Green Theory Design Ltd. (GTD), a leading manufacturing company headquartered in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, is known for its standardized and modular products. Their operational flow faced a significant hurdle. Their sales process, involving Zoho CRM, Trello, and Zoho Books, was plagued by disjointed and siloed data, leading to missed opportunities and inefficiencies. GTD needed a solution to bridge the gaps between these applications, ensuring proper flow of information and data integrity.
With five years of experience using Zoho products, GTD recognized that they were not fully benefitting from what Zoho could be offering them. Their vision was clear: a system that connects sales, operations, and accounting and eliminating streamlines their workflow.
Disjointed Data Flow: The sales process was fragmented, causing inefficiencies and missed opportunities.
Data Integrity: Siloed data made reliable reporting difficult.
Large File Handling: Estimators needed to handle large files efficiently.
Integration Issues: Zoho CRM and Zoho Books integration needed improvement.
Call Tracking and Website Interaction: Enhancing customer interactions required Zoho Phonebridge and streamlined website processes.
E-Signatures: Integrating e-signatures for estimates and proposals was needed.
Trello Integration: Automatic Trello card creation for closed deals was sought.
Automatic Lead Assignment: Streamlining lead management with automatic assignment based on job location.
Double-Entry Issues: Eliminating product double-entry discrepancies in Zoho Books.
Tax Calculation Automation: Automating tax calculations on estimates in Zoho Books.
Gloo conducted a thorough audit of GTD's systems, flow-charted the sales process, identified pain points, and prioritized requirements. This formed the basis for a holistic solution to transform GTD's operations.
The challenges faced by Green Theory Design Ltd. (GTD) were multi-faceted and intricately intertwined, necessitating a comprehensive analysis of the problems at hand. Gloo embarked on a thorough examination of GTD's existing systems, processes, and pain points to formulate effective solutions and to bridge the gaps between their various departments and software applications.
Auditing the Existing System
The first step in the analytical process was auditing GTD's existing systems. This was crucial in creating a baseline understanding of their current operations. Gloo's team examined the setup and configuration of Zoho CRM, Trello and Zoho Books to identify areas of improvement and integration opportunities. The audit revealed fragmentation, redundancy, and inconsistencies within GTD's operational framework, which were hindering their ability to function seamlessly.
Mapping the Current Sales Process
To understand the exact flow of GTD's sales process, Gloo conducted process capture calls and drafted a comprehensive map of their current sales process. This map served as a visual representation of the entire journey, from the generation of estimates in Zoho CRM to sales, operations in Trello, and accounting in Zoho Books. It highlighted each stage and interaction involved in their sales process, allowing for a clear identification of pain points and bottlenecks.
Identifying Pain Points and Prioritizing Requirements
With the current sales process mapped out, Gloo conducted detailed discussions with GTD's team to identify the pain points and areas requiring improvement. These pain points included the challenges of handling large files, ensuring efficient transfer of estimates and invoices, and facilitating a smooth customer interaction process. Additionally, there were issues related to e-signatures, Trello card creation, lead assignment, product double-entry, and tax calculation.
Each of these pain points was carefully evaluated and prioritized based on their impact on GTD's operations and overall business goals. The priorities were established in alignment with GTD's vision of creating an integrated system that would not only improve operational efficiency but also enhance the customer experience and reporting accuracy.
Creating a Blueprint for Transformation
This analysis laid the foundation for the transformation of GTD's sales and operational processes. The pain points identified were not viewed in isolation but as interconnected challenges that required a holistic approach to resolve. Gloo worked closely with GTD's team to create a blueprint for the integration and automation of key processes. This blueprint outlined the strategies and solutions required to address each pain point, ensuring that the entire system would function as a cohesive whole.
In summary, the analysis of GTD's challenges was a process that formed the basis for a robust solution. Gloo's audit of the existing system, mapping of the sales process, identification of pain points, and their prioritization were instrumental in crafting a comprehensive plan to transform GTD's operations. The blueprint that emerged from this analysis set the stage for a more integrated, efficient, and customer-centric system that would fulfill GTD's vision of a streamlined, data-driven, and growth-oriented business operation. This case study highlights the power of a systematic approach in identifying and solving complex challenges, ultimately leading to streamlined sales and reporting processes.
The proposed solutions were carefully tailored to address each pain point and to create an integrated ecosystem for GTD.
Handling Large Files Efficiently: To facilitate the handling of large files with estimates, Gloo designed a custom code solution. This code copies attachments from the Deal module in Zoho CRM to a folder in Workdrive, creating a public link. This link is then captured in the CRM Deal. The result is an efficient and user-friendly way to share large files, ensuring that they are readily available when needed.
Zoho CRM-Zoho Books Integration: Gloo developed a custom code to facilitate this integration, ensuring that the estimation process could occur outside of Zoho Books.
Trello Integration with Zoho CRM: To enhance project management and coordination, Gloo used Zoho Flow to automatically create new Trello cards for closed deals in Zoho CRM. This integration allowed for the smooth transition of relevant information from Zoho CRM to Trello, streamlining the workflow between sales and operations.
Customer Portal for Communication and Validation: Gloo leveraged a customer portal running on Zoho CRM to facilitate communication, validation, and approval processes. This portal served as a central hub for discussions, feedback, solution validation, and testing.
These solutions streamlined GTD's workflow, ensured data accuracy, improved customer interactions, reduced redundancy, and enhanced project management.
Gloo's implementation strategy for Green Theory Design (GTD) revolved around addressing specific pain points to create a harmonized ecosystem. This involved enabling efficient handling of large files by developing custom code for seamless file sharing. The integration between Zoho CRM and Zoho Books was streamlined through custom code to facilitate the estimation process. Automatic Trello card creation for closed deals in Zoho CRM enhanced project management, while a customer portal running on Zoho CRM improved communication and validation processes.
These tailored solutions not only streamlined GTD's workflow but also ensured data accuracy, elevated customer interactions, reduced redundancy, and enhanced project management, laying a solid foundation for their future success.
"We have had great results by streamlining our sales and reporting process. The implementation of Zoho CRM has allowed us to follow up and track projects more efficiently.
We are now able to use proper KPIs and measuring numbers to see how our jobs perform, and ultimately if we need to make any adjustments to strategy, this can now be done quicker.
We are very happy with the results of our custom CRM and the work we had done from GLOO".
Jaimy Panagiotidis
General Manager, Green Theory Design Ltd.
