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Aug 5, 2022
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'As one of the world’s leading health and fitness companies, Fitness First needed customer-facing sales and CRM processes that were as lean and agile as its one million members, spread across 370 clubs in 16 countries. Why eBECS? “eBECS is a company with a big reputation in Microsoft. I had not realised the size and scope of eBECS’ operation before I went to Microsoft Convergence. The people we met knew their stuff and had ideas about how we could develop Dynamics CRM On Line further; Fitness First wants to work with innovative partners”. stresses Hutt. And in eBECS, he adds, he saw an implementation partner that was not only innovative, but also comfortable working right across the Microsoft technology ‘stack’—an important consideration, given that the replacement CRM system was just one of five strategic initiatives on the drawing board, each requiring strong technology capabilities. Moreover, he emphasises, there was a considerable prize at stake: a better and more efficient sales process, right across Fitness First’s global operations, and right across its channels to market—consumers, business customers, and digital. “Ultimately, CRM, sales and this system is at the absolute core of what we do,” he sums up. “And so it was vital that this system was implemented as capable as possible, and as quickly as possible.” Solution Work began in July 2015, with the goal of developing and refining a single global market template for the new Digital system. The strategy: to build a sales platform that catered for Fitness First’s global requirements, but did so without requiring customisation and gave a jumping off point for further configuration and change to deliver competitive advantage. “The intention was clear,” stresses Hutt. “We want a global template in which nothing has to be customised, but yet which offers through configuration everything that the business needs to be a Digital business, irrespective of geography. In every operation, the acid test is to have a solution that is upgradeable on the standard Microsoft technology path, and also convertible back to the single global template.” And by the end of November 2015, that template had been developed, although rollout in the pilot region was deferred until February 2016, in order to avoid any disruption or distraction to the immediate post-Christmas period—a period of peak demand for gym and fitness services. The plan: by mid-summer 2016 the replacement CRM system would be live right across Fitness First’s global operations. Benefits And when fully live, notes Hutt, there are clear expectations about the resulting benefits. “It’s a better platform for building the business,” he enthuses. “We get a better sales process, more channels to reach our customers and prospective customers—e-mail, text, mailshot, or mobile app—and more ways to build our average revenue-per-customer. We also have a Digital platform from which we can build more services focused on the customer” In addition, there are clear expectations in terms of lead conversion, upselling and member retention, with a slicker CRM process contributing to all three. Efficiencies result, as well. Enrolments within the CRM system now take three minutes. A reduction from 8 minutes with the old system. A critical addition is the integration with the Membership Management system saving an addition eight minutes per customer – total 13 minutes per member. Multiply that time saving over a million members, suggests Hutt, and the financial, service, success and operational impact is considerable. And finally, he adds, there are the undoubted tangible cost savings that will accrue. “We’re saving hundreds of thousands of pounds on an annual basis,” he sums up. “We’re moving away from a system that was expensive to run, expensive to maintain, effectively unmaintainable, and which impeded our corporate effectiveness. And in its place: Microsoft Dynamics CRM On-Line, Digital and in the Cloud—a CRM system which finally matches our vision of ‘fit for purpose’ for one of the world’s leading health and fitness businesses.”'
Tags: Azure , mscrm , ebecs , dyn365
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