Case Study
From 50 to 500 users and ten years time, this mobile Sales Force Automation application has passed the test of time.
Highlights...
- 99.5% uptime over 9 years continual operation
- Scaled from 50 to 500 users (and growing)
- Same platform has kept up with advances in mobile computing
- Tremendous ROI based on effectiveness and longevity of application
In early 2000, XL Group built a website followed by a companion mobile application for the sales force of a major pharmaceutical client. The website was developed to transition the company’s field sales reps from a paper-based call tracking system to an automated system that vastly improved data entry and collection. The site began with approximately 50 users.
One year later, the companion mobile application was deployed, enabling remote, timely call recording and data capture, and a much more convenient mechanism for the reps. In addition, they now had instant access to sales data, enabling more effective sample placements, which ultimately contributed to increased market share.
From a novelty to a business-critical sales and management tool.
As additional user groups joined the system, they began contributing and collaborating on the centralized data source, providing additional value to the growing system. Currently, the goals of the sales force tools are to serve actionable and customized data to the end user, create transparency across channels, and enhance collaboration through data sharing and an intuitive and attractive interface. The web and mobile applications assist management and personnel by providing pertinent information for communication, management, and reporting on all field sales activities and marketing efforts. XL Group employs extensive data analytics that provide ranking, activity, user, and performance reports.
Over time, the client user base increased from the original 50 to approximately 500 users. XL Group maintains and optimizes the website’s infrastructure, producing a 99.5% uptime. The system is treated as a business-critical application, complete with regular data backups (both onsite and offsite), live cutover possibility to alternate servers, and complete power backup systems.
The flexibility to keep growing and evolving.
Additional users / user groups are continuously added. New projects with various user groups are regularly executed and added to the sales force system without degradation in system performance or uptime.
In 2009, XL Group assisted the client in selecting new hardware for the field’s mobile application.
