Selligent watches over Press Index
A fast expanding French company, Press Index is specialised in media tracking for businesses and public relations agencies. It adopted Selligent in 2000 to organise its sales and marketing approach. After successfully carrying out its system migration, Press Index is ready to conquer Europe.
Dominique FournierMarketing and Communications Director
“Selligent is a valuable ally in our international expansion because it allows us to very swiftly export working methods and tools that can be used in all countries.”
“Introducing Selligent has enabled us to increase our efficiency in terms of marketing campaign production and sales process management.”
Press Index, set up in 1997, soon asserted itself on the media tracking and press review market – at that time still relatively undeveloped. It achieved this through an innovative offering based on digitising articles, colour photocopying and despatching via electronic messaging. Always keeping pace with technology advances, it was the first to offer Internet tracking services and instant play (with a single click) of audiovisual content, making the physical dispatch of cassettes a thing of the past and in the process saving valuable time for its clients. Press Index’s activity revolves around three major business lines. Firstly, a comprehensive media watch, allowing businesses to know everything that is being said about them in the press in the broadest sense of the term (newspapers and magazines, Internet, radio and television). This can also include competitive and technological watches. Secondly, a selective media overview which is usually known as a “press review” consisting of a selection of press articles covering a specific theme. Thirdly, an analysis of press coverage and a client’s positioning in the media compared with its competitors, in terms of column inches, advertising equivalences and also message content.
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From an Access database to CRM
Press Index, set up in 1997, soon asserted itself on the media tracking and press review market – at that time still relatively undeveloped. It achieved this through an innovative offering based on digitising articles, colour photocopying and despatching via electronic messaging. Always keeping pace with technology advances, it was the first to offer Internet tracking services and instant play (with a single click) of audiovisual content, making the physical dispatch of cassettes a thing of the past and in the process saving valuable time for its clients. Press Index’s activity revolves around three major business lines. Firstly, a comprehensive media watch, allowing businesses to know everything that is being said about them in the press in the broadest sense of the term (newspapers and magazines, Internet, radio and television). This can also include competitive and technological watches. Secondly, a selective media overview which is usually known as a “press review” consisting of a selection of press articles covering a specific theme. Thirdly, an analysis of press coverage and a client’s positioning in the media compared with its competitors, in terms of column inches, advertising equivalences and also message content. > From an Access database to CRM Until 2000, Press Index managed its client portfolio by means of an Access database. As Dominique Fournier, Marketing and Communications Director, recalls, “this Access database was only used by a few people, but it had been developed to meet a number of different needs. It must be said that those who set up Press Index all had a background in databases and information technology, which meant they had a perfect command of the different tools. But our company growth rapidly outstripped the limits of Access – which is why we began looking for a CRM solution.” The impetus for this change was given by the Operations Director at the time, at the insistence of Fournier and two sales representatives. The main aim of the move was to gain full control of the entire suspect-prospect-client logical chain and effectively track the sales and marketing activity. > CRM on a European scale Based on a detailed list of specifications, Selligent was chosen from a shortlist of three potential suppliers. A number of different factors influenced this decision: functional diversity, technical considerations, system openness and interfacing capacity, geographical as well as cultural proximity and above all, the international dimension – for Press Index had far-reaching ambitions. Already operating in France and England at the time, it was keen to quickly conquer new markets. “The Selligent solution was more geared to the demands of the European market than its American rivals, and so needed less adaptation. Furthermore, its Global & Local concept opened up interesting prospects for the future,” Fournier confirms. > Three years of stability The original project focused on the marketing and sales functions, without integration with the production system to any great degree. Setting it up in France and England was completed in less than three months. Fournier explains that, “some information from the production base was displayed in Selligent, but CRM had not yet become the fulcrum of customer relations that it is today.” For three years, the company worked on this stable client/server version, without updating it. > Web working At the end of 2004, when the new Selligent X@ version was announced, Press Index decided to upgrade its system. This saw an end to client/server operations as Web interactivity became the norm. “The decision to migrate was mainly driven by a desire to improve usability,” explains Fournier. “The Web version brought an end to the process of replicating databases between France and England, which called for rather involved logistics. It meant that the same solution could be accessible from anywhere. We now had the tools we needed to continue with our European expansion.” > Structure and visibility At Press Index, the marketing teams are the most frequent users of Selligent. They manage and qualify the databases, organise campaigns and analyse their results. Every company in the Press Index database is contacted at least once every two months in the course of specific operations. In parallel, sales agents – either working in the direct sales network (with businesses) or indirectly (with agencies), use the CRM to manage their clients, operations, contacts, opportunities and contracts. Needless to say, senior management also values the global overview of the entire sales and marketing activity the solution can provide. Selligent therefore serves a variety of profiles, each with specific access rights to information and functions according to their needs. “Initially, our sales people had mixed feelings about the new solution,” Fournier admits. “But they were soon convinced when they saw what it delivered. Selligent is able to organise and guide the sales rep’s entire activity. It is all the more useful since we have, in fact, two sales networks – direct and indirect – and a business can be switched from one network to the other at any time. Selligent is perfectly matched to our sales reps’ activity and working methods – and that strongly influences its adoption.” > Corporate memory The introduction of Selligent enabled Press Index to increase its efficiency in terms of marketing campaign production and sales process management. Furthermore, according to Fournier, “when we started using Selligent, we also started to build our corporate memory. Creating this historical record of all sales and marketing activity is essential for a company, not only because it enables us to keep track of our contacts throughout their careers, but also to give us the means of coping with the departure of one of our sales reps if that should happen. Furthermore, since we also keep track of contracts we have lost to a rival, we know when these contracts are coming up for renewal and when we should approach the company again to offer them our services.” Since the beginning of 2007, Selligent is THE benchmark database used by the Press Index information system. Previously, depending on whether a company was a client or not, it was either managed by Selligent or was handled by the production system. All that is now a thing of the past. The current procedure is that any new client contacts must first be registered in Selligent before then being picked up by the production system on the basis of their Selligent identifying code. “We now have a means of measuring sales and marketing efficiency. The next step will consist of gradually extending the system to after sales service, and the invoicing data will also be fed into the CRM. Selligent is gradually becoming the backbone of our information system,” adds Fournier. > Going international 2008 will be the year in which the system goes international, a process that has already begun, since after France and England, the Italian subsidiary is now using Selligent. It will then be the turn of Spain, where Press Index has recently become established. Press Index has decided to work with a single database for the entire group. This means that all client data from all countries will be consolidated in the Selligent database, which everyone will soon be able to access in their own language. But that is not all. “Selligent is a valuable ally in our international expansion because it allows us to very swiftly export working methods and tools that can be used in all countries. For example, in these countries, we are going to set up our mass marketing approach using e-mails and follow up. Of course, these campaigns are created in the country and in the language concerned, but the logistics are entirely ‘made in France’. So all our subsidiaries will be able to quickly benefit from the sales and marketing methodology that has been tried and tested in France over a period of several years,” concludes Fournier.
CRM on a European scale
Until 2000, Press Index managed its client portfolio by means of an Access database. As Dominique Fournier, Marketing and Communications Director, recalls, “this Access database was only used by a few people, but it had been developed to meet a number of different needs. It must be said that those who set up Press Index all had a background in databases and information technology, which meant they had a perfect command of the different tools. But our company growth rapidly outstripped the limits of Access – which is why we began looking for a CRM solution.” The impetus for this change was given by the Operations Director at the time, at the insistence of Fournier and two sales representatives. The main aim of the move was to gain full control of the entire suspect-prospect-client logical chain and effectively track the sales and marketing activity.
Three years of stability
Based on a detailed list of specifications, Selligent was chosen from a shortlist of three potential suppliers. A number of different factors influenced this decision: functional diversity, technical considerations, system openness and interfacing capacity, geographical as well as cultural proximity and above all, the international dimension – for Press Index had far-reaching ambitions. Already operating in France and England at the time, it was keen to quickly conquer new markets. “The Selligent solution was more geared to the demands of the European market than its American rivals, and so needed less adaptation. Furthermore, its Global & Local concept opened up interesting prospects for the future,” Fournier confirms.
Web working
The original project focused on the marketing and sales functions, without integration with the production system to any great degree. Setting it up in France and England was completed in less than three months. Fournier explains that, “some information from the production base was displayed in Selligent, but CRM had not yet become the fulcrum of customer relations that it is today.” For three years, the company worked on this stable client/server version, without updating it.
Structure and visibility
At the end of 2004, when the new Selligent X@ version was announced, Press Index decided to upgrade its system. This saw an end to client/server operations as Web interactivity became the norm. “The decision to migrate was mainly driven by a desire to improve usability,” explains Fournier. “The Web version brought an end to the process of replicating databases between France and England, which called for rather involved logistics. It meant that the same solution could be accessible from anywhere. We now had the tools we needed to continue with our European expansion.”
Corporate memory
At Press Index, the marketing teams are the most frequent users of Selligent. They manage and qualify the databases, organise campaigns and analyse their results. Every company in the Press Index database is contacted at least once every two months in the course of specific operations. In parallel, sales agents – either working in the direct sales network (with businesses) or indirectly (with agencies), use the CRM to manage their clients, operations, contacts, opportunities and contracts. Needless to say, senior management also values the global overview of the entire sales and marketing activity the solution can provide. Selligent therefore serves a variety of profiles, each with specific access rights to information and functions according to their needs. “Initially, our sales people had mixed feelings about the new solution,” Fournier admits. “But they were soon convinced when they saw what it delivered. Selligent is able to organise and guide the sales rep’s entire activity. It is all the more useful since we have, in fact, two sales networks – direct and indirect – and a business can be switched from one network to the other at any time. Selligent is perfectly matched to our sales reps’ activity and working methods – and that strongly influences its adoption.”
Going international
The introduction of Selligent enabled Press Index to increase its efficiency in terms of marketing campaign production and sales process management. Furthermore, according to Fournier, “when we started using Selligent, we also started to build our corporate memory. Creating this historical record of all sales and marketing activity is essential for a company, not only because it enables us to keep track of our contacts throughout their careers, but also to give us the means of coping with the departure of one of our sales reps if that should happen. Furthermore, since we also keep track of contracts we have lost to a rival, we know when these contracts are coming up for renewal and when we should approach the company again to offer them our services.” Since the beginning of 2007, Selligent is THE benchmark database used by the Press Index information system. Previously, depending on whether a company was a client or not, it was either managed by Selligent or was handled by the production system. All that is now a thing of the past. The current procedure is that any new client contacts must first be registered in Selligent before then being picked up by the production system on the basis of their Selligent identifying code. “We now have a means of measuring sales and marketing efficiency. The next step will consist of gradually extending the system to after sales service, and the invoicing data will also be fed into the CRM. Selligent is gradually becoming the backbone of our information system,” adds Fournier.
