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Avista

Avista Communications Leverages Microsoft Dynamics CRM and xRM Capabilities to Improve Operational Efficiency and Gain a Competitive Edge

Challenge
For several years, Avista Communications was using Excel spreadsheets and manual processes to manage customer and project data and lacked a centralized CRM solution.
Solution
After searching for a CRM solution that would fit their business needs, Avista felt that Microsoft Dynamics CRM was the answer and knew HCLTech could do the job.
Key Benefits
One of the greatest benefits the company realized with the new solution was the ability for the sales and marketing teams to access a centralized database of information quickly and easily.

Challenge

Founded in 2006, Avista Communications (Avista) is a leading provider of business communications solutions. Headquartered in Minneapolis, the company provides telecommunication consulting services including the design, implementation and management of communications systems to businesses across the U.S.

For several years, Avista was using Excel spreadsheets and manual processes to manage customer and project data and lacked a centralized CRM solution to record customer and prospect interactions, manage sales forecasting and reporting, and track project interactions. They also lacked a way to efficiently manage inventory of their services as well as track commissions for providers that they work with.

The company needed a flexible CRM/xRM solution and development platform that would:

  • Consolidate all of their customer, prospect and vendor data into one system
  • Help track and manage projects and costs as well as handle payroll reporting
  • Manage inventory and assets for services that they provide for customers
  • Track and manage complex commission reporting.

As the company continued to grow and expand their business, they determined that it was time to invest in a CRM system and ultimately selected hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM.


Solution

After searching for a CRM solution that would fit their business needs, Avista felt that Microsoft Dynamics CRM was the answer and knew HCLTech could do the job. “Having worked with HCLTech previously, we were very comfortable with their team and confident in their overall CRM and custom development capabilities. They did a great job of understanding our requirements and how CRM would fit our overall business needs,” said Taverna.

Using xRM as a framework, HCLTech implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Avista across the entire organization including sales, marketing, operations and management.


Key Benefits

One of the greatest benefits the company realized with the new solution was the ability for the sales and marketing teams to access a centralized database of information quickly and easily. “With one centralized and consolidated database of customer, prospects and vendor information, we now have the ability to manage the entire sales process more effectively,” he added. In addition, once a sale closes, management can now track an entire project from start to finish. “The project and cost management workflow and reporting that HCLTech developed for us in CRM gives us the ability to monitor staff resources, view project status and even manage payroll reporting at any given time, which has eliminated hours of manual work and enhanced overall productivity.“

Microsoft Dynamics CRM has also greatly enhanced the inventory and asset management services Avista provides to its customers. “With various custom fields and reporting in CRM, we can now deliver very detailed financial reports to our customers about their telecommunication services. This new capability allows us to provide very uniform deliverables to our customers, giving us a competitive edge in the market,” said Taverna.

Finally, the company lacked an effective and accurate way to calculate and manage complex commissions for its providers. HCLTech will soon be developing a new compensation reporting solution utilizing CRM to more efficiently track and calculate commissions for its providers. “With the new compensation system, we’ll be able to generate compensation reporting quickly and easily for our providers as well as use it to better forecast future revenue,” he added.

Taverna believes the company has realized substantial benefits thanks to HCLTech’s guidance and expertise. “HCLTech is one of the best partners I’ve worked with. They took the time to understand our requirements and delivered in a very big way. With their help, not only have we gained the organizational insight and increased productivity we needed but we’ve transformed our organization into an industry leader,” he said.


We had some unique business requirements and we choose Microsoft Dynamics CRM because of its reliability and strong platform integration, customization and reporting capabilities. That combined with HCLTech’s strong development expertise and in-depth knowledge of CRM, is just what we needed.

Jeff Taverna Managing Partner at Avista Communications