How Low Level Waste Repository transformed their customer experience

Jenny Prince, Business Change Manager at LLWR, was responsible for running the customer team. “We spent some time considering the ways we could improve our processes, and the outcome of that was bringing in CRM. Since then, other parts of the business have seen the benefits we’ve enjoyed and have also adopted the CRM.”

There were several potential improvements that the customer team identified:

• Improve its communication with customers
• Better information on, for example, where every consignment is, so, when customers call and ask, the team member is able to answer immediately
• Consolidating its information, bringing it out of people’s heads, off the many spreadsheets the team was using, and into a single location

As the company became involved in more specialized types of radioactive waste, it also needed to plan ahead to put in place suitable disposal and recycling methods. It required a clear view of its pipeline to build capacity as needed.

Finally, it wanted to improve its reporting, bringing multiple reports into one central report or dashboard, which would give it a clear, up to date and accurate view of what is happening in the organization at any moment in time.

The IT team ran the procurement process, looking at a handful of vendors, including Salesforce, but according to Prince the decision to choose Workbooks was an easy one. “It was just the most user-friendly option,” she says. We needed to be sure the user adoption was high, so we wanted something that was really simple to use. Elsewhere in the organization we had previously tried another system, not a CRM, and it was incredibly old-fashioned and clunky. While Workbooks looks like Microsoft, so straightaway you feel like you know it.”

Other reasons LLWR chose Workbooks included the adaptability of the system, and the accessible price point. Prince explains:

“We didn’t want to be going back to our CRM provider every time we wanted to change a field or a drop-down menu. We wanted to be able to configure and make changes ourselves, and the tool needed to be flexible and easy to use to allow us to do that. Workbooks is perfect for that.

And finally, as a government organization we need to demonstrate value for money. It all meant Workbooks was a clear winner for us.”

During the Workbooks ‘Shared Success’ workshop, the combined teams of Workbooks and LLWR discussed the business outcomes that the organization wanted to achieve.  

Both teams then mapped out from there what the CRM requirements would be and agreed a project plan.  

The first task then began – the detailed work of data migration.  

“I’ve been involved in a CRM implementation before, so I know that this is always the tricky part,” says Prince. “You need to align fields, map them across and then ensure everything comes over correctly. It’s vital to get it right and it’s always challenging. But Workbooks made it very easy. In fact, throughout the implementation, Workbooks have been incredibly helpful.” 

All customer details are now held on the system, and the entire process from an enquiry through to a quote is managed within Workbooks. Prince says:

“We’ve got all the information out of people’s heads. We can now look at the system and find the information we need. When customers call in, we know who they are, and exactly what’s happening with their consignment. Workbooks has transformed our customer experience for the better.”

Prince’s advice to others considering a new CRM is this:

“People generally don’t like new technologies, but Workbooks has been so simple to use that we’ve got far more employees using it than we ever thought possible. It’s also had a more positive impact on our organization than we ever hoped for.”

“It’s now the platform on which we’re running most of our business, and we continue to find new uses for it. We’ve now reached the point that it’s so much a part of what we do that even those who are resistant to change have realized it’s now time for them to give it a go!”