Force.com helps ASCAP harmonize operations

Challenge

• As a performing rights organization, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) represents hundreds of thousands of music creators worldwide, from Duke Ellington and Dave Matthews to George Gershwin and Beyoncé
• ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for public performances of copyrighted works; because there are myriad licenses governing music usage in various venues, the company needed a more efficient way to manage the process
• ASCAP previously used a hodge-podge of systems based on Lotus Notes and had no way to consolidate the disparate data
• The organization needed a reliable, robust solution that could be deployed quickly and integrate easily with existing workflow processes and billing systems

Solution

• After evaluating multiple vendors, ASCAP chose the benefits of Salesforce CRM, the Force.com cloud platform, and the AppExchange cloud app marketplace
• Salesforce.com partner Bluewolf assisted with the deployment to 130 employees in sales, customer service, collections, and administration in the General Licensing Department, creating a comprehensive, cloud computing CRM solution
• Dashboards provide real-time reporting by consolidating data that once had to be exported from 21 Lotus Notes databases and then analyzed in Microsoft Access
• Custom tabs manage and monitor various processes including rates, collections and adjustments, and letters
• ASCAP deployed a Vacation Request application to track employee time off, and then customized it to add requests for equipment, brochures, and supplies with no additional investment in developer resources

Results

• Cut laptop preparation time for new users from 1 or 2 days to 1 or 2 hours by moving from Lotus Notes to Force.com
• Built Force.com apps in less than 1 week
•  Increased the ASCAP license pipeline by 400 percent after moving from Lotus Notes to Force.com
• Sales professionals can intelligently mange their accounts; 100 percent visibility provides enhanced insight into existing and potential customers
• Automated handoff and follow-up processes streamline licensing and royalty management
• Customer service reps now easily assign, track, and escalate customer issues; an increase in first-time call resolution rates improves productivity and customer satisfaction
• With the salesforce.com solution, it is easy for ASCAP to integrate incoming correspondence, create new cases, and follow up on all sales and support activities
• Dashboards consolidate data in real time, replacing weeks of waiting
• The cloud computing solution has eliminated ASCAP’s reliance on internal IT resources
• Effortless upgrades let IT focus on innovation instead of upgrades, new releases, or compatibility
• Using the customized Vacation Request application, employees and managers efficiently track vacation and equipment requests, cutting down on administrative busywork