Case Study:
Adobe, Marketo & Salesforce solution
Platform pain to commercial gain in 6 months
The business case
After internal research and analysis, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence concluded that to achieve continued growth, they would have to improve the management of leads, increase client reach and strengthen brand reputation in the marketplace. To this end, BAE systems initiated a programme of investment in MAP and CRM software, including bi-directional sync between the two for better data hygiene and integrity.
The vendor decision
Following the initial RFP process, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence identified Marketo and SalesForce.com as its preferred MAP and CRM solutions. A primary driver behind this decision was the rich portfolio of features the platforms offered, which could specifically support with addressing all the identified pain points. From a MAP perspective, Marketo was the selected vendor due to its advanced lead scoring and integration capabilities, allowing for scalability as the marketing activities mature.
SalesForce.com emerged as the chosen CRM solution due to its object management features and leading flexibility to adapt to all marketing, sales and integration needs. Crucially, both solutions would allow BAE Systems Applied Intelligence to address short term goals whilst establishing long term foundations for expansion and growth.
Issue
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence undertook system implementation using internal resources. After several weeks of implementation work, it became increasingly apparent that the roll out of the system, with correct configurations and full regulatory compliance, could not be achieved with internal resource against the tight timescales of the project. With aggressive timelines and the additional day-to-day duties placing a strain on the organisation, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence had to quickly search for support, seeking a consultancy partner who could drive better visibility between their MAP and CRM solutions and by proxy, revenue growth.
Solution
BluprintX was appointed as a consultancy partner to assess the current situation and support the business with implementing effective change while maintaining consistency of operations. As Marketo and SalesForce.com were already in place, BluprintX was charged with deploying a tailored programme against extremely aggressive timescales to maximise the return on the technology.
Approach
BluprintX ran an assessment on the implementation and compared this to a best practice implementation and integration checklist. A GAP analysis was subsequently undertaken then shared and reviewed with the client. This allowed for informed conversation around the possible directions the client could take to achieve their target destination.
Once the approach was agreed, BluprintX built a tailored solution with measurable milestones. These allowed the client to gain visibility of the project impact, before (benchmark), during and after implementation. This ensured alignment and direction were both transparent and impactful.
Finally, BluprintX held monthly meetings to assess changes, and ensure course correction and adjustments to match new decisions, and market changes.
Objectives
In collaboration with BluprintX, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence established the following project objectives:
- Achieve effective business change management through the alignment of Sales and Marketing.
- Deliver increased visibility to senior management through a set of C-level sales and marketing dashboards.
- Ensure training and knowledge transfer to key staff members to allow them to continue supporting the solution after BluprintX’s engagement.
- Build a best practice lifecycle to drive net new business and alert sales when existing accounts re-engage.
Outcomes
Working across multiple regional sites around the world, BluprintX built a programme of Marketo Implementation, Consultancy and Training support which fast-tracked the time to value for BAE Systems Applied Intelligence.
Key metrics included:
- Following the build of a new lifecycle marketing saw an uplift of 20% in net new leads, which resulted in a 2% increase in revenue.
- Through the implementation of a new lifecycle, the sales follow up time for MQL’s was reduced from two days to four hours which resulted in an uplift of 27% from MQL to SQL.
- Following the implementation of a new dashboard suite for senior sales and marketing individuals the business now had visibility of 224 new metrics to aid better decision making and budget allocation.
- Platform house cleaning undertaken by BluprintX helped tidy over 50,000 data records.
- Over 25 key stakeholders trained on Marketo and the wider marketing strategy.
- Success across a truly global implementation with seven operating countries going live simultaneously.
- Finally, six months post-implementation the marketing team finally had both campaign attribution and marketing ROI reports in place which were showing a positive return on all fronts.
“BluprintX have proven to be an invaluable consultancy partner. Stepping in at a time when we were facing genuine challenges”
Carol White, Head of Global Operations Marketing, BAE Systems