Case Study: Iowa Network Services

Background
Iowa Network Services is one of the Midwest’s premier telecommunication and technology providers. Privately owned by 122 Independent Telephone Companies, INS was conceived as a way to deliver centralized equal access of long distance services to over 500,000 rural Iowans in over 400 communities. Established in 1989 and headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, the INS Network delivers the latest in telecommunications services and it continue to grow. Telephony, core network transport, broadcast video, and Internet services via netINS are among the products offered by INS to telephone companies across the state and to enterprise customer nationwide.

Challenge
INS sought to bring better organization and efficiency to their sales process. And, because multiple departments deal with customers on a daily basis, they required a central warehouse for all customer information so that all departments had a consistent and thorough view of customer history, status and standing. In addition, it was important that management be able to track activities to ensure they had a clear picture of employee performance.

CRM Solution
DoExtra worked closely with the INS implementation team to understand the organization’s people and processes before beginning the implementation process for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Professional. The DoExtra team made some customizations to the base system so that it fit INS’specific needs and processes. After a successful data import and thorough training of the Sales and Marketing departments, the system will be scheduled to roll out in phases to the entire organization.


Results
The CRM solution implemented for INS has assisted the organization to solidify their internal processes for sales, marketing, data capture and reporting. The system will serve as the hub for all customer interactions and provide a framework that will bring consistency and efficiency within the Sales department. In addition, the INS Marketing team will find substantial value in the system. They will utilize it to segment and identify prospects for cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.

Performance tracking for management will also be a large part of the systems success. Not only will they able to track system usage and process adherence, but the robust reporting features will allow them to more quickly and accurately measure sales performance and communication frequency.