TELUS signs up more customers in less time with Salesforce

Previously, when a new customer signed up with TELUS’ door-to-door team, it could take up to 10 days to get the installation date booked for their services. Now it takes as little as a few hours; and, as a result, customer subscriptions are up and cancellations are down. Achieving this leap in operational efficiency didn’t require a massive transformation program; it simply required a new app for the company’s door-to-door sales team – the Salesforce Door to Door app. As Craig Mason, Vice President Sales & Experience at TELUS, confirms: “The app has revolutionized how we process orders, which means we can onboard new customers much faster.”

The Door to Door App is based on the Salesforce Platform and Sales Cloud, and enables sales teams to complete key elements of the sales process while on the road. For example, customers no longer have to wait for a paper contract to be processed; they can simply digitally sign an electronic copy on the sales agent’s tablet and receive it via email immediately. “The move away from paper-based contracts has delivered numerous benefits,” reveals Mason. “In the past, if we made a change to our terms or conditions, we’d have to design, print and distribute new forms to all the sales teams. Now, we just update the app via the Salesforce Platform.” This digitized approach not only accelerates time-to-market for TELUS, but it’s also much more cost-effective and eco-friendly thanks to reduced printing and paper requirements.

As well as bringing greater velocity to the sales process, the app has also provided greater visibility. Thanks to Salesforce, TELUS now has a centralized record of its entire subscriber base across Western Canada. Using the Door to Door App, the sales team can tap into this information, check if a household has already subscribed to certain services, and follow up in a more targeted way. “In the past, the teams were walking in with limited customer information,” comments Mason. “Now, a sales agent can visit an existing customer to see how things are going or offer new services and promotions, which are all aligned with our priority of putting the needs of our customers first.” If a household is not interested in any TELUS services -- which include TV, Internet, home phone and wireless -- this can be logged in the app to prevent unwanted repeat sales visits.

Keeping sales teams abreast of the latest information can be difficult. This is where Salesforce Chatter, an enterprise social networking tool, comes into play. “We use Chatter as an environment for knowledge sharing,” comments Mason. “We use it to push communications to agents in a timely manner.” TELUS has created a number of dedicated Chatter groups for agents from its different teams. It is also used by agents to send messages back and forth, and has become a communication channel for the team. As its use of the Salesforce solution and the app evolves, TELUS is hoping to automate more stages in the sales process as well as its marketing campaigns. “Salesforce has helped us accelerate our business. The sales team can now focus on the strongest prospects and ensure these leads are converted into happy customers,” concludes Mason.