Foster-Melliar uses GoldMine customer relationship management package to maintain market lead

South Africa`s premier IT service management company, Foster-Melliar, has installed FrontRange`s Goldmine package - the world`s leading customer relationship management (CRM) solution for the mid-market - to more effectively manage its continued growth.

Founded in 1991, Foster-Melliar introduced to SA the concept of IT service management based on the global best practice framework known as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

ITIL is the only comprehensive, non-proprietary, publicly available set of guidelines promoting the efficient and effective management of IT infrastructure.

Since 1994, Foster-Melliar has trained and mentored thousands of its clients` staff members - locally, in Africa and the rest of the world and across all market sectors - in the principles and practice of ITIL-based service management.

"As realisation of the value of service management generally and ITIL-based service management specifically has caught on, our market has grown exponentially," says Foster-Melliar CEO, David Anderson. "We`re constantly adding new courses and clients to our books. In addition, our courses are progressive, going from elementary to advanced in several steps. So people we have already trained need to know about the next course they should take - or about advances in technology that may affect their current knowledge.

"Which makes for quite a complex marketing mix of information and potential customers. One has to be very organised to avoid spamming customers with information that`s not relevant to them. Also, we made a strategic decision to aim for permission marketing, where our customers actually want to hear from us because they have learned that what we have to say actually helps improve the way they do business.

"We felt that an automated, rules-based marketing system would make us both more efficient and more relevant to our target market. GoldMine offered us the most cost-effective way of achieving that."

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FrontRange MD, Tracey Newman, makes the point that whether small or big, the way organisations communicate with their customers is what matters. "GoldMine positions small and medium companies to undertake very polished and targeted marketing campaigns with very few resources.

"And, in the case of a company like Foster-Melliar, which is all about realising efficiencies in IT, the use of a solution like GoldMine actually reinforces their image and market positioning. It shows that they walk their own talk."

Anderson says GoldMine was a close emotional fit, because FrontRange itself is an ITIL supporter. "But the price was also right and we got 80% functionality out of the box, making implementation very quick. We knew we would see a return on our investment within six months.

"However, the major benefit to us remains the improvement we get in the way we approach our clients."

Newman says although GoldMine can be up and running in far less time than most other CRM packages, "it`s worth giving a little extra time and attention to the set-up phase to ensure that data and processes are exactly right. Then you can drop the time spent on marketing or sales campaigns from days to a few clicks of a button."

She adds: "FrontRange`s entire business is based on understanding that optimised technology management can create a powerful competitive advantage."