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Starting Situation
A customer operating in the financial sector has been using a proprietary CI tool for conducting direct marketing campaigns for some time. This has been tailored to the individual needs of the client over the years and constantly updated. However, as the requirements posed on the solution by the department have grown disproportionately over time, the proprietary development did not meet the latest requirement analysis of the department.
In an internal project, it was e.g. determined that the user interfaces can no longer be expanded with reasonable effort. Thus, as a result of the requirement analysis, it was resolved to replace the proprietary development with a new, external and sustainable campaign management solution. Accordingly, b.telligent was retained in order to conduct an evaluation of external campaign management solutions within a fixed time period.
The project objective was to provide an objective basis for the decision on the potential purchase of an external campaign solution. This solution was to meet the current and future requirements of the customer, taking into account costs and efforts. Further, it was to be evaluated in competition with a possible optional internal proprietary development.
Approach
The project was conducted using a project approach which had already been successfully used on numerous occasions before.
Within the scope of a workshop, the following requirements and frame conditions for the future campaign solution were identified in cooperation with the customer. These include e.g.
- connection to an existing data warehouse
- dynamic expandability of the interfaces with regard to campaign management data
- temporary exclusion of customers by means of pre-selection during campaigns
- dynamic campaign overviews with filtering possibilities and the possibility to display a campaign calendar
- display of multi-level campaigns
- multi-channel capability with the optional possibility to integrate future channels, such as e.g. Facebook and Twitter
Likewise, technical use cases were defined, the practical implementation of which the providers were to demonstrate on site within the course of live demonstrations. Further, criteria were defined by which the individual solutions are to be evaluated.
By means of the identified frame conditions and the expertise of a market overview prepared by b.telligent, it was possible to directly recommend suitable candidates for the further evaluation to the client. The client decided to invite three providers which satisfy the principal requirements of the client, but whose solutions are based on different approaches and strategies. b.telligent invited the providers to participate in the evaluation. Within the course of a comprehensive briefing, the providers were informed about the process, the requirements and the use cases. During the preparation period, b.telligent served as contact person for any questions of the providers.
All three providers have presented themselves to the client within the scope of workshops. In addition to a general business and solution presentation, the focus was on the live demonstration of the previously defined use cases. During the live demonstration, the client was able to specifically ask questions regarding the implementation of its requirements and thus evaluate the individual solutions. The overall results of the workshops are refined by b.telligent and a basis for decision-making tailored to the client's requirements is drawn up. As a result, two providers are suggested as potential solution candidates for a purchase decision by the customer.
Outlook and Learning
Due to b.telligent's proven approach and its expertise within the area of the currently available campaign systems, it was possible to build a comprehensive know-how within the area of campaign management within the client and to provide an objective basis for decision-making optimally tailored to the client's requirements within remarkably short time. Thus, it was possible for the client to save expensive and time-consuming research efforts and workshops with providers which would not have been suitable for the client's requirements.
