For 25 years, FCB Group has been helping Australian businesses navigate the murky waters of workplace relations and employment law. Hundreds of ASX-listed companies rely on FCB Group for specialist advice.

Recent diversification of the business—to include cloud-based HR technology systems and migration services—has seen FCB Group’s customer base broaden significantly. Thanks to this holistic approach to workplace law, the company now services about 12,500 clients across five distinct lines of business.

The workplace law division of FCB Group was first sold on Salesforce thanks to the fact that it is so simple to customise. The law firm wanted a platform that would help its employment lawyers to grow their practice and boost the firm’s reputation.

“We have pioneered the way we use Salesforce as there was no real benchmark for our industry. ‘Sales’ can be dirty word in law—lawyers are subject matter experts, not salespeople. To become a trusted advisor, there is a very long engagement cycle,” Alistair McDonald, Head of Business Development and Marketing, FCB Group explained.

Given this, Salesforce was quickly customised to become a ‘practice development tool’. Its primary purpose within the law division of FCB Group is to help lawyers nurture prospective corporate customers over a long period of time.

Not only does the easy-to-use platform integrate billing and time logging, but it also helps lawyers track the efficacy of their business development activities. For example, if they have published a thought-leadership article, they can track the people who have downloaded the article and stay on top of the topics that really resonate with their target audience.

Above all, Salesforce helps lawyers become more productive with their time.

The launch of new people management solution - HR Assured - which seamlessly combines cloud-based technology with 24/7 verbal advice, heralded the march into more traditional sales for FCB Group.

HR Assured is FCB Group’s human resources solution aimed at SMEs. It’s designed to help smaller businesses stay on track with Australia’s complex, constantly changing workplace laws; and it includes 24/7 access to workplace relations specialists via a call centre.

The tool is extremely popular with time-poor, budget-constrained SMEs across Australia. HR Assured solves problems that business owners often don’t have time for—such as drafting essentail employment documentation, guiding clients on how to resolve a bullying complaint, supplying tools for online performance reviews, or staving off an unfair dismissal claim.

With HR Assured, FCB Group is using Salesforce for lead generation, marketing, database management, lead engagement, nurture of the pipeline and ongoing client relationship management.

From the moment a potential customer shows interest in HR Assured, their details are captured on Salesforce. FCB Group can segment customers by geography and industry; they can work out when is the right time to contact them; and they can assign them to the best business development manager to handle the lead. Sales Cloud and Pardot help FCB Group find and win new customers, with richer insights, smart automation, and valuable reporting all helping to drive more sales.

Once a business has signed up with HR Assured, the service side kicks in. First, the onboarding team uses Salesforce to facilitate training with the customer; then the service team takes over.

If a distressed business owner calls the telephone advisory service at 9pm on a Tuesday night following an uncomfortable encounter with an employee that day, the call is immediately logged in Salesforce. The caller’s full history is brought up on a dashboard so they receive personalised support.

“With Salesforce, we provide continuity of service no matter who the client speaks to. We’ve got immediate access to the client’s records, and great insight into their situation—leading to better customer service,” said McDonald.

“Salesforce has been there from the start of our HR Assured journey. This start-up business has far exceeded our expectations when it comes to pipeline health, strength of brand and business development. We wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now without Salesforce.”