New Mobile CRM App Gives Atherotech an Edge

SITUATION

Atherotech Diagnostics Lab is a specialty diagnostic testing and disease management company. Focused on the direct measurement of the comprehensive lipid profile, the company provides its patented Vertical Auto Profile (VAP) technology and unique testing services to numerous physicians, hospitals, clinics and other laboratories throughout the United States.

The Client Services department of Atherotech had been relying on Microsoft Dynamics CRM for years to manage customer calls and work flows, as well as to order supplies and track order fulfillment. When Atherotech first reached out to 2B Solutions, it was to help Client Services optimize CRM and the company’s large database to more effectively and efficiently use the system within their department.

According to Mike Tarwater, Vice President of IT for Atherotech, “Our users were basically their own analysts and support for CRM which was problematic for both IT and our internal customers.”

Through conversations with Atherotech leaders, 2B was surprised to hear that the sales team had not been leveraging the power of their CRM system at all. With a mobile sales force located all across the United States who are constantly on the move, accessing and using the CRM system had never been easy, resulting in poor user adoption from day one.

Working from clunky laptops, often with no on-site internet connection, sales reps had no convenient way of logging into the web-based CRM platform. Instead, when they had time, they would later send their notes from sales calls to Client Services reps who would have to interpret their notes and input details manually into the CRM system. Not only did this cause serious delays and duplicate time and effort, errors could occur in translation.

Further adding to the frustration was that their information was trapped in silos with no easy way to access or share critical details between sales, client services and management. This presented numerous issues across the company. Sales reps had delayed prospect opportunities and little insight into their customers’ history and activity. Management had poor visibility into sales performance with no easy way to view by territory, customer or rep. And Client Services was typically working with outdated information when helping customers and managing orders.

Another challenge for the Atherotech sales team was the inability to access the most recent marketing collateral or to process and manage paperwork electronically in the field. Routine paperwork during sales calls would require customers to fill out and sign forms manually and then sales reps would have to fax the paperwork to the Atherotech office for processing. Some would even take a picture of the paperwork with their phone and email it. The entire process was cumbersome and inefficient.

SOLUTIONS & BENEFITS

While working on the CRM system for the Client Services department, conversations were also happening with Atherotech’s leadership about ideas to provide their field employees with better tools to get their work done faster and easier. After an extensive discovery process, including talking with Atherotech’s management, IT staff and sales reps, 2B presented a solution for a mobile app that would empower the sales team in new and exciting ways.

Next, 2B and Atherotech’s IT leaders documented the specific requirements and deliverables for the project. A proof-of-concept demo was developed and when the mobile app was demonstrated live at the company’s annual sales team meeting – it was a hit. Reps wanted it right away so 2B and Atherotech IT got to work developing the beta version of the app for a select group of sales reps to test over the coming months.

The mobile app designed jointly by 2B and Atherotech IT addresses and solves a number of Atherotech’s previous challenges and was carefully designed to be a centralized and full-featured platform for the sales team. The app is currently in the testing phase with approximately 10 users and is planned for a full rollout to 85+ users in December 2013. “The response from the sales team has been overwhelmingly positive. They love using the tool which is completely different than it was before. It has really made a positive impact across the company,” says Tarwater.

No more clunky laptops!

Once fully deployed, Atherotech’s sales reps will no longer have to drag big laptops around with them. Their new mobile app is optimized for touchscreens on sleek tablet devices making it much easier to get work done from anywhere.  This will eliminate the need for shipping laptops back and forth to headquarters for maintenance.  All updates, patches and configurations can be remotely pushed to the tablets anywhere in the world.

Built-in Tailored CRM Capabilities

Among the favorite features of the new mobile app is a built-in and intuitive CRM platform complete with custom dashboards and tailored functionality for the sales team.

“The response from the sales team has been overwhelmingly positive. They love using the tool which is completely different than it was before. It has really made a positive impact across the company.”

Real-time Information Across the Organization

The new mobile platform allows seamless integration between departments so sales reps now have near real-time customer data to help them serve their customers in a more personal and valuable way. They can quickly see trends and identify which accounts might be at risk or need further consultation. Sales and marketing executives can access sales data at any time and sort by multiple criteria allowing them to measure performance and target their marketing much easier than before. Client Services now has updated information from the sales reps so when serving customers, they are well-informed and can do their job easier and faster. The best part is they no longer have to interpret and manually enter notes from the sales team.

Integrated CRM, Email and Electronic documents

The app is configured to easily sync with the company’s CRM database, SharePoint document server and Outlook Exchange email server. Before an appointment, sales reps simply sync their tablet and they have all the latest information, presentations and forms at their fingertips while meeting with customers, who can simply sign documents electronically now as well. They aren’t hauling piles of paper in and out of their appointments or having to find a fax machine – it’s all in their tablet.

Improved Security

Something very important for the IT team at Atherotech was finding a way to introduce mobile capabilities while strengthening security to protect sensitive customer information and corporate intelligence. The new mobile platform integrates AirWatch, an enterprise-grade mobile device manager, so the company’s information is secured at a level that meets or exceeds all of their requirements.

“Client Services now has updated information from the sales reps so when serving customers, they are well-informed and can do their job easier and faster.”

Reduced Trouble Tickets for IT

Now that the CRM platform is stabilized, and there are smoother workflows and integration between departments, IT is able to improve service to employees.  Setting up new client machines is much more efficient and trouble tickets to IT have been drastically reduced, giving them more time to build solutions instead of troubleshooting problems. 2B now assists Atherotech users with Level 3 support to extend the company’s CRM expertise and support even further.

Says Mike Tarwater, “2B Solutions has been an ideal IT partner for us; they took us seriously and easily adapted as we implemented best practice IT procedures.  2B was also instrumental working with my team to get our investment in CRM working well for us (reducing CRM trouble tickets by 75%).  We look forward to a continued relationship with 2B and the ongoing development of our mobile capabilities.”

“2B Solutions has been an ideal IT partner for us; they took us seriously and easily adapted as we implemented best practice IT procedures. ”