Bahrain International Circuit

[column size=”1-2″ last=”0″][/column]
[column size=”1-2″ last=”1″]“Users find Maximizer very convenient for managing their work. Adoption of Maximizer has been very easy and smooth”
– Mr Mahmood Ahmed, Sales and Finance Analyst, Bahrain International Circuit
[/column]
[column size=”1-2″ last=”0″]

Company Information

Industry: Sports (Motorsport)
Location: Bahrain
Product: Maximizer CRM 11
Users: 30[/column]
[column size=”1-2″ last=”1″]

Key Benefits

• Effective management of large contact database to increase attendance
• Ability to segment database for specific, targeted marketing to grow revenue
• Improved Customer Service department efficiency
• Streamlined commercial processes and user productivity to save costs and time[/column]

Established in 2004, Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) has become one of motorsports elite racetracks. An eye-catching landmark in Bahrain, BIC has the ability to run two of their seven tracks simultaneously, fostering a wide variety of motorsports. These include the prestigious Formula 1 and national championships to local series of drag racing and karting.

As a large operation with many commercial activities from sponsorship to hospitality, and ticket sales; managing all commercial activities at once demands a high level of efficiency, productivity and communication from staff in order for all departments to maximise their revenue potential, and enhance their reputation through offering spectators the ultimate racing experience. It is Bahrain International Circuits aim to become the ‘home of motorsport in the Middle East’ and provide competitors, fans and the local community with a unique experience at the top level in world motorsport.

Race Requirements

To achieve this, BIC needed to streamline their operations and manage their huge contact database to ensure they became customer centric and exceed visitor expectations. BIC wanted a central hub of customer information rather than numerous Excel spreadsheets. This improved accuracy while reducing the time and resources required to record, manage and consolidate their data, and manage the high volume of incoming customer requests for information.

Race Strategy

BIC’s strategy was not to simply make life in the customer service department more productive and efficient. Their strategy was to raise their commercial activities and in return improve their performance and raise awareness.

Their desire was to create a single customer view across all departments so they had real time information and accurate data for all their activities. BIC wanted a system that would enhance communication across Sales, Marketing and Customer Service departments to help increase revenues and exceed customer demands through all their services including sponsorship, ticket sales, facility rental and other track activities.

By fuelling this business need, BIC would have more customer face time to increase sales and target their customers with tailored campaigns, boosting demand and enhancing customer satisfaction through quicker response times.

Qualifying

A year after they had first opened their gates, BIC started to look at Customer Relationship Management systems to implement their strategy. Maximizer was chosen as the most suitable solution after evaluating alternatives ACT! and Microsoft CRM. Maximizer was seen as the best fit for improving BIC’s commercial activities without having to overhaul every process.

Mr Mahmood Ahmed, Sales and Finance Analyst at BIC comments “after evaluating all the solutions on offer, Maximizer was chosen to help our commercial development because of its user friendliness, scalability and ability to adapt to our processes without a lot of customisation.”

Rajiv Pandhi from Gnet, certified Business Partner for Maximizer Software was selected to provide services for BIC. The first contract was signed in October 2005 and implementation was completed in 3 months. “It is a privilege to provide Maximizer services to BIC, and it shows that Maximizer CRM is flexible to fit the commerical needs of BIC” comments Rajiv Pandhi.

BIC have since made full use of the functionality and features available within Maximizer. To ensure that they have the latest technology on offer, in February 2007 they upgraded to Maximizer CRM 9.5 and then again to Maximizer CRM 11 in August 2010. This has given BIC the resources they need to plan further development and expansion of their commercial processes, thus maintaining their high-class reputation and commitment to raising the profile of motorsport in the Middle East.

Race Result

After implementing Maximizer, Bahrain International Circuit have seen improvements across all commercial departments. Using all the modules available within Maximizer, including sales, marketing and customer service, BIC now effectively manage their huge contact database and have a single customer view. This means that all departments can now engage with clients effectively and offer services that are specific to their needs.

The sales team can now manage their opportunities more efficiently, and have seen an increased pipeline for sponsorship, ticket sales and open track days.

BIC have achieved this by using the Maximizer sales opportunity module to track, log and maintain all related interactions to sponsorship contracts. This was previously done using Microsoft Office, but with Maximizer reports and statistics can be generated in minutes. Mr Ahmed believes “that we are serving our sponsors the best way possible with Maximizer as a tool in hand.”

One important aspect for any organisation like BIC is managing ticket sales. BIC link Maximizer CRM with their ticketing software ENTA, so they can view the ticket purchase history of a client through Maximizer, and print the tickets off using ENTA.

BIC employ the User-Defined-Fields (UDFs) available in Maximizer to segment their customers and list their specific interests. This has allowed BIC to analyse the database and send specific, targeted campaigns through Maximizer’s Marketing Automation function. This has resulted in raising their revenues and attracting more spectators to events.

Perhaps the most resounding benefit for BIC came from the reporting function of Maximizer. BIC can now filter reports across all departments to ensure all teams are working to their maximum capability. BIC Management measure the effectiveness and performance of all departments through marketing campaign metrics, opportunity win analysis detail, customer service reports and reconciliation of accounts.

Umair Tahir, Assistant Manager of Corporate Sales evaluates the impact Maximizer has had on their sales department. “Maximizer has become an invaluable element of our corporate client servicing strategy. The adaptability and ease of use of Maximizer CRM makes it an ideal solution for companies looking to maximise returns from their clients and ensuring they receive excellent and accurate customer servicing.”

The future

BIC intend to enhance the access options for the sales team through Maximizer’s All Access CRM features. This will enable their sales teams to access Maximizer CRM remotely through the web or on their smartphones for up-to-date information when visiting prospective clients or high value customers. This will enable the sales team to be even more productive, allowing them to visit more clients. Mr Ahmed concludes “I have always wanted a system that I could report about the whole business from. Maximizer manages to gather all the information I require in order for us to better reach the market and satisfy our clients.”