The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) were looking for a new CRM system and a website upgrade as their member comms and internal processes were inefficient and out of date.
Based on feedback both from Staff and Members CIWEM knew it was time to refresh their CRM and Website. Clunky, old processes and inefficiencies were affecting staff morale and retention and after looking into the market and realising what was available to them, CIWEM decided that now was the time to start a digital transformation journey.
‘We were aware that if we didn’t make this change now, we would suffer in the longer term. We needed to transform our processes and become more efficient, unburdening staff and ensuring we could deliver more value to our members.’
Rebecca Sells – Head of External Affairs, CIMEM
Reliance on a print magazine as the main member communication vehicle was slowing CIWEM down, with so much changing in their industry they needed a faster and more efficient way to communicate. Their confidence in the member data they held was very low and they just didn’t have the flexibility to effectively communicate any other way.
‘Our website doesn’t do what we needed it to do, we want to evolve our communications but can’t send out the targeted e-newsletters that we would like too. We need our communications to move into the 21st Century.’
Rebecca Sells
CIWEM didn’t have the resource or the expertise to run this digital transformation internally, and after looking into the market they were recommended to work with Chrysalis Digital. Member organisations have specific needs and challenges that need to be addressed during a digital transformation and CIWEM had not run a procurement of this nature before.
‘ Chrysalis totally understood member organisations and their digital challenges, and after speaking with them we knew they were the one to work with. We looked at other avenues, but nothing was as tailored to our business.’
Rebecca Sells
After doing a thorough review and assessment on CIWEMs business requirements, Chrysalis Digital turned this into a detailed tender. A team from across business was pulled together to ensure that a complete understanding was in place before embarking on the project. Participation and by-in from all areas of the organisation is critical to the success of a transformational project. Like any small business trying to run at 100 miles an hour it’s easy to assume that someone else will run the transformation, but strong cross business involvement from the start is key.
The current CRM was installed 5 – 10 years ago and website 4 years ago, but all business lines had not worked together on its creation, it is very siloed and inconsistent, and the CRM and Website aren’t integrated. Standardisation of processes was needed to gain greater efficiencies, many teams were carrying out similar actions, looking for the same outcome but following different process paths – allowing for incorrect data and duplication. This was all discovered and documented during the business requirements review, allowing them to identify and prioritise work that had to be done. This process also enabled Chrysalis Digital to create a detailed and realistic project budget and therefore help CIWEM to create a phased approach to their digital transformation.
‘When we put the current systems in place, we didn’t have a clear view of the requirements from across the business or the budget needed, we had to postpone parts, cut corners, and use sticking plasters to get what we use today. Now we know what we can get for the initial budget and have a clear plan for expansion and development ’
Rebecca Sells
Culturally this is a big change for CIWEM with every team currently having individual requirements, but their vision is to have all 27 staff members actively working consistently on the new CRM, and the website channel through a specific team. CIWEM have decided to delay the new website roll out slightly to ensure that the CRM step of the project is fully up and running. Digital expectation of their members has increased massively, and they want to ensure that that they have the correct data and good processes in place to drive targeted communications to their members, this phased approach is key to their organisations success.
‘Chrysalis Digital have helped us create a clear digital transformation plan, understand the project sequencing and rationale for every change – we feel in control.’
Rebecca Sells
Chrysalis Digital provides a digital transformation service designed to help build a more agile, efficient and innovative organisation. With its broad cross-sector experience Chrysalis has helped many organisations map their digital path and through careful planning and assessment, choose the right technology partners. Chrysalis Digital is 100% agnostic when recommending CMS and CRM suppliers to its clients.
For more information on understanding your member needs, please call Ben Sturt on 07469 768990 or email info@chrysalisdigital.co.uk