow an 8,000 member entrepreneur network, they would host events in various major cities for their members, but quickly discovered that the way they managed their registration forms was inadequate. Invitees would discover that they were not properly registered for upcoming events despite repeated confirmations online, resulting in continuous customer complaints.

As an existing Salesforce CRM user, EO was already using cloud technology to capture, track, and score leads and understood that they could also maximize their presence on the cloud by using it also for event management purposes, so they can renew member subscriptions and increase their ROI.

Solution

For this project TechnoMile recruited their top business process consultants and developers. With a combined 100+ Salesforce.com integration project experience for clients in the non-profit sector, their team members were not only technically knowledgeable but also enthusiastic about the undertaking.

TechnoMile always enjoys working with non-for-profit organizations since their goals are in line with the Salesforce 1/1/1 philosophy which leverages people, technology, and resources to help out charitable organizations.

Without affecting employee productivity or impacting any upcoming event or seminars, TechnoMile undertook a four month project to seamlessly integrate FormSite, a cost-effective form creator application, with their SalesforceQuickstart (Non-Profit Edition) solution. This allowed EO’s sales and event management team to create registration, event, and survey forms with ease. Afterwards, this information was stored on the Salesforce CRM and made it easier to organize and analyze member activity and provide more detailed data, which would then be used for lead management purposes.

TechnoMile also took advantage of Events, a free Salesforce Labs application available on AppExchange, which makes it easier to view event statistics (e.g. expenses, registrations, venues with Google Map integration). Being easy-to-install and customizable, it was the perfect add-on to complement EO’s event management process. The company also decided to take advantage of Chatter and use it throughout all of their departments as a way to increase internal communication and productivity. While they loved using Salesforce before, TechnoMile’s training courses helped them become very comfortable with using the software as an event management tool and they have increased their cloud usage substantially.

Result

Reduce registration time and number of customer complaints

Their customer response rate increased by

Increased feedback allowed EO to strengthen and manage relationships with business development partners

Increase renewal rates and received positive feedback from members from around the globe

Eliminate bad data and are able to use information acquired from events and seminars to help with lead management

–Catherine Roseheim, Proposal Manager
MDA Information Systems LLC

The Story

MDA Information Systemsis an industry leading communications and information company that provides government and commercial customers with innovative IT solutions in the utilization of remote sensing data from aircraft and satellites and is the largest commercial provider of enhanced satellite imagery.

Formerly, the company usedlegacy software with limited CRM capabilities. Ambiguously labelled fields confused end users during data entry and resulted in dataduplication. Poor data hygiene reduced the sales team’s productivity as prime selling time was being spent on finding incorrectly indexed information.

In order to build a steady pipeline of opportunities for future revenue growth and streamline their sales process, they identified a need to upgrade their CRM database quickly.They required a system that could automate manual sales processes, provide management visibility on pipeline progression, and facilitate a more stringent data governance process.

MDA decided to purchase Salesforce.com to empowertheir sales team, but experienced low user adoption after trying to self-implement the solution. Salesforce.com recommended they leverage a Salesforce certified implementation partner to provide faster time to value. The selection was narrowed as MDAneeded afirm with consultants who wereUS citizens with Secret Clearance to deal with sensitive information, could provide best practices for operationalizing the federal capture and contracting process and inject innovation to track different sales processes for each specialty department.

Solutions

Since the SalesforceSales Cloud is not configured for the federal contracting process out-of-the-box,TechnoMile’s experience in consulting with numerous federal contractors enabled them to create a sophisticated system that would not only streamline MDA’s business process, but also increase their win rate exponentially through integration and CRM customizations.

“The Force.com platform is very malleable and can be customized to operationalize ANY complicated business process in short order,” said AshishKhot, Founder and CEO atTechnoMile. “We knew we had to create a strategic plan with well-defined goals so we could execute their vision on budget and on time.”

IncreaseWin Rates

TechnoMile bolstered their CRM value by enablingan integration with DeltekGovWin IQ—a third party service that provides federal contractors insight into over $1.8 trillion dollars worth of available government opportunity. The integration allows data fromGovWin IQ to flow intoSalesforceand saves the sales team from manually going back and forth between two systems to input data. Data from GovWinIQ in conjunction with data input by Capture Managers into Salesforcecustomized fields gives MDA a wealth of contextual data to work with, allowing them to understand when to pursue and bid.

This appended insight, providestheir sales team visibility from a hierarchical perspective into which opportunities already have contracting vehicles (e.g. GSA, IDIQ). This information empowersthem to pursuethe right deals faster and increasetheir win rate.

Enable Visibility into Capture process costs

Because of MDA’s longer sales cycles, they wanted the ability to track pursuit and acquisition costs.TechnoMilebuilt a module within Salesforcetocapture the cost of a project over “n” number of years and forecast revenue through long durations of time.

Provide Customized Training and Post-implementation Support

To ensure fast time-to-value and higher user adoptionTechnoMilewas commissioned to create a comprehensive training curriculum and deliver itboth online and viaclass room style sessions for MDA’s administrative team and end-users.

Results

TechnoMile created an innovativecustom Federal Capture solution that benefited multiple MDA departments.

• The capture and business development teams now have the infrastructure to be more productive and effective in their roles.
• The marketing department has access to more clean, relevant and contextual data to support their promotionalmaterials and campaigns.
• The executive team has visibility into the size and velocity of the sales pipeline as well as the cost of the capture process.

Margolin, Winer& Evens (MWE) is a business advisory and accounting firm based in New York that handles accounts ranging from real estate, construction, and healthcare etc. By specializing in so many different industries they had acquired an extensive portfolio along with a wealth of contacts.

Since they have a “hands on” approach when it comes to interacting with their partners and customers, they hold regular events and seminars, connecting financial leaders with business owners. However, their database was out-dated and disorganized, making it difficult to connect professional contacts with certain partners and build strong business relationships.

They wanted a CRM solution that would allow them to organize their contact list and lend their marketing team much needed support when it came to processing and tracking contact information for upcoming events. This way it would be possible to boost attendance records and increase customer satisfaction.

Solution

Since TechnoMile had extensive experience dealing with accounts in the professional services industry they were able to quickly diagnose MWE’s problem in a professional and effective manner. Since it was MWE’s first time using Salesforce.com, TechnoMile recommended SalesforceQuickStart (Professional Edition) which is a cost-effective solution for a mid-market Salesforce customer and allows for quick implementation.

While MWE was already using BizAction, an e-mail marketing tool, to track how many people were subscribing to their “The MWE Advisor” tax and accounting legislation newsletter, TechnoMile integrated this marketing software with Salesforce.com to create a central information repository by capitalizing on BizActions’ CRM Connectors tool. This way they were able to leverage an outside application MWE was already familiar with and use it also as an event management tool.

This solution meant MWE didn’t have to manage two separate contact databases, but could analyze and interpret data on the Salesforce interface and streamline the event management process. This made it easier to register people for events, track the number of attendees, along with conducting surveys. It also made it easier to send notifications about upcoming industry events and provide customized e-mail marketing materials for each potential attendee.

The information collected on BizAction is automatically stored within the Salesforce CRM making it easier to track and manage data and monitor leads. TechnoMile made sure that MWE’s marketing team was equipped to use this new software by lending their support in the form of online training sessions.

Result

• Strengthen and nurture relationships between partners and professional contacts
• Received positive feedback from MWE’s event management team
• Received the 2012 Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace
• Named one of the Top 100 firms in Public Accounting in 2012

Burger Maker, Inc is a food production company that offers a wide range of gourmet hamburger products made of high quality raw beef. Since 1978 this family-owned operation in New York has rapidly expanded all across the U.S. and now have operations in regions such as the Midwest, Upstate New York, and the Tristate Area.

However, their regional managers were experiencing major communication difficulties with independent distributors and could not track and manage sample orders effectively.

Although they had a custom-built web portal to communicate with vendors, the system had limited visibility into sample sales and opportunities. Its poor reportingabilities complicated the sales process and stalled productivity.

In order to build a steady pipeline of opportunities for future revenue growth and increase communication with their distributors, the company identified a need to upgrade their CRM database quickly. The company required a system that would improve collaboration and communication with their distributors, be able to accurately track delivery and order processes, and streamline the sample order process.

Solution

Since there is a PRM built within the Salesforce CRM, TechnoMile’s team of business consultants–along with a Salesforce developer–took advantage of Partner Portal, creating a strategic plan that would allow Burger Maker to gain more insight into the sales process and potentially increase their ROI through a series of well-executed CRM customizations.

As first time Salesforce.com users, the company was apprehensive about using cloud-based technology, but they knew this fully functional and secure portal had the capabilities to do what they needed. The systemwould help their sales and distribution channels effectively.

To refine the sales and distribution procedureTechnoMile targeted two key problem areas in their work flow process:

Simplifying Order System

Before Burger Maker’s regional managers would take orders from distributors over the phone and through e-mail and track that data on a spreadsheet tool as a supplement to their portal system which did not provide good visibility and reporting or customization.

With Partner Portal, TechnoMile modified the system so regional managers would be able to access account details and receive email notifications when broke representatives put in sample orders, enabling them to easily reply back, as well as approve or disapprove orders.

Tracking Delivery Process

Keeping track of deliveries was also difficult because the company used many different shipping methods for their sample products. At times BurgerMaker would ship the sample order directly to a distributor and at other times distributors who were close enough to the warehouse would pick up the sample order and deliver it to the client.

By outlining a more detailed workflow on Partner Portal, regional managers and distributors were able to continue using multiple shipping methods without any miscommunication. Notifications would be sent to both parties, allowing them to view when sample orders were set for delivery and when an order had been completed.

TechnoMile also customized Partner Portal to display Burger Maker products, made it easy to search for products and added a shopping cart functionality for incoming orders.

Since sample orders were being taken on a daily basis, TechnoMile made sure Burger Maker’s personnel was equipped to run daily reports within the system to keep track of shipments. Comprehensive online training courses were provided for the Burger Maker team and their partner distributors, allowing them to leverage this new technology and improve their communication channel tremendously.

Results

• Increase collaboration and communication between regional managers and distributors which enables them to more productive and effective in their roles
• Enhanced reporting allows them to improve on-time delivery and track order processes effectively
• Receive positive feedback from Burger Maker’s sales, marketing, and distribution team
• Able to convert more sample orders into actual orders, thus increasing their ROI exponentially

Challenge

We had a great experience working with TechnoMile. Having been referred to them through another consultant, we knew we would be in safe hands. We had a very positive experience working with their team who were all professional and passionate about the undertaking.

–Don Hager, Vice President of Information Technology
Pennsylvania Counseling Services

Pennsylvania Counselling Services (PCS) offers treatment and counselling services for people suffering from mental health and addiction issues. With fourteen clinics running in the South central Pennsylvania area, they provide outpatient services to individuals from young children and adults, and groups such as families in regards to mental health and psychiatric treatment. They also offer specialized treatment services for those dealing with eating disorders, abuse issues, anger management, etc.

While they had already created a website that highlighted their services and attracted hundreds of visitors per week, they experienced a lot of difficulty recruiting potential job candidates. Since they had a multitude of clinics running, they needed to cut down on the time it took to process paper and e-mail applications. They envisioned a web-based application that made it easier to match potential job candidates with their desired geographical region, thus strengthening employee loyalty and satisfaction.

Solution

TechnoMile tactfully diagnosed Pennsylvania Counselling Services dilemma which was twofold. The first problem was that a lot of applicants applying for varying positions did not have the right credentials, making it time-consuming to weed out under-qualified applicants. They also wanted to make sure that candidates applying to work at these clinics could easily find a job in their specific region, thus cutting down on the distance traveled. This way, workers could devote more hours to what they were passionate about rather than spend their time stuck in traffic.

The solution was a job search tool which integrated seamlessly with their pre-existing website. TechnoMile decided to take advantage a pre-existing application, smartjobboard.com, a powerful job software platform, and customize it to meet their client’s needs.

Striving for simplicity, the application quickly weaned out any applicants that did not have a valid driver’s license, which was a mandatory requirement for all of the positions offered at the company. TM also made it easier for interested applicants to find their desired job by asking the candidate to select the type of the credentials they had, their desired geographical location, and express their ideal travel time (e.g. 10 miles). The final product not only made it easier for PCS to post available job openings, but helped candidates figure out which jobs they were qualified to apply for in the first place.

TechnoMile also provided PCS’s administrative and human resources staff as well as end-users with customized training classes in order to get everyone comfortable using the new application on a regular basis.

Result

• Able to process a high volume of candidates quickly and more efficiently
• Job Candidate and employee data was stored in one central system and could be easily updated
• Experienced outstanding feedback from applicants
• Able to better match talent with their desired job type and requested geographic location

Challenge

FELA (Financial Education and Literary Advisers) is a privately held financial education services company based in Washington D.C. that educates individuals, from young professionals to retirees, along with businesses, on how to manage their debt and diagnose their overall financial health.

While FELA had a pre-existing site, they needed a website that was more engaging and interactive. This way they could established them as e-learning professionals with authoritative clout, and also make it simple to connect consumers and employees with learning tools and resources.

They also wanted assistance in developing an exclusive web-based application. They envisioned a goal driven e-learning program that would help underprivileged youth become more informed about managing their money by offering valuable information about debt management and financial risk, while tracking the individual’s current financial situation. They wanted a program that allowed participants to set their own goals and offer incentives by way of a rewards system as a motivational tool to encourage smart financial decisions. Although they had received government funding and from Bank On, they were still a start-up company that needed to implement quickly in order to capitalize in a largely underserved market and leapfrog pre-existing competitors.

Solution

On the basis of a strong referral, FELA decided to partner with TechnoMile to improve their user interface and improve the functionality of their website as well as creating a web-based application platform they would be able reuse and sell to other sites.

The collaboration process was easy since TechnoMile has done previous charity work with underprivileged youth and was enthusiastic about creating a tool that was advantageous to that respective demographic. The application would teach youth about how to budget their money and curb their spending habits, allowing them to rise out of the cycle of poverty and eliminate financial illiteracy.

The web-based application LifeCents™ was a one year project, a turnkey platform that is now fully integrated within many of their financial education programs. While being highly scalable it also provides users with an interactive learning experience through the use of gamification.

This program allows individuals to create a financial profile and ways to measure their financial health. Users can sign up for a Wellness Plan which uses a step-by-step approach in achieving personal educational goals and are given a Wellness Score based on how many goals they’ve achieved in their Wellness Plan.  By using a wide-level system, TechnoMile gave FELA the opportunity to reuse and sell the platform to 10+ sites and increase their ROI substantially.

Result

Able to create and grow their online presence in the e-learning field

Received positive customer feedback

Was able to quickly convert leads into satisfied customers

Success of the program secured funding for future ventures

Web application was used by FELA’s own employees

Increase worker productivity since personal financial issues cause loss of productivity in the workplace

However, those costs pale in comparison to the price an organization pays for not rigorously managing their sales teams according to a consistent, well-conceived sales cadence. If sales organizations don’t operate according to what is known today as a tightly integrated sales cadence that defines how and when the sales process rolls out and also captures vital information that can be leveraged to quickly respond to changing solutions, they will miss opportunities and lose more than they should.

Here are a few factors which you should consider when working to implement a consistent cadence:

• How to track customer contacts, in order to make sure sales opportunities and cycles aren’t missed and customer relationships aren’t being neglected.
• How to implement a unified strategy that creates a consistent sales culture adopted by every member of the team.
• How to make sure all the right data is getting into the right hands at the right time.
• How to align and evaluate the metrics to make sure everyone is on the same page and comparing “apples to apples”.
• How to make sure that teams separated by geography and working on different opportunities within the same account are adhering to the same standards and coordinating their efforts.
• How to more effectively coordinate sales efforts with marketing, finance, and executive leadership.

Ultimately, sales cadence will involve adjusting internal processes for the whole organization, and will probably hinge on learning how to redeploy or redesign the organization’s CRM in order to more efficiently track, manage and organize information across all divisions. However, in addition, the sales manager will need to concentrate on imparting a new vision to the whole sales team, one that is built on communication and collaboration as the teams pursue a uniform process based on a well-defined strategy to manage larger and more complex opportunities.

Here are some questions that the sales manager must ask and answer in order to move his sales organization in this new direction:

• Is the sales team participating with the rest of the company to improve the overall health of the business, or are we off in our own little word?
• What steps must be taken to align our activities with the rest of the company?
• Are sales efforts integrated and coordinated across all teams and accounts? If not, where is the disconnect and what can be done about it?

Questions like the above and many more help organizations build the right sales management system. Because each industry, market, company and sales team is unique, there aren’t standardized “right” answers to these questions. The important thing is to ask the right questions and let the answers guide you to the next steps – and the next set of questions and answers – you need to pursue. The important thing is to immediately take whatever action is necessary to embrace these changes and move your organization forward. In today’s whirlwind economy, failure to change – even failure to change fast enough – equals failure, period.

The role of CMO is a familiar one
to Doug. Previous to his role as CMO at salesforce.com, he was CMO of Skype where he led brand and marketing activities worldwide. He’s
an expert in digital marketing, online advertising, mobile and social CRM — skills that are must-have on any modern marketer’s resume. He has also led
marketing and strategy for Salesforce Chatter, the leading enterprise social
network.

As a marketing leader at the
center of a major shift towards mobile, social and cloud computing, we asked Doug
what leaders can do to adjust to this new world. His answer? Move fast
and seize real-time opportunities. “You can have a great idea and in a month
it’s gone, so take action and move really fast to take advantage of these
opportunities,” urges Bewsher.

Watch the video below to hear more about the challenges and
insights of the modern day CMO:

Here three ways a brand can impress Doug:

-
“Be personal. Drop the standard sales pitch,’
says @salesforce CMO Doug Bewsher #cmo Tweet this!

-
“Lead with the solution to my pain point, not
your product features.” says @salesforce CMO Doug Bewsher #cmo Tweet this!

-
“Use humor. Something fun and engaging will
always win attention.” says @salesforce CMO Doug Bewsher #cmo Tweet this!

In what ways are you connecting with your customers
differently today? Tweet your thoughts to @Salesforce using #cmo to engage with
me on this topic!