In a nutshell…
- System Integration
Squirrel Business Solutions supported EnviroGroup in transitioning from an outdated CRM that did not integrate with other applications to a user-friendly system that integrated with a client’s CRM system – streamlining processes, providing access to key information and facilitating collaboration.
EnviroGroup is a specialist provider of renewable energy products and systems for commercial applications, government clients and residential home owners.
The brief
EnviroGroup were undertaking a large, complex project managing the installation of residential solar panels on behalf of Darebin Council. The job would involve several internal teams and frequent communication with the council, installers and customers. It would also require the storage of extensive documentation in a way that would make it accessible to several parties.
EnviroGroup needed a CRM system that would not only provide a central point from which to manage and track the project internally, but could also be integrated with Darebin Council’s own CRM system so that the council could monitor progress.
“We wanted to set up Zoho CRM and integrate across the business. The database we had was outdated and not very useful. We’d been looking at switching over because we had some large pieces of work coming up that meant we’d need a better solution,” explains Patrick Hearps, former business analyst, EnviroGroup.
The solution
- Zoho CRM
- Zoho Projects
EnviroGroup engaged Squirrel Business Solutions to help them meet these complex requirements.
After an in-depth discovery session to gain an understanding of EnviroGroup’s goals, Squirrel installed Zoho CRM and set up all the standard and custom modules required to accommodate the stages EnviroGroup needed to track. Squirrel then migrated EnviroGroup’s data from their existing system into Zoho CRM.
“The whole process was good. Squirrel took us along the journey of understanding what Zoho could do, getting us to think and talk things through. This led to setting up the system properly and getting it to do what we wanted it to do,” continues Patrick.
The next step was to integrate EnviroGroup’s Zoho CRM with the council’s Zoho CRM. This would make it possible to push relevant data from EnviroGroup’s CRM into the council’s CRM, via API, so that the council could view the status of every project in real time. Squirrel developers used custom coding to create a practical naming convention system for projects.
To accommodate EnviroGroup’s documentation storage requirements, Squirrel integrated the CRM with Google Drive. Documentation such as customer quotes, site images, billing data and technical data sheets are now securely stored in the cloud and easily accessible via the CRM.
The benefits
- Greatly reduced data entry as a result of consolidating and integrating systems.
- Access to the same data for the whole organisation.
- Visibility of relevant data and project progress in real time for the customer.
- Improved tracking of implementations, thanks to easy access to information in CRM.
- Improved ability to coordinate team activities – for example, marketing, operations and administration – as whole organisation now has access to the same information, even when on the road.
- Improved efficiency through bringing dispersed elements together into a streamlined, structured process and everyone in the team knowing what their part in the process is.
- Improved efficiency as a result of automatically generated reminders.
- More timely communication with customers and installers, as a result of improved access to information about sites and reminders.
- Improved efficiency, as spreadsheets no longer need to be updated manually to keep the customer up to date.
- More secure, structured and accessible storage of the extensive documentation required, in a cloud-based Google Drive that syncs with CRM.
- Improved access to documents, and therefore improved efficiency, through the use of consistent naming conventions.
- Improved visibility of which products have been installed for each customer, and therefore of the warranties required.
- Improved reporting, which provides a real-time snapshot of how installations are tracking.
We’ve streamlined a bunch of processes, saved data entry and increased visibility of what’s going on in different departments. The sales team can now keep track of leads and customers and we can use reporting to get a snapshot of how jobs are tracking.
We would not have been able to complete the program on this scale if we hadn’t had Zoho in place. Emily was really helpful, responsive and knowledgeable. There was no question she couldn’t answer.
Patrick Hearps
Former Business Analyst
EnviroGroup
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Squirrel Business Solutions implements and integrates CRM and other cloud-based systems, and provides training and support, for small and medium-sized businesses all over Australia, including Melbourne, Bendigo, regional Victoria, Tasmania, Sydney and Brisbane. This empowers them to automate their processes and improve their efficiency.
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