Gallup is one of the world’s premier research firms and, thanks to its public opinion polls, data analytics, and strengths-based learning and development it has become a household name. However, despite its intense focus on data, the company was having trouble tracking its sales leads. To give its salespeople a user-friendly and effective way to track leads and serve customers more quickly, Gallup upgraded its years-old customer relationship management system to Microsoft Dynamics 365.
If you follow politics, it’s likely that you’ve heard of Gallup. But Gallup is much more than just political polls—the company’s true calling is to be the “voice of people around the globe for their thoughts on economic, workplace, and political issues.”
“The core focus of our business are the things that matter to employees and employers, and that drive value for organizations, so we do a lot of consulting in those areas,” explains Brandon Schulte, Technical Project Administrator at Gallup. The company’s main drive is to provide data analytics and advice to help businesses learn more about themselves and figure out how to serve their customers better.
Poor usability begets insufficient information
With so many customers around the world, it was difficult for salespeople at Gallup to manage leads and have visibility into the sales funnel. The company’s previous customer relationship management (CRM) solution had limited functionality and salespeople weren’t finding much value in it. “What we were missing was the usability piece. There wasn’t any advantage for salespeople to put information into the system,” Schulte says. “It didn’t help them do their job better.”
Gallup needed a CRM solution that not only would encourage its salespeople to use it, but also would be familiar enough that they could begin using it right away. “We were really trying to focus on a system that has front-end usability components,” Schulte says. “We wanted comprehensive insight into our customers, and an opportunity to visualize data in a sales-friendly manner.”
More detailed leads, quicker customer service
After evaluating several options for updating its CRM solution, Gallup decided to make the switch to Microsoft Dynamics 365.
After using the new solution for just a year, tangible benefits began to emerge, particularly for the company’s visibility into the sales funnel. “We’ve been able to build out the pipeline from an opportunity standpoint, so we don’t just have the sure wins, we have everything,” says Schulte. “We’re able to leverage the content that we create to drive leads and capitalize on that, and then we can see the ROI of all our activities, all the way through.”
The new CRM system helped the expanding sales team track opportunities and leads more easily. As the company strengthens its local presence, the sales team has grown by approximately 30 percent “Microsoft Dynamics 365 has helped us to provide the infrastructure to support those folks,” Schulte says.
Most importantly, however, Gallup’s customers noticed the improvement in sales communication and quickness. In one instance, a potential customer visited a Gallup landing page and filled out a web form. Her information was routed automatically to Dynamics 365 and assigned to the correct salesperson, who then contacted her within 10 or 15 minutes of her initial inquiry. “She was amazed that we were able to get the relevant information and proactively reach out to her so quickly,” Schulte says. “That’s a good example of how Microsoft Dynamics 365 has been able to facilitate a better process for our customers.”
With Dynamics 365, Gallup’s salespeople can manage their day better, communicate with customers in a streamlined way, and track and drive leads knowing they have all the information they’ll need. As a result, Gallup’s CRM usability problems are a thing of the past and the company now can focus on what it does best: giving a voice to people around the globe.
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