Anaergia Implements Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

With more than two decades of experience in the CRM field, the leadership at HSO Canada has seen its share of complex projects. However, few have challenged the company in as rewarding a fashion as the work we completed with Anaergia, starting in the first quarter of 2019.

Anaergia is a recycling company that converts waste into useful resources. Their mission is to protect the environment and to “sustain life for generations to come.” A worthy goal, but one that isn’t without challenges from a business perspective. Foremost among those challenges is the complexity of their projects. You see, Anaergia sells large projects, with sales cycles that run between 1-4 years. Those projects take place all around the world, which adds even more challenges for those in charge of the sales process. There are a lot of moving parts and possibilities for problems.

The company needed a solution that gave them “One Version of the Truth.” Prior to implementing the solution, they were using Microsoft Excel to track their bidding processes. Although Excel can be a useful solution for many, Anaergia had grown to the point where it required something more powerful. After meeting with Anaergia senior leaders, the solution HSO delivered expanded from a sales forecasting platform, to also include a robust bid/no bid solution to help the firm focus their sales efforts. They would concentrate on deals they could realistically win and ignore those that they had little chance to secure.

According to Anaergia Senior Vice President of Global Sales Deo Phagoo, the solution HSO provided has allowed their company to compete for business worldwide. “It has been adapted globally and provides us with a globally consistent way of working. Previously we were pulling sales information from multiple places in different formats and it was very inconvenient – and this solution just centralizes everything,” he said.

“The main thing is we now have all the information in one place. That has been valuable to us in increasing our efficiency,” added Global Director: Applications Engineering, Steven Low. From a practical standpoint, the HSO solution had dramatic, measurable benefits. Prior to the implementation of Dynamics 365, the Sales Forecasting Reports took 24 work hours (3 workdays) to complete. Now, that time has been reduced to just 15 minutes.

This represents a 9500% increase in productivity and, assuming that the company is preparing two reports a week, nearly 10 fewer full workdays were required to prepare reports in 2019. That allows the staff to be focused on better serving their clients. Additionally, it allows a greater oversite of projects, which reduces costly mistakes and helps projects stay on time and budget. The main thing is we now have all the information in one place. That has been valuable to us in increasing our efficiency,” Steven Low emphasized.

“The workflow and qualification process forces everyone to ask the right questions. (Our sales process) is not haphazard now. Everything has to follow the proper workflow,” said Phagoo.

Additionally, the company reports that the system has forced a greater degree of discipline into the organization and that the entire sales and delivery team now follow a consistent business practice. The quality management system (QMS) produced strong vetting of opportunities and the CEO has a much greater visibility into what is going on throughout the business. They can deliver actionable reports using current data to the CEO in minutes.

Overall, Anaergia reports that working with HSO was a rewarding and professional experience. “It was a real pleasure to work with HSO, Low said. “They were responsive to our needs throughout the process and once they understood our needs, they figured out how to implement our complex sales process, that involves multiple approval steps, within the CRM Solution.”