Tracking the who, what, when and where in a customer relationship management system (CRM) is likely one of the least favorite parts of an investment promotion agency (IPA) or economic development organization (EDO) professional’s working day.
Perhaps an economic developer’s time would be better spent out in the community, meeting with prospects and showing key assets of their community, such as a great new industrial site or a large tract of land next to the rail and just waiting to be developed. Why waste time sitting down to enter basic information such as contact name, phone numbers, and not to mention taking time trying to figure out which industry classification number should be listed?
Yet keeping track of projects - whether domestic or FDI is just as essential to attracting, keeping, and growing investment in a region as is a successful site visit. After a while, if we do not write notes, it becomes impossible to remember all of the details of a prospect conference call or the features a prospect casually mentions liking or needing during a site visit. Not to mention all of the information lost when someone leaves an organization and has not input the data in a shared database.
The splendid news is that implementing and maintaining a CRM does not have to be complex; in fact, if you find the right system, it will make you and your team more efficient. According to a study by Capterra, 47% of respondents said that their CRM significantly improved their customer retention rates, and an equal percentage said their CRM improved customer satisfaction rates.
When a CRM, such as Amplify, is introduced in an IPA/EDO properly, project managers can effortlessly complete day-to-day entries and seamlessly work with other team members on proactive marketing, aftercare/BRE efforts and event planning.
Forget generic pipeline tracking systems, Amplify is a CRM built for and by professionals who understand the IPA/EDO life-cycle. Amplify not only comes out of the box with generic campaign types, such as investment projects, lead generation, and events/seminars, it is also fully customizable to an organization’s business needs at no additional cost.
Due to the effects of Covid-19, prospect aftercare or business retention and expansion activities are at the forefront of many IPA/EDOs. Amplify was designed to help an organization manage the full life-cycle of an investor development or economic development project-- from early proactive marketing to the lead stage, throughout the project stage, and even beyond to aftercare outreach. The system is also equipped with dynamic reporting tools so an organization can measure its progress along the way and communicate updates to management.
Unlike other providers, such as Salesforce, Microsoft, and HubSpot, when you purchase Amplify, clients also receive comprehensive training and support. There’s no need to spend thousands of dollars and countless hours searching for a third-party provider to assist your team with data migration, workflows, and reporting.
Wavteq’s internal software development team uses customer feedback foremost for continuous improvement of the platform. If you think your organization is ready to take the leap and implement an investor development CRM - specifically designed to manage IPA/EDO project pipelines, then please contact our sales team today to arrange a product demo and trial.
