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20+ year old engineering company engineers new CRM
Root16 Reply transformed WB Engineers + Consultants into a different organization with improved processes and the Microsoft Power Platform.
THE CHALLENGE
Inconvenient and outdated system unable to support growth
People can do a lot with Excel, but spreadsheets shouldn’t be used to manage sales and marketing efforts for a $50+ million business. WB has 250+ professionals across 12 domestic and international locations. They had a legacy software system in place to track their opportunities. However, the system was antiquated, cumbersome to use, and ineffective in helping their firm grow. Despite its proven success and industry expertise, WB lacked a centralized database for the sales and marketing teams to use. They relied on spreadsheets and emails to track relationships, share project information, and give progress updates.
“Before WBConnect, we used an antiquated system with a poor user experience. The system just stored data – rather than driving business. It felt like a chore rather than a smart tool to make our jobs easier.”
Paul Schleppy
Principal and Managing Director of IT at WB Engineers + Consultants
THE APPROACH
Turning pain points into a custom power app
WB knew they wanted to elevate their processes while staying on the Microsoft platform. They had a solution in place but struggled to find a reliable implementation partner for years. WB discovered Root16 through an industry recommendation. Root16 quickly earned WB’s respect by embedding themselves as part of the team and operating as a true partner, something previous consultants failed to do.
The project began with Discovery, where Root16 delved into the business results WB needed to achieve. Root16 learned that leadership was metrics-focused and wanted to automate processes through technology. In addition to needing a centralized database to manage relationships and projects, WB had four major pain points:
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Fragmented relationship management
No centralized database to track activities with prospective clients and existing customers.
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Outdated Processes
Spending an excessive amount of time on manual tasks and data entry (examples: proposal creation, sharing project updated)
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Limited Metrics
Manual process to collect and review campaign performance and impact on relationships.
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Visualizing Workload
Limited ability to see upcoming events and campaigns to adjust staff priorities.
To solve these problems, help WB get the results they were looking for, and maximize resources and budget, Root16 built WB a tailored Power App, WBConnect, with the Power Platform to meet their exact needs. WB overhauled and fundamentally changed its business in months through the automation of thousands of proposals and 50+ cloud flows.
the solution
Automating processes to enhance visibility and increase efficiency
Based on their specifications and the results from Discovery, Root16 built WBConnect and implemented the following solutions:
WB’s world has completely changed since moving to the Power Platform. Schleppy estimates that their proposal process alone is 50% more efficient, resulting in hundreds of hours saved per month. Enhanced visibility into metrics and progress gives all parties the data they desperately need. Sales and marketing teams have the ability to track their progress and success, and leadership can now make data-driven decisions. Since January 2022, WB has created over 5,000+ opportunities.
"We used to create our yearly sales plans and then put them on the shelf to collect dust. Now we review our account plan targets quarterly, evaluate effectiveness, and act."
Julie Pampuch
Managing Principal at WB Engineers + Consultants
THE RESULTS
Streamlined operations, personalized client engagement, and more meaningful team performance
WB eliminated cumbersome projects from their team’s day-to-day work by streamlining and automating processes. WBConnect gives staff a sense of relief and renewed momentum, and employee satisfaction and engagement have increased since implementation. Integrating calendars with Power Apps has been a game changer. From the calendars, staff can easily track event details, budget, staff attending, and most importantly tracking ROI by connecting opportunities with events. The most significant impact? Improved customer relationship management. Pampuch explained the immeasurable impact, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, people will never forget how you made them feel.
With the data that is available about projects and tracking personal preferences and all conversations (internally and externally), our customer experience is much more personalized which makes people feel important." WB is a different organization with improved processes and the Power Platform. Instead of wasting countless hours managing spreadsheets, responding to emails, and drowning in manual tasks, their team is working efficiently and effectively. Leadership is using Microsoft Power Apps extensively and is thrilled with the results. They are highly committed to ongoing development with the team at Root16 and are excited about the future. Pampuch shared, “The Root16 team are exceptional, fun people who are invested in our success. Not only is the tool they built us incredible, but we have also enjoyed the journey.”
WB Engineers & Consultants
WB Engineers + Consultants provides professional engineering services with a vision to transform building infrastructure and environments to transform business. They offer information technology, security consulting, inspection, and civil engineering services to clients across all sectors throughout the United States.