The British Ecological Society (BES) pride themselves on the quality of content and the service to their members but their current CRM system has been letting them down for some time. Manual workarounds and lack of flexibility have caused the team at BES to lose faith in their current system and stop using this. BES realised they needed some external assistance to ensure that any solution put in place would fit their needs now and far into the future. Chrysalis Digital worked closely with BES to produce a business plan to secure a fully scoped budget for finding the new CRM system for the society. This was co-presented to the finance committee and the budget was successfully allocated.
“Chrysalis Digital was great, right from the start it was clear they understood us as a society, could see the problem and had the knowledge of the market to guide us in making the right decisions.” Jonathan Wood, Head of Society Programmes BES
The BES business requirements were then fully mapped out. This was done during several discovery workshops with staff, enabling the society to gain a complete view of their needs. This was an important step, it not only provided an end to end view on the needs of the society but engaged the future users of the system from the very start.
“I could see members of the team coming out of workshops after having had their eyes opened, a renewed belief that their daily pain can be lessened or removed. Chrysalis Digital have listened, challenged and understood where we could get to.” Jonathan Wood
Once this had been completed, Chrysalis Digital worked closely with BES to produce a full tender document, ensuring the detailed business requirements were laid out clearly. This drove the tender process, BES has now selected a CRM partner and are moving forward with the implementation. Chrysalis Digital completed a full hand over with the dedicated project manager who will work with the suppliers to roll this out during 2020.
BES understand that implementing a new CRM system is a big cultural change within the society and they need to ensure that everyone is using this and recognises the benefits to them and their department. The goal is to become data-driven, using the new system to inform decisions and open up new revenue streams, while they continue to improve their member experience.
During 2019 BES developed its strategic plan for the next 4 years.
Ecology has never been more important and making sure that they can continue to develop and provide the right content for their varied audiences is of paramount importance, whether these are scientists, policymakers or the general public. The CRM system underpins these strategic initiatives and is therefore business-critical.
“We are moving from 4 CRM users to all staff having access and being active users. This robust process has helped them see the benefit of a maintained central system and feel part of the society’s journey. There’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm for this change and I have seen the attitudes towards CRMs go from low to high.” Jonathan Wood
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 Digital 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.
If you need any help with the next steps in your journey, please call Ben Sturt on 07469 768990 or email info@chrysalisdigital.co.uk