For more than 40 years, Harbour and Associates has been assisting companies with a wide range of consulting services, including company registrations and tax returns, as well as B-BBEE and other auditing services. In order to drive its customer service to greater heights, Harbour and Associates contracted ERP and CRM partner AccTech Systems to deploy Sage CRM as an advanced solution to the management of jobs.
"We work in an environment where streamlined customer service is of paramount importance," says Derek Springett, Chief Executive Officer of Harbour and Associates. "When working with aspects such as company registrations, for example, we are reliant on feedback from various government departments. With Sage CRM now in place, we have the ability to keep our customers informed of our progress right through all the registration procedures."
"Customisability is key," says Tertius Zitzke, Chief Executive Officer of AccTech Systems. "Sage CRM's design allows for easy customisation of screens, processes and workflows depending on the specific user's role or function. No two businesses are the same and in the case of Harbour and Associates, they had very specific requirements regarding document and process flows within the organisation. Even with the customisability of the system, the old adage of 'try and keep it simple as simplicity will drive optimal user adoption' rings true," says Zitzke.
Springett concurs: "We started out drawing up complicated workflows for the different types of jobs. In the end we decided to abandon the complicated process and went for very simple workflow designs. Sage CRM now effectively facilitates all our process flows, increasing process visibility inside the organisation and external visibility of data for our customers. The magic for us lies in the Sage CRM onscreen reminders and accompanying e-mails. When a job is passed from one staff member to the other, the reminders and e-mails carry all relevant information with it, including job number, client details and full job descriptions."
"Sage CRM provides a comprehensive, easy-to-use system to successfully manage customer relationships. The software is quick to deploy and gets you connected to your customers faster, for immediate return on investment. Sage CRM is flexible and scalable so it can be set up to work the way you need it to, no matter how big or small your company is. The open architecture reduces development time for seamless integration with third party applications, speeding up deployment time and reducing the total cost of ownership. The software also integrates effectively with all Sage ERP products," says Jeremy Waterman, MD of Sage ERP Africa and theMiddle East.
"With Sage CRM now live and fully operational at Harbour and Associates, they are embarking on the second phase of the project, which is the deployment of Sage 300 ERP as a full financial and accounting function," says Zitzke. "The seamless integration with the existing Sage CRM system will allow full ERP functionality for Harbour and Associates. The functionalities of lead, opportunity, order and invoice are now all in one system, which is remarkable for the mid-market space."
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