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CRM Solves Deal Pipeline Management Challenges
Jamestown is an established investment leader among international real estate funds that invest in U.S. properties. Jamestown’s experience acquiring, managing and selling premier assets in New York, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C. provides a deep knowledge base for partners to put any deal within reach, regardless of size or complexity. As more than just a big-city player, Jamestown has successfully acquired dozens of properties in Raleigh, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Charleston, Jacksonville and other Sunbelt cities. Jamestown’s unequalled 25-year track record has earned respect from investors, partners and competitors as a focused and sophisticated real estate investment firm.
As Jamestown’s business model was shifting from “core” deals involving a few, large commercial buildings per fund to “opportunity” deals that involved more than 30 or 40 development projects per fund, the internal demand for effective business processes was a high priority. The IT strategy that emerged was designed to leverage the knowledge and experience of Jamestown’s internal IT team, supplemented with focused consulting support to cultivate a partnership between IT and all other departments.
Complex Problem, Simple Solution
Contact management was handled in a public address book and within individual personal contact databases, creating an inefficient system. Numerous personal contacts – some with as many as 10,000 entries – were individually housed in personal contact databases. Whenever an individual wanted contact information from someone else, they would email that person and wait for a response. The amount of waiting time coupled with the challenge of quickly finding requested contacts led to mounting frustration.
The structure of Jamestown’s existing document management system (DMS) also contributed to inefficiencies with shared folders. The elaborate DMS tracked thousands of documents, but document version discrepancies and holes within the system created ongoing problems. Multiple versions of the same document sometimes existed, which meant it took much more effort to ensure that users were viewing the latest version.
Jamestown needed to address these issues so that all departments could work more efficiently, manage data effectively, and respond to dynamic reporting requirements as they evolved. The company began by evaluating several contact management solutions – separate from document management solutions. “With no effective contact management system and thousands of property-related documents stored in a multi-level, shared-folder structure, we knew the IT strategy had to stay ahead of the changing business model,” says Chuck Niswonger, IT director, Jamestown.
What the IT team found was an innovative solution to a complex problem: an integrated approach using Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Sharepoint would effectively resolve the contact and document management system issues. Interface both of those through Microsoft Outlook with a backend SQL 2005 database and they had the foundation for a business intelligence system. In addition, the acquisition’s pipeline management process benefited through significant improvements.
The structure of Jamestown’s existing document management system (DMS) also contributed to inefficiencies with shared folders. The elaborate DMS tracked thousands of documents, but document version discrepancies and holes within the system created ongoing problems. Multiple versions of the same document sometimes existed, which meant it took much more effort to ensure that users were viewing the latest version.
Jamestown needed to address these issues so that all departments could work more efficiently, manage data effectively, and respond to dynamic reporting requirements as they evolved. The company began by evaluating several contact management solutions – separate from document management solutions. “With no effective contact management system and thousands of property-related documents stored in a multi-level, shared-folder structure, we knew the IT strategy had to stay ahead of the changing business model,” says Chuck Niswonger, IT director, Jamestown.
What the IT team found was an innovative solution to a complex problem: an integrated approach using Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Sharepoint would effectively resolve the contact and document management system issues. Interface both of those through Microsoft Outlook with a backend SQL 2005 database and they had the foundation for a business intelligence system. In addition, the acquisition’s pipeline management process benefited through significant improvements.
Studying First Steps
In an online chat, Niswonger learned about Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and CRM innovator, Customer Effective, through a recommendation from a Microsoft representative. Shortly thereafter, Jamestown met with Customer Effective and the two companies partnered to develop a pilot study outlining the advantages of using Microsoft Dynamics CRM at Jamestown.
A CRM prototype was built to serve as the base model for implementation. To ensure success within these early project stages, Customer Effective listened intently to the business process needs and requirements of how CRM should support Jamestown’s vision and environment. A critical component of the implementation – even more than contact management – was to provide a fully functional pipeline management tool so that Jamestown’s acquisitions, asset managers and accounting departments could work more closely together. Customer Effective keyed in on Jamestown’s requirements for managing complex deals within a single pipeline.
A core business team was assembled to work with Customer Effective to gather and define internal customer requirements for CRM from key departments and personnel. The collaborative effort paid off as the team clearly defined project expectations and established realistic time lines for implementation.
“We knew the exact status of our project at any given time during the implementation,” says Niswonger. “The Customer Effective personnel provided excellent scope control and communications throughout the project. They demonstrated deep CRM knowledge with a realistic ‘big picture’ view that contributed significantly to the project’s success.”
A well-defined training program was key to the CRM roll-out. Jamestown used documents supplied by Customer Effective to tailor its own internal training program. This included logical step-by-step processes for using CRM as well as screen shots from the system as illustrative reference points. By self-performing the CRM training, Jamestown’s IT team gathered immediate user feedback on the new system while sharing the vision of CRM’s role in the overall Jamestown IT strategy. But Jamestown wasn’t completely alone in this process: Customer Effective CRM experts were available during the implementation and training project stages to ensure a smooth roll-out and integration with Sharepoint.
A CRM prototype was built to serve as the base model for implementation. To ensure success within these early project stages, Customer Effective listened intently to the business process needs and requirements of how CRM should support Jamestown’s vision and environment. A critical component of the implementation – even more than contact management – was to provide a fully functional pipeline management tool so that Jamestown’s acquisitions, asset managers and accounting departments could work more closely together. Customer Effective keyed in on Jamestown’s requirements for managing complex deals within a single pipeline.
A core business team was assembled to work with Customer Effective to gather and define internal customer requirements for CRM from key departments and personnel. The collaborative effort paid off as the team clearly defined project expectations and established realistic time lines for implementation.
“We knew the exact status of our project at any given time during the implementation,” says Niswonger. “The Customer Effective personnel provided excellent scope control and communications throughout the project. They demonstrated deep CRM knowledge with a realistic ‘big picture’ view that contributed significantly to the project’s success.”
A well-defined training program was key to the CRM roll-out. Jamestown used documents supplied by Customer Effective to tailor its own internal training program. This included logical step-by-step processes for using CRM as well as screen shots from the system as illustrative reference points. By self-performing the CRM training, Jamestown’s IT team gathered immediate user feedback on the new system while sharing the vision of CRM’s role in the overall Jamestown IT strategy. But Jamestown wasn’t completely alone in this process: Customer Effective CRM experts were available during the implementation and training project stages to ensure a smooth roll-out and integration with Sharepoint.
Successful Integration
The team at Jamestown refers to the new system as ”Jamestown Business Intelligence (JBI).” Acquisition analysts and asset managers can instantly access multiple data views associated with specific ”deals” in the pipeline. They can use “track in CRM” to monitor business critical email exchanges during the deal development process. These streamlined communications are due to a seamless CRM integration with Microsoft Outlook, a centralized master contact list and integration with Sharepoint for efficient document management needs. Deal evaluation, tracking and the pipeline reporting process have been greatly enhanced with CRM.
“The acquisitions pipeline report is a critical business tool we use for managing deal flow and interacting with various audiences within our organization,” says Clay Adams, director and chief investment officer, Jamestown.
Adams continues, “The JBI project team seamlessly facilitated our transition from our prior format to the new database. We didn’t miss a single deadline or experience undue stress or delays because of the change.”
Each week, managers review the “Deal Pipeline Report” which provides improved data views, visibility of properties and related activities that comprise multiple facets of the property “life cycle.” Jamestown also plans to expand its report center in the future to include market focus, geographic opportunities, portfolio impact, forecasting and budgeting.
Adams further comments, “Within the JBI system, we now have the ability to use our acquisitions deal data in new ways which should allow us to eliminate data input redundancy when we create new report creation. It’s an exciting opportunity to create efficiencies in how we manage data and to create new ways of using our data to make business decisions.”
Executive management has been pleased by what they’ve seen in CRM. Matt Bronfman, one of three Jamestown managing directors (and JBI project sponsor), says, “I was impressed with how quickly our IT Team mobilized resources to solve one of our annoying business issues – that of not having a shared Contact Management System. Not only did the Project Team (supported by Customer Effective) implement CRM as promised, within schedule and budget, the delivered capability far exceeds that of a mere ‘Global Contact Database.’ Microsoft CRM, integrated with Sharepoint and SQL 2005, will form the foundation of our Business Intelligence system.”
With a new IT initiative in place and CRM positioned as a key strategic component, Jamestown has established a powerful and flexible infrastructure from which IT can provide innovative business solutions for a wide range of requirements.
As Bronfman states, “Our vision—to leverage JBI for intuitive data visualization—positions Jamestown with the innovative tools needed for competitive differentiation.”
“The acquisitions pipeline report is a critical business tool we use for managing deal flow and interacting with various audiences within our organization,” says Clay Adams, director and chief investment officer, Jamestown.
Adams continues, “The JBI project team seamlessly facilitated our transition from our prior format to the new database. We didn’t miss a single deadline or experience undue stress or delays because of the change.”
Each week, managers review the “Deal Pipeline Report” which provides improved data views, visibility of properties and related activities that comprise multiple facets of the property “life cycle.” Jamestown also plans to expand its report center in the future to include market focus, geographic opportunities, portfolio impact, forecasting and budgeting.
Adams further comments, “Within the JBI system, we now have the ability to use our acquisitions deal data in new ways which should allow us to eliminate data input redundancy when we create new report creation. It’s an exciting opportunity to create efficiencies in how we manage data and to create new ways of using our data to make business decisions.”
Executive management has been pleased by what they’ve seen in CRM. Matt Bronfman, one of three Jamestown managing directors (and JBI project sponsor), says, “I was impressed with how quickly our IT Team mobilized resources to solve one of our annoying business issues – that of not having a shared Contact Management System. Not only did the Project Team (supported by Customer Effective) implement CRM as promised, within schedule and budget, the delivered capability far exceeds that of a mere ‘Global Contact Database.’ Microsoft CRM, integrated with Sharepoint and SQL 2005, will form the foundation of our Business Intelligence system.”
With a new IT initiative in place and CRM positioned as a key strategic component, Jamestown has established a powerful and flexible infrastructure from which IT can provide innovative business solutions for a wide range of requirements.
As Bronfman states, “Our vision—to leverage JBI for intuitive data visualization—positions Jamestown with the innovative tools needed for competitive differentiation.”
