Integrated Sage solution is the key in The Signature Works growth strategy

By 2008, having invested heavily in machinery, skills and stock to build a strong, competitive business, managers turned their attention to the IT systems underpinning the company’s accounts and customer service functions. The business used to rely on Sage 50 Accounts and Goldmine customer relationship management (CRM) software and while these had provided good service over the years, they were approaching end of life and were unable to handle rising transactions volumes and an expanding user base.

The search was on for a more powerful solution that would integrate accounts and CRM, and increase efficiency while delivering excellent service to customers. Pinnacle was chosen to supply such a solution, in preference to the company’s incumbent Sage Business Partner.

Director Malcolm Ditty, recalls, "We were impressed by Pinnacle’s knowledgeable approach, ability to configure an integrated package to our requirements, and reputation as a market-leading provider of Sage software."

Pinnacle proposed a solution based on Sage 200 with Sage 200 CRM. The integrated solution also incorporated Spindle Professional software to provide paperless document management. The Signature Works had considered a fully bespoke system, but Pinnacle could customise Sage 200 sales order processing and order tracking to align with the needs of the business, avoiding the cost and complexity of a bespoke system. Malcolm says that, despite the scope of the implementation, within a few days the system was hard at work, supporting the business, “We quickly came to grips with using our new software. Naturally, we had to call the Pinnacle helpdesk a few times in the early days and they were always very helpful.” There are nine users of Sage 200 and twelve of Sage 200 CRM. Sage 200 uses the Microsoft SQL Server database, which is very user-friendly and can take the weight of multiple concurrent users.

With high levels of repeat business, it’s essential that staff can track and trace every interaction with a customer, from historical information on past orders through to a snapshot of the status of any current order. The Sage solution gives staff instant access to a shared pool of data. Malcolm reports, “With information seamlessly at our fingertips, we can instantly respond to customers’ requirements and queries and give them the answers they need. It’s very impressive! At the same time, with two-way synchronisation between Sage 200 and Sage 200 CRM, staff taking orders will be made aware if there are any problems with the customer’s account, without needing to be on the accounts system at the time. The flags are a lot better than with our previous system, too.”

As a forward-looking and enterprising business operating in an extremely competitive market, The Signature Works is always on the lookout for ways to improve service without increasing overheads. This commitment to continuous improvement may at some point see the integration of a separate web-based eCommerce operation into the Sage solution. As Malcolm says, “We constantly review, simplify and rationalise our processes to reduce costs and complexity wherever possible and it’s good that we can fine-tune our Sage solution to support our evolving business.”