In our 23rd year of business, you can imagine that we have more than a few references and success stories to share. Here we’ve chosen some industry cross-sections that represent the many benefits our customers have experienced using TimeLinx.
Enjoy your reading and contact us to explore your company situation with us.
Industry: Technology
Like many companies, this technology integrator in Birmingham, England, found they were growing faster than their current CRM application’s capabilities – their prior application had grown outdated for both their sales and support needs. Previously using a standalone application for time & expense capture, they were also in search of a tool to make the capture easier for the consultants both inside and outside of the office, and easier for the finance staff by including accounting integration, rather than retyping the captured information for billing.
The firm needed a solution to provide real-time insight into accounts being serviced, sales performance, consultant utilization, and the profitability of each of the company’s customer projects. As they they were also unable to create customized reports in their current multiple systems, they had limited visibility into overall business performance.
Industry: Managed Services
As an IT Services Provider since 1987, this Rhode Island company had been experiencing significant issues in its back office efficiency. Using several back office applications to manage and run their business, the work leadership recognized the need for better control over data entry, a reduction in information silos across all departments, and a reduction in the number of manual processes needed for one transaction. The company was using both Salesforce.com and GoldMine for its CRM tools, as well as a list of other applications and tools for daily management and project workflows.
While many of the applications being used were off the shelf solutions, the company had also invested significant time and money into developing and maintaining internal applications for various tools such as time and expense keeping. Their Chief Operations Officer said, “our focus is always on our clients and satisfaction with our service. Having multiple applications and a broken flow of communication internally prevented us from being able to provide the fastest and most accurate information possible to our clients. That simply was not acceptable to us.”
Industry: Manufacturer
The global market leader in high-speed corrugating, finishing and sheeting machinery for the corrugated box and paper converting industries was experiencing delays and frustration in the methods its remote staff was using to input time on services work and expenses. With sales and service offices and parts warehouses located strategically around the globe, they were in need of a solution that would reduce human error and delays in processing time records and expenses for projects, while simultaneously providing better analytics. Management was also looking for a single-point entry system that would eliminate multiple data entry points moving the information from the field staff to approvals and then to finance for invoicing. Streamlining and automating the many validation steps needed would allow administrative staff to focus on more value-added tasks while reducing time and human error.
Industry: Professional Services
A Professional Services firm providing Enterprise Resource Planning and Human Resource Management System solutions – had been experiencing challenges with its time management and service billing systems. The Oklahoma company had been using one system to track project work and another system to track support issues, resulting in double entry by consultants using multiple applications. With the recent acquisition of a new company, a third time-entry application was introduced.
Compounding the situation, none of the systems communicated with one another, requiring manual balancing and re-keying of data. “It was a real fight to get billing done on a timely and accurate basis,” explained their vice president of consulting.
While many of the applications being used were off the shelf solutions, the company had also invested significant time and money into developing and maintaining internal applications for various tools such as time and expense keeping. Their Chief Operations Officer said, “our focus is always on our clients and satisfaction with our service. Having multiple applications and a broken flow of communication internally prevented us from being able to provide the fastest and most accurate information possible to our clients. That simply was not acceptable to us.”
Industry: Software Integrator
A Maryland-based national organization that offers a broad array of software products to help manufacturing companies be more productive and profitable was successfully using CRM to manage their customer relationships, sales opportunities, and customer technical support. However, there was no functionality for assessing pre-sales time and out-of-pocket expenses incurred for prospecting time. Management recognized the need for a solution to better manage these activities. While using spreadsheets or a non-integrated application was a possibility, it was clear that a single solution within the CRM was preferred to avoid duplicate data entry.
Also, the company wanted an improved process to track and manage time, expenses, and project workflow for its Services Division. Without visibility into the status of work being delivered, sales teams and project managers had limited information into what specific tasks were causing projects to run over-budget. Company leadership recognized that they needed better visibility into time management. With only a limited number of potential hours to be recovered on any individual project, project profitability was continuously in jeopardy. And with many complex projects being delivered at the same time, a streamlined process was needed to set up and manage all work in an efficient manner.
Industry: Content Management
Dislodging and disrupting an established CRM system is a challenge for any company. Disrupting an ERP system is even worse. A Wisconsin global provider of enterprise Content Management Solutions, was fully committed to their CRM system and realized there would be many benefits if they could also leverage it to manage the delivery of customer projects.
The company’s support team works exclusively in the field and although their customer-base is primarily US-based, their service teams deliver work around the globe 24/7 with complex task billing and cost structures.
Previously using a standalone system for tracking time, management was frustrated with inaccurate data as the remote staff struggled with a cumbersome time recording process. As projects increased in size, capturing time with complex rates and cost parameters with larger projects was becoming more and more difficult. The additional work for the finance staff to rekey the data for billing, along with project details and related customer information, was both a costly additional step and process bottleneck. Understanding work profitability in real-time before it was “too late” was becoming increasingly and critically important to the health of their Professional Services Division.
With their customer information from sales and marketing efforts already residing within their CRM system, management recognized that the best solution would be to keep all functions within a single, integrated system.