The Problem

The Redglaze Group is an architectural and engineering group with a technology background whose companies provide products and services to the construction industry. The firm consists of eight businesses. Five are in the construction industry and two are in the technology field. The Redglaze Group provides operational business support services to the other companies.

With specialties ranging from branding and marketing to technology and construction, Redglaze Group companies assist architects, designers, and property owners in planning, constructing, and maintaining their commercial buildings. Due to the length of commercial construction projects, the company's customer relationships can last for years.

Redglaze was being limited by its existing customer relationship management software. The firm was trying to use this CRM package for multiple functions throughout its business units, but the software was very rigid. As a result, Redglaze developers had to extensively customize the software. Then, when the vendor upgraded the software, Redglaze had to spend time and money to ensure that all Redglaze customizations were compatible with the newest version.

The overall challenge was to implement an IT solution to achieve consistent customer interactions across all business units, create cost efficiencies, and share data instantly among headquarters and satellite offices. Specifically, the new CRM solution had to integrate the core functions of accounting, marketing, human resources, project management, and information technology to facilitate staff crossover; create a data-sharing platform that securely provides project-specific information to internal staff members; and establish a uniform customer-facing presence throughout all of the Redglaze business units. The objective was to deliver superior customer service and make better use of resources in a highly competitive industry with extremely tight margins.

The IT Solution

Redglaze could have purchased a new software package that might work for some but not all of its companies. Instead, the firm chose to implement Sugar, a product of SugarCRM. SugarCRM is a software company that produces an open-source, customer relationship management product called Sugar.

The Results

One of Redglaze's companies, RGI Image, maintains showroom exteriors for approximately 150 automobile dealerships across the United States. RGI project managers supervise maintenance schedules and multiple work crews. They have to know many details about each project, including building height, dealers' preferences regarding cleaning days, equipment placement restrictions, and many others. Previously they had no effective method to access all of the relevant information regarding dealerships when they planned maintenance crew schedules. Today, project managers can access this information via Sugar dashboards. In addition, they can integrate Google Maps with Sugar dashboards to have an aerial view of each dealership next to their notes about a project.

Another of Redglaze's companies, SGH, handles the production and installation of architectural metal products. Prior to Sugar, when SGH project managers were assigned a new project, they would receive information that frequently had no relevance to their projects. Further, the information that they did receive was scattered: Spreadsheets and memos were in Google Docs, photos were in Dropbox, and e-mails were forwarded via Outlook. The process of integrating the relevant information was time-consuming. Today, Sugar enables SGH project managers to have all relevant information at their fingertips.

Sugar also helps SGH project managers resolve field problems. Managers are able to share documents (such as digitally rendered plans) with subcontractors through a Sugar portal developed by Redglaze software engineers. The managers and subcontractors can view the plans together, identify the source of the problem, and resolve issues quickly. In addition, subcontractors can use the portal to upload photos, so SGH project managers remotely receive instant views of job progress or potential problems.

The Redglaze development team extended Sugar to include the accounting and human resources functions. In accounting, for example, the developers wrote a new invoicing module that stores all of the relevant forms pertaining to each contract. These forms include the industry standard American Institute of Architects documents, lien waivers, insurance certificates, and others. Sugar digitally attaches the necessary forms to each project so that the project can be billed correctly.

The team also implemented a new human resources module. For example, because staff members are shared across business units so frequently, the HR solution continuously updates organizational charts for each project, and it adjusts staff access to internal project data and customer data accordingly. The HR solution also includes a portal for employees who want to request time off or update personal details.

Redglaze's CEO has a customized SugarCRM dashboard that provides him with a high-level view across all of the firm's business units. The dashboard shows him just the information he needs, freeing up his time to pursue new business opportunities. His view includes items such as financials from each business unit, cash on hand, employee count, sales to budget projections, and project tracking.

Redglaze's involvement in a single project often spans years, so building trust with clients and prospects is critical. SugarCRM empowers the company's salespeople, project managers, and engineers by providing the right information to the right people at the right time. This information includes plan details, photos, case studies, and engineering data on a project or a product.

Photographs are particularly essential in helping staff members in their interactions with current and potential customers. In meetings with current or prospective clients, Redglaze salespeople use Sugar to access photos of the company's previous projects. With a click or a swipe, the salesperson can drill down from the image to identify the building materials, the square footage, the architect or general contractor, as well as other key pieces of information about the job. Salespeople are paid only on what they sell, so having better and quicker information results in better productivity for the salesforce.

Today nearly 75 percent of Redglaze employees rely on direct access to the SugarCRM system to help them do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. The organization notes ongoing gains in staff empowerment, an improved company image, and easily customized SugarCRM modules that make employees' jobs easier.

By consolidating documents in Sugar, Redglaze has reduced server space by 60 percent while continuing to grow its business by 30 percent. Further, because all of the data are stored in a single location and are easily shared, all concerned parties have the necessary information for their clients or contractors.

Questions 1.Discuss the reasons why Redglaze decided to implement SugarCRM rather than an on-premise CRM solution. 2.Describe how Redglaze extended the functionality of SugarCRM beyond customer relationship management. 3.Refer to your answer to Question #2. If you were a SugarCRM marketing manager, how would you market your product?