APL Media: How to get a 360-degree view of your customer data

Matt Midworth, Commercial Director at APL Media wanted to find new CRM software that would help streamline their data into one system, help the production and sales teams work more efficiently together, and give them better tracking. 

The goals: 

• To find new affordable CRM software that could offer one place for all key customer and sales information  
• Improve productivity of the production team 
• Generate more sales and more revenue 
• Improve overall tracking of audience and customer data 

The old CRM system at APL Media was very limited in its usage – the sales team used the system for order processing, but, crucially for Matt and the senior management team, it lacked the ability to integrate with APL’s finance and production teams.  

“We still had to print off orders when they were received and get those manually processed in other departments. 

Another issue was that it wasn’t easy to get good data out of the system in terms of reporting because it was very much just a simple database.” 

Getting the right functionality and flexibility 

“We wanted to integrate all areas of the business in order to future proof. Email marketing was an example of that, where we wanted to be able to have a dialogue with our clients by being able to use our database more effectively. Cost effectiveness came into it, obviously, but what was really important to us was flexibility so that we could tailor something specifically to what we do and our processes. 

We wanted someone small enough that we could tailor our own version of it, but big enough that we weren’t reinventing the wheel the whole time.” 

Price and support were also key factors when it came to their decision of which CRM provider to choose. 

“The time taken to understand what we needed and how we could achieve it was a big factor in choosing Workbooks – it made us feel confident that they understood our business and that what they’d proposed was tailored to our needs.  

Price was also a big factor in choosing Workbooks but more importantly, was the knowledge that we would be working in partnership, as opposed to being a customer – that we could grow with the software and adapt it in collaboration with the company.” 

 Saving thousands each year with clear data 

The team worked with Workbooks consultants to map out exactly how their CRM needed to work.  

“One of the things that came out of the workshop was that we were spending around £18K a year just printing out orders, which was definitely an eye-opener for us. Once we’d agreed what we wanted to achieve together as a business, we then had a much clearer idea of what each department wanted to improve, together with a really very detailed understanding of how CRM software could help us to achieve those outcomes.  

This meant that even before we’d invested in any software, Workbooks had helped us develop a clear strategy that was not only aligned to our goals as a business, but also gave us a detailed plan for carrying it out. The workshop really was representative of the attention to detail that Workbooks paid to us throughout the whole process.” 

Boosting sales efficiency and generating more revenue 

By adopting Workbooks, the team have been able to see much better results with 360-degree data.  

“Workbooks is valuable to us, both in terms of the growth in the database and in terms of its management. It generates response, which generates revenue. The value that the sales team get from Workbooks is being able to see all of the information in one place, as well as being able to see their colleagues’ information. Having the right information in Workbooks is key as well, because it means our sales team can be more efficient with their time – and in publishing, time is of the essence.” 

Cutting costs and improving sales tracking 

By going paperless and managing orders through Workbooks, the team saved money and improved efficiency. 

“As soon as we began processing all of our orders through Workbooks instead of printing them out, we cut costs immediately just by removing paper from the process. This means that as soon as we get a new lead, we can see everything right through to the moment we send the invoice.” 

Tracking orders and improving traceability 

The sales team can now track each step of the sales and order process which has improved customer communications.  

“For our sales team, this means when they get an order, the customer can sign it digitally, which cuts down the time it takes to get an order signed and lets them move onto another booking more quickly. Being able to sign orders digitally gives us more traceability as a business but it also gives our sales team and our customers the assurance that their order has been processed.” 

Better communication between internal teams 

The production team have managed to save time and get the information they need quickly and easily through Workbooks.  

“In terms of understanding what our customers have ordered, our production team can see everything that they then need to deliver because all the information that the customer has given us is on the order record. This means that production don’t have to chase sales to find out what they’ve booked. This frees up the production team’s time so that they can focus on delivery, but it also frees up more of the sales team’s time because they don’t have to waste time relaying what they’ve sold to production.” 

Improving and maintaining data quality 

The team have improved productivity and saved time with better quality data. 

“Being able to have the right data quality is so important, but maintaining that quality is really important as well. Having the right information in Workbooks means our sales team can be more efficient with their time – and in publishing, time is of the essence. For example, we’re now able to manage our ‘Do Not Call’ list more effectively, so we can avoid contacting people who have asked us not to contact them. That saves valuable time as well as maintaining our reputation, which is really important for us.”