Chicago-based information technology firm which provides technology solutions to large and small businesses in a variety of industries throughout the United States and abroad. The company is comprised of a diverse collection of interdependent business units and together, the units offer customers a single source for the development, purchase, finance and implementation of robust IT solutions.

Marketing campaigns and account manager prospecting needed to be more targeted and data-driven to help influence positive returns from such activities. However, moving to a more information-driven sales and marketing model would require that the company establish new fundamentals for outbound campaigns and prospecting efforts, causing a shift to established internal processes. However, the management team realized that they needed to leverage third-party information to enhance its prospecting efforts. Additionally, the data had to be restructured for integration into the existing CRM application and the company had to work within significant structural constraints imposed by the data provider.

To help guide the transformation efforts, we (digitalKnoweldge) lead the company through three key phases: Data Set Analysis, Transformation and Loading and Knowledge Transfer. The strategy focused on utilizing the company's existing CRM database and reporting capabilities to make the third-party data easily accessible for campaign list pulls and prospect segmentation. Over 20 distinct flat files comprising nearly 1,000,000 records and several tiers of relationships were imported and staged in a relational database. Once the files were available, they were studied and prioritized for import into the CRM application. Prior to loading, custom SQL de-duplication routines were written to match new companies to existing account records.

Once infused with a wealth of data, the company's CRM system instantly became more intelligent and capable of providing the informational insight needed for highly focused campaign planning and sales prospecting. Over 25% (17,000 accounts) of the company's CRM database now boast a vast range of demographic, installed technology, infrastructure and corporate structure information, providing the marketing and sales teams with increased levels of certainty around their target audience.