Glenn Vaughan

CEO British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium

www.britishchamber.be

"Both our website and internal databases were outdated…

We needed to link our ad hoc back office administration with our online presence, to share data and to make our on and offline operations more effective……and, as a not for profit organisation, we needed it all at a reasonable price"

"I won't deny we were initially drawn in by the price (less than half that of other offers we received), but we were also very attracted by the focus on a collaborative process".

"We liked not being tied to one particular product – and the approach of using carefully selected standard online products/services so that they could be adapted as little as possible to meet our specific needs.

They took time with us, ensuring that we were part of the project team and were fully engaged in both the design and creating the solution to our own needs.

The platforms we chose are easy to work with – and we appreciate that, as online services, they are constantly being updated and improved – this is an excellent cost saver from the start."

"Our members noticed the new website immediately – it was much more practical to use, with a simple sign-in/"buy" service based on e-commerce. We now have a much better customer experience.

The investment in a Chamber "app" has also had a real impact. Members like it, and it makes us look and feel "in the swim".

We also learned to make our internal administration much smoother, including our financial package.

We have recently estimated that in just 12 months of operating with our new systems we have saved 6 months of one person's working time, which we are now able to re-invest in a better customer focus.

Now, after 18 months of working, we have a new public persona plus a smoother process for our members."

"We have realised that the learning is ongoing. Over the next 12-18 months we will further focus the development of the CRM and connectivity with our website to ensure we are even better prepared for more effective membership recruitment."