Case Study - Kapitex
Key Facts -
Industry:
Medical
Accounting System:
Sage Line 500
CRM System Details -
No of Users:
8
No of Mobile Users:
7
No of Modules:
8
Kapitex Healthcare is a science based and clinically orientated company, which specialises in airway management devices and solutions for head and neck cancer patients. With a clear commitment to innovative product development, the company enjoys an excellent reputation for product quality and service, as well as an enviable record for delivering products to very short lead times.
Under a management team with many years' experience in the industry, Kapitex has expanded rapidly since its establishment in 1991. The headquarters in Wetherby, Yorkshire, concentrates on product design, marketing and support, and uses highly specialised sub-contractors for manufacture and assembly.
UK customers are primarily NHS hospitals, where users range from surgeons and nurses, to therapists and after-care specialists in ITU and ENT departments. Within hospitals, Kapitex's 5 regional product specialists give demonstrations and on-going user training, and update other departments like supplies and logistics. In Europe, the USA, Japan and the Far East, products are supplied through a network of distributors.
As a consequence of growth, problems that increasingly faced Kapitex were:
a) Keeping track of all types of customer interaction, pre- and post-sale, given the complex structure of NHS hospitals, and to highlight any critical issues.
b)Making details of these interactions easily accessible throughout the whole company, including field-based staff.
Customer information was held in a simple client database with limited access, while much relevant data existed in the accounting system, Sage Line 500. It was critical to Kapitex that data from both sources should be useable by any new CRM system.
Improvements were also sought in tracking enquiries from all sources, national and international, and in marketing the company's ever-expanding range of products.
Reasons why Kapitex chose ProspectSoft:
After reviewing a number of database offerings, including systems like Goldmine and Sales Logix (now Sage CRM) Kapitex selected the ProspectSoft CRM solution for several reasons. These included:
- The hierarchical structure of ProspectSoft CRM Software is ideal for a complex customer-base that includes NHS trusts with several hospitals, each with multiple departments and sites, and individual staff with widely varying responsibilities.
- The CRM system's ability to log, track and store details of all customer interactions, including incoming and out-going phone calls, e-mails, faxes and letters, which are instantly accessible to users in all departments.
- ProspectSoft CRM Solutions can log and help manage different types of sales opportunities, from multi-stage projects to single or repeat orders for consumables; with UK customers and overseas distributors.
- Integration with Sage Line 500 enables ProspectSoft CRM Software users, both in the office and on the road, to access Sales Ledger information and to review transaction details.
- Sage integration also allows Kapitex to build and maintain a Sales History file within the CRM system, holding sales by customer, by product, over time - a valuable sales and target marketing tool.
- The ProspectSoft CRM system logs and tracks any pre- or post-sale customer issues, to be dealt with by the technical support team, or by product specialists in the field.
- Details of all customer interactions, all documents, sales ledger and sales history are available to field staff using ProspectSoft CRM software remotely, on laptop.
Implementation began in September 2003 by importing the old client database into ProspectSoft CRM Software. According to Sales Director Live Hodge, "System acceptance in the company was rapid because of the smooth data transfer, which gave many users instant access to all customer information. An intuitive user interface also helped."
8 staff in marketing, support and admin use ProspectSoft CRM Software on the office network, while the 5 field-based product specialists plus the Sales Director, who is often on the road, operate remotely and update information to and from the office daily, over broadband connections.
Product specialists can schedule customer visits and product training from requests logged with the office, or based on sales information from the accounting system. They are also updated automatically of any sales leads recorded by the office.
Customer problems will be logged and compared with a problems info-base, for rapid solutions. Product problems may be traced to the supplier, while any that are outstanding for a pre-set period can be escalated to a director for resolution.
The main benefits have been a major improvement in customer intelligence throughout the whole company, brought about by much more rapid and detailed information flow. Response times to sales, user training, support and technical issues have halved, in a period when growth has increased by 20%. Liv Hodge says "We anticipate more benefits from closer integration with Sage Line 500 and, as we implement more ProspectSoft CRM modules, to further advance technical support."