Managing projects in Excel is confined to history as CRM provides superior capabilities

Cadman Group moves on from trying to manage projects in Excel

Situation

We’ve been going for 150 years and now employ nearly 30 people with a turnover of around three million pounds. Our team provides a range of services to national contractors and developers.

Task

We were finding it increasingly difficult to track clients and projects on Excel spreadsheets. It’s confusing, tricky and doesn’t give you a proper overview. We considered free trials of systems such as Salesforce, but soon realised they didn’t fit our specific needs.

Action

We spoke to Mike at CRM Insights. He quickly grasped what we needed and has implemented a bespoke version of Workbooks CRM. He held our hand through the whole process, looking at the initial data and recommending the best way to set up our new system.

Results

It’s less than two months since we went live, so it’s very early days. It’s a cliché, but I don’t know how we managed without it. Tracking relationships and actions is now so much easier and more efficient. The information it provides really helps improve our client communications and follow up. We’ve yet to make proper use of the reporting features, but I’m anticipating they’ll add significant additional value.

Standouts

It’s been a very good experience. Mike took the time to fully understand the unique way our industry works in terms of opportunities and quotes. He also kept us on track, ensuring we met deadlines that otherwise might have slipped.