Advertising is the life-blood of nearly every publisher and that’s no different for ‘DIE ZEIT’.
In such a fiercely competitive market, effective communication with customers is critically important. That requires the ability to record and access detailed information about their preferences and previous advertising history so as to best match them with most relevant editorial or advertising packages.
However, keeping on top of over 70,000 contacts, managing customer relationships and following up on sales leads was until recently proving increasingly challenging for the newspaper’s 80-strong sales team.
“We knew we needed a proven CRM system that stored all our current and historic client data so staff could see at a glance what has gone on before,” says Nora Hoppe, the advertising department’s data manager. “But having a meaningful and effective conversation with them just wasn’t possible using existing off-the-shelf tools like Microsoft Access® and Excel®.”
This meant that despite the wealth of client data available, the advertising team were never really on top of all possible opportunities and as a result, were underperforming and were losing out on large sales.
However, having taken the time to assess all available CRM solutions, the publishers settled on Act! for a number of reasons, mainly over data security. Because Act! can run on local servers rather than the cloud, this gave them the confidence and reassurance they needed regarding data protection.
Act! also delivered on ‘user friendliness and flexibility’ as it offers a range of customisation options, including different user interfaces that could be precisely tailored to each team’s requirements.
Last but not least, Act! was highly cost-effective when compared with other CRM systems as more functions were included as standard. This, together with the support of an expert Act! Certified Consultant (ACC) made the company feel they were in safe hands at every stage.
From installing the software, customising user interfaces – including the crucial interface with the SAP® ERP system – to the migration of data from existing databases, staff training and support, each process went smoothly.
Looking ahead, Nora says it is immensely reassuring to know that the ACC will be on call to offer ongoing support and effectively serve as a help desk dealing with user queries and fine-tuning functionality.
“The ACC really enabled us to get as much as possible out of the new system. He even created features specifically for us, like the ability to plan customer contacts and generate follow-up reminders, which means we can provide better customer care”, says Nora Hoppe, who is also delighted with the boost in productivity that Act! has generated.
