HR Solutions Provider Drake Augments CRM Solution using the AppExchange's Unique Business Apps

Challenge

• Global human resources solutions provider Drake International was using disconnected homegrown CRM systems
• The company realized it needed to standardize its CRM operations
• Drake also wanted the ability to extend beyond traditional CRM capabilities and support numerous unique business processes in a common platform

Solution

• After putting several CRM solutions through the paces, Drake selected Salesforce SFA because of its Web-based on-demand architecture, ease of use, and robust customization tools
• The company quickly deployed Salesforce to 100 users in sales, marketing, operations, finance, and, leadership roles in Canada and the US; Salesforce.com partner Bluewolf Group assisted Drake with the implementation and training
• Inspired by other solutions found in salesforce.com's AppExchange directory, Drake used the Force.com platform to create four completely new applications
• For the Finance division, the company built a collection application to manage account finances
• The proposal team leverages Drake's proposal application for automating proposal processes. This application connects to the collection application to streamline communication between finance and the proposal team
• A custom recruitment solution takes information from the company's legacy applicant-tracking system and builds a full view of candidate history
• Drake further built a project application to streamline project management activities

Results

• Drake benefits from a single common platform that consolidates numerous disparate systems and automates business processes
• Management has real-time visibility into key sales and marketing metrics and can adjust priorities accordingly
• The ability to build customized modules and solutions gives the company exactly the tools it needs to manage and build its business
• Salesforce now powers lead management for Drake, including email marketing and automatically capturing Web site leads
• A single marketing resource administers the entire system, dramatically reducing IT costs