Maximizer rolls out CRM benefits for Barloworld

Barloworld Equipment has implemented the Maximizer CRM solution to better manage its clients and increase the efficiency of its marketing campaigns.

"Barloworld has been a client of ours for some time but operated in a very segregated technology environment," says Mark Annett, national sales manager at Maximizer business partner and CRM specialist Camsoft Solutions.

He says the company, which recently celebrated an 80-year partnership with Caterpillar, had branches all over the country using the Maximizer solution but it did not have any inter-office connections. "They approached us to connect these branches in order for the company to have a unified vision of its clients," Annett continues.

The implementation at Barloworld Equipment, which supplies Caterpillar equipment and support to customers in 11 countries in southern Africa that includes South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Angola and Zambia, did present a few unique challenges to Camsoft, Maximizer`s certified business partner in South Africa.

"A particularly difficult challenge in connecting the branches was to ensure that the data that resided at those offices were kept as up to date as possible. Fortunately, the synchronisation capabilities of Maximizer made this possible with the minimum amount of hassle," says Annett.

Maximizer CRM also offers users an improved opportunity manager. This allows for the implementation of sophisticated sales methodologies through a streamlined interface that lets users change sales strategies at any point in the cycle. "We have been using Maximizer solutions for the past two years now and have been very satisfied with the performance so far," says Verne` Wiid, marketing assistant at Barloworld Equipment.

With the company providing customers in mining, construction, marine, electrical power generation, and other industries with integrated solutions that include new, used, and rental equipment options, taking full advantage of marketing campaigns and managing those clients were key deliverables for Wiid. "I have database marketers across the country at offices in Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Boksburg that needed to be integrated with each other to give Barloworld Equipment full control of all the sales leads," she says.

Camsoft`s Annett says the roll out went very quickly and smoothly. "Seeing as Maximizer is a rapid implementation tool, it took us only two months to integrate the offering at Barloworld Equipment. The up-to-date IT infrastructure of the company also made things easy for us," he says.

Wiid says that when Barloworld Equipment started using Maximizer, it only had one person using it. "As our requirements from the CRM system increased, we did more research and had representatives of Maximizer giving us a demonstration of what the real functionality of the product was," Wiid adds. This proved to be the tipping point for the company and soon it began rolling out Maximizer to all its current users. Such is the success of Maximizer CRM at Barloworld Equipment, the company is implementing the latest version, Maximizer CRM 10, in the near future.

"What was especially appealing with the Maximizer solution was its level of customisability. We needed to tailor it to fit our needs and to add a quoting system. This can now give us complete control over our leads on the system," says Wiid.

Wiid feels that Maximizer has been very easy to use for the business. Barloworld Equipment is also using the system to monitor how people are contacting the company in order to best determine which marketing communications work and which do not. "The integration process for Maximizer CRM went very smoothly and the staff has really enjoyed using the solution. We are very pleased with it," she concludes.

With the marketing function in mind, Maximizer CRM offers new campaign respondent lists. This lets users close the loop with sales by conducting follow-up campaigns to respondents who opened e-mails or clicked through to Web landing pages. The solution also offers improved Microsoft Word integration. Users can use the Microsoft application for formatting, colour, and font enhancements for rich text and HTML print, fax, and e-mail campaigns. Camsoft`s national sales manager, Mark Annett feels that while determining the return on investment for the solution will differ in terms of how companies utilise it, he expects a six-month cycle for a company to see a return on their bottom line.