Assessment College of South Africa

“We needed a system that could be easily adapted, in order to make changes quickly and easily and there is no doubt that Maximizer was the best solution”
– Gerda, IT Administrator

Johannesburg-based Assessment College of South Africa is an 8-year-old organisation that acts as a resource for companies who are seeking assessors and moderators. The firm, which holds a constantly increasing database of experts in this field, supplies such organisations with registered assessors and moderators. It also has an online presence that enables freelance assessors to register and add their services to the organisation.

Getting on top of things
Over the past three years the company found that its business had really taken off, with levels of activity suddenly more than it could cope with. Very quickly, it realised it needed to be more organised in order to cope with the flurry of business – especially in terms of managing sales, staying on top of information and remembering to put in crucial follow-up calls.

360-degree vision
While the company only recently installed Maximizer (it is using version 9 Professional) it says that sales and productivity are up an incredible 50% thanks to being able to keep detailed information on contacts and maximise all sales opportunities that present themselves. Results have been bolstered by the company’s efforts to get the entire organisation behind its CRM push in the recognition that CRM cannot function in isolation from other parts of the business. Company-wide “buy-in”, stresses the organisation, has been key.

Evolution, not revolution
Even more impressive is that such results have been achieved on the back of the company taking an evolutionary, as opposed to revolutionary approach to its CRM activities. Changes have been incremental, stresses the group, which is wary of alienating staff and customers with a “too much, too soon” approach. The main change has been in comprehensive follow-up on every business enquiry, from which it has reaped immense rewards. The company has also been able to hone its marketing and customer service offerings, thanks to a far more detailed knowledge of customers enabled by using Maximizer to log details of each customer interaction.

Easy on the pocket, simple to use
For Assessment College of South Africa, choosing Maximizer out of the myriad other CRM packages on the market was a no-brainer due to its competitive price and ease of use. Maximizer is, according to the group, “an essential business support tool” and is so simple to use that now staff can record each client interaction in less time than the interaction took place (previously a major source of frustration).

Staying “alive”
Thanks to Maximizer’s South African business partner, Max-Active SA, who took the pain out of implementation by customising and installing the system, and training the company’s administrator to configure the system, the transition to CRM was trouble-free. And the beauty of it is that from here on in its functionality will grow and adapt as the company’s own activities develop. “We needed a system that could be easily adapted, in order to make changes quickly and easily,” says Gerda. “It needs to be ‘alive’.”

Last word
“It is critical for a growing organisation to have a CRM system,” concludes Gerda. “It helps take the growing pains out of the organisation and enables it to organise itself better in Marketing and Customer Services in order to better serve the customer.”