Interview
Iddink Group: On the road to personal service, together
At first, Vanessa Flink had no idea how deeply the implementation of Salesforce would affect the business process. But to switch to a single system, Iddink Group had to rearrange its methods. Fortunately, the company had Nextview by its side. “We really worked together as partners.”
As Manager of Customer Operations, Vanessa is responsible for marketing, sales and customer service. Three different departments which, until recently, relied on all kinds of different systems: from Word and Excel files to separate CRM systems. A big obstacle to giving excellent service. “If you are the largest educational service provider in secondary education, you want to really help the customer,” Vanessa says. “So you simply need one system to facilitate all sales and service processes from a 360° customer view.”
A personal connection
A survey of the various systems on the market revealed Salesforce to be the most promising application. This choice immediately raised a new question: who is going to implement it? Vanessa: “A number of parties were invited to share how they could help us. We found Nextview to be the best fit for us. They are informal, dedicated and passionate about their work. We felt a personal connection.”
“If you want to move several systems to one, you have to facilitate that with a uniform process. And you can only do that if you know how the process works.”
Still, it took some time getting used to each other. Nextview is used to working in an agile way. That means working in such a way that all parties involved continuously learn from each other. Vanessa laughs: “That took some getting used to! Nextview assumed we were used to it, but our sales and service organisation is not agile at all. When looking back on the whole project, this is what comes to mind quite a bit.”
Design Thinking Sessions
Iddink Group and Nextview started off their partnership in Design Thinking sessions. It quickly became apparent that the switch to a single system was more than just an implementation project. “Iddink consisted of a number of companies with different processes,” Vanessa explains. “If you want to move several systems to one, you have to facilitate that with a uniform process. And you can only do that if you know how the process works. What is our process? Where do we want to go? And what do we need to set it up? We started with these questions.”
The transition affects all primary processes. Which data goes to the financial department? Who has what rights? Can everyone see everything? Employees are involved in the transition from the very beginning. They give input and are involved in testing. “It’s not like you’re putting something new in place,” Vanessa emphasises. “You’re rebuilding while the shop is open. You have to take everyone on board internally, even when you eventually go live.”
In this, too, Iddink Group knew it was supported by Nextview. “We really worked together as partners. The people of Nextview know their craft. That might seem normal for a company. But I have the impression that the people at Nextview deal with the system in a fairly advanced way on a number of fronts. Our situation is fairly complex, with all kinds of underlying systems that communicate with each other. Together, we’ve built that up from the ground.” Vanessa adds with a smile: “We are partners in crime. In serving our customer that is. It really feels like a journey we’ve taken together.”
Complete customer insight
Technically, after setting up the CRM system, service management was added first, followed by a brand new customer environment for which the input was collected in workshops with various customers. Quite unique for the Netherlands is the voting process in which customers vote, via the tooling, on the next product development. Soon, three years after the start of the implementation, training, webinars and consultancies will be unlocked through the system.
“Salesforce is not an end in itself. What matters is: how can you make it work for you?”
The next step will be marketing automation: targeted mailing and offers based on available data. Iddink Group would not be able to take that step without the customer insight Salesforce offers. “We have a lot more insight into what is happening with all of our customers. We also do customer satisfaction surveys based on the system. It really is an integrated solution: one way of working, one source, full insight. Our customers also notice that there is more of a connection.”
In addition to the development, there is of course also the daily management of the system. Small changes, prompted by new insights or a change in the package. Vanessa: “What I really like is that many of our people ask: can this also be done? That is what makes the system smarter, which makes it work even better for you. Together with the people from Nextview, we are always looking for new possibilities to make it even better for us. Because that has always been the core. Salesforce is not an end in itself. What matters is: how can you make it work for you?”
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