Corporate development with a future – KUMAVISION
Introduction of Marketing Automation with Dynamics 365 Marketing at KUMAVISION AG
Introduction:
Before the project with Cloudbridge, KUMAVISION primarily relied on mail and telephone acquisition as well as trade fair activities for lead generation. A key starting point for KUMAVISION was the discontinuation of CEBIT as the world’s largest trade fair for information technology, which has no longer taken place in its previous form since 2018 and is therefore missing as an important channel for awareness and lead generation for KUMAVISION.
In addition, those responsible noticed that measures, especially in the area of cold calling, were on the one hand very selective and on the other hand were becoming less and less effective. According to Heike Klecha, Head of Sales Operations at KUMAVISION, it depends too much on chance whether the relationship building as well as the relationship maintenance succeed by telephone. In addition, an ERP system is only replaced about every 10 years, which means relatively long sales cycles. Often, a new ERP introduction or evaluation in companies arises when, for example, a new managing director initiates the replacement of the old ERP system. This is exactly when it is important for the ERP provider to be found by potential customers at the right time and to generate attention in order to be in the focus of the target group when evaluating ERP solutions.
Discussions about new measures for digital lead generation and suitable, modern technologies as well as the introduction of marketing automation have been going on for quite some time. The changed usage behavior of prospective customers and the associated changes in decision-making and purchasing behavior were well known – also from the private B2C context. This trend could also be seen increasingly in the B2B area, so that companies in the B2B environment have to adapt to the behavior of the target customers. Although the order situation has been very good for years, KUMAVISION wanted to position itself for the future and not invest in further resources for telephone acquisition. Therefore, KUMAVISION decided to introduce Marketing Automation.
Project goals and project approach:
In Cloudbridge, KUMAVISION found a strategic partner with strong implementation skills that met the requirements of many years of experience and comprehensive know-how in the areas of customer journey, buyer persona, lead management and marketing automation. KUMAVISION wanted a partner who could provide clear structures and at the same time advise at eye level.
The three most important goals were defined at the start of the project:
- Improved visibility: be faster in the relevant set of target customers, especially in organic online searches in the ERP environment.
- Increased efficiency: Significant increase in the number of leads and DOIs within one year
- Higher lead quality: Sales Operations should only receive leads of a high quality
The defined goals were to be supported by the introduction of Marketing Automation at KUMAVISION. With the project start at the beginning of 2019, the focus was on the conception and development of marketing automation basic processes as well as the implementation of campaigns in the marketing automation system. Cloudbridge was also able to support the software selection. Further focal points of the project were the development of a detailed content marketing concept as well as the continuous monitoring of the implementation of these content elements together with the responsible agency. The development and introduction of an organizational concept in the area of digital marketing also played an essential role. The main focus was on which processes should be mapped in the future, how new role profiles should be designed and which responsibilities should be created in the process.
In various workshop formats, the Cloudbridge team succeeded in extracting knowledge from the heads of those responsible at KUMAVISION using sound methodologies and the right, targeted questions. In doing so, it was particularly important for Cloudbridge to continuously consider the mindset from the customer’s perspective at KUMAVISION.
Cloudbridge’s project approach was characterized by good leadership and clear structures, according to KUMAVISION. “Cloudbridge very quickly understood what was important to us and put these requirements into practice in a target-oriented manner,” says Heike Klecha, “The workshops were also super prepared in terms of content – you could tell that Cloudbridge listens and responds to us quite well in the preceding coordination sessions. At the same time, Cloudbridge managed to push through its own plan and lead us in a way that we efficiently achieved the defined goals together.”
Cloudbridge was also good at picking up other stakeholders and bringing them into the project. The content creation agency, with which KUMAVISION has been working successfully for a long time, was actively involved in the project. The atmosphere in the Cloudbridge team is also highlighted by Heike Klecha: “The combination in the project team of project management as well as specialists for editorial topics and the technical implementation worked very well. In the Cloudbridge team, you notice that everyone works well with each other and that all the coordination in the project team goes well.”
Success and added value:
Content marketing as a leading part of lead generation
A significant qualitative result that was achieved with the help of Cloudbridge at KUMAVISION is the changed view of the company’s own marketing. Previously, there was no consistent concept for advertising measures on social media. “Now marketing is no longer a disconnected issue for us, but plays a much more active part in lead generation,” explains Heike Klecha. The interaction between marketing and sales, which was already good, has also been improved. The two areas have moved much closer together and are increasingly pulling in the same direction.
Optimized market approach
The content elements have also been optimized in terms of targeting, content and design. Instead of software features and functions, KUMAVISION now relies more on content that is targeted to the pain points and needs of the target group.
Living change processes
To achieve the goal of increased efficiency in the marketing and sales organization, KUMAVISION defined measures for a successful change process and implemented them together as a team. On Cloudbridge’s recommendation, a new position in Content Marketing was created by KUMAVISION even before the project started. The changes from Marketing and Sales Operations are now making their way into Sales.
Challenges
One of the bigger challenges within the project was the high volume of new content elements that had to be produced within a very short time. Here Cloudbridge was able to support with good editorial impulses. The technical infrastructure also had to be provided first for the implementation of marketing automation at KUMAVISION. The selection of marketing automation software proved to be challenging. With the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 marketing solution, the decision was made for a solution that was not yet fully mature in the current release at the time of implementation. The Cloudbridge team supported the implementation and setup of Dynamics Marketing at KUMAVISION and also acted as an interface to the manufacturer. Thus, tickets for bug fixing as well as change requests for KUMAVISION were initiated directly by Cloudbridge. Heike Klecha sums up positively: “We didn’t find a single point in the project where we could say there was a problem.”
Next steps at KUMAVISION
The joint project with Cloudbridge has triggered a number of other topics at KUMAVISION. For example, further routes are to be set up for KUMAVISION’s other target industries. Heike Klecha also sees a need for further action in lead management; the lead process and the lead scoring system that has been set up must be jointly developed further after the initial experiences.
Changing requirements for role profiles in the area of sales operations at KUMAVISION will also be an issue in the future. It is important to note that there is no “hire-and-fire” culture at KUMAVISION. In change processes at KUMAVISION, all employees involved are included and deployed according to their individual strengths. “The culture at KUMAVISION is very much geared towards the employees,” says Heike Klecha, “despite all the necessity of change processes, appreciation for people remains at the forefront of our minds.”
Why Cloudbridge
The Cloudbridge team was able to convince KUMAVISION with its organized and pragmatic way of working. The many years of experience in the Microsoft environment as well as the expertise for consulting-intensive project services in an ERP solution business with long sales cycles was a further criterion for Cloudbridge as the preferred partner. The motto “get things done and get it done” also impressed those responsible for the project at KUMAVISION. “I would always do a project like this again with Cloudbridge,” emphasizes Heike Klecha.
Company description:
For more than 20 years, KUMAVISION AG has been developing, implementing and supporting innovative ERP and CRM solutions for medium-sized companies and international corporations based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Business Intelligence solutions as well as cloud services complete the portfolio. Many years of industry experience and comprehensive ERP know-how are bundled in ERP industry solutions for the manufacturing industry, medical technology, wholesale and retail, project service providers and the healthcare market. With industry-specific functions, workflows and best practice processes, industry-specific requirements can already be mapped holistically in the standard KUMAVISION ERP solutions. As a long-standing Microsoft partner and one of the world’s leading Microsoft Dynamics integration partners with annual sales of 97 million euros, KUMAVISION stands for future-proof solutions and continuous further development.
“By introducing marketing automation, we wanted to pay attention to the changed usage behavior of our target customers and at the same time compensate for the increasingly less efficient lead generation measures, such as cold calling. A key factor in the introduction and implementation of Marketing Automation was to more closely integrate marketing and sales and to initiate internal change processes. Cloudbridge very quickly understood what was important to us and put these requirements into practice in a targeted manner. I would implement such a project with Cloudbridge again and again.”