Concentrix Corporation

BACKGROUND

Can you provide a brief overview of your company?

Our primary client base is the asset-based lending community. Our primary customers are banks, and we provide valuation work as well as disposition work. We value companies’ assets effectively and dispose of underperforming assets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main objective going into the project with Concentrix?

I decided to go with Concentrix because we were implementing a CRM system in earnest for the first time. We chose Sugar as the CRM system. Sugar was unable to build out one license to our specifications, and we needed to understand whether the system could give us what we needed. As a result, we partnered with Concentrix. Concentrix was able to build out that one license based on our needs, and it ensured that before we committed to twenty licenses in rolling it out company-wide, we could give it the look and feel, as well as the results, we needed. Concentrix was an integral partner for us in terms of being able to take the next step and say, “The Sugar instance is going to work for us based on all these customizations.”

What was the reason for choosing Sugar instead of Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, or any other CRM platform?

We wanted to keep it simple and cost-effective. While the capital outlay to go with Sugar on a licensing basis is not entirely different from Microsoft Dynamics, it is approximately half the price of Salesforce. Sugar gave us the flexibility and the usability we needed, and it is basic enough that from the standpoint of user adoptability, it would be a good system to transition.

What was the process for discovering and then choosing Concentrix?

Concentrix was recommended to me by a representative at Sugar when I was dealing with Sugar directly. I spent a lot of time with the development department and the programmers at Sugar identifying what we wanted to accomplish with the system. They said, “Yes, we can do all these things for you.” Unfortunately, they were unable to invest the time and build out an instance of Sugar, to show it to me, and demonstrate it. Because that became a sticking point, they referred me over to the team at Concentrix. Concentrix went through the discovery process with us quickly. They worked with me over the next two months to ensure the instance of Sugar would meet our needs, and that it would meet our requirements with respect to its look and feel.

SOLUTION

Once they helped with the initial test, did they work with you to build out the rest of the system?

Yes. Once we agreed on the architecture of the Sugar instance, they replicated that for the additional users in my group. Beyond that, they provided ongoing customer support in the entry room. As we rolled things out, more questions begin to come in. They were also available on the backend to make sure that the implementation went smoothly, that our questions could be addressed, and that subsequent changes could be made.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How happy are you with what they have delivered so far?

I am happy with the folks at Concentrix. I would not say the same for the Sugar platform in the end; it was our first step. Now that we are a bit further into it, we understand the capabilities of Sugar better, and we are evaluating other opportunities.

What are the main pain points or the reasons for not being satisfied with Sugar?

I found Sugar’s reporting to be very limiting. In Microsoft Dynamics, you can link a spreadsheet directly to the database system and quickly flush information out of it. The reporting in Sugar is very limiting in terms of the types of reports that it allows you to run from a canned perspective, without moving into custom code. That was one issue. I found the mobile usability and interface for Sugar was significantly less useful than what was purported by Sugar, not by Concentrix. For example, I found the mobile app to be archaic and clunky in many ways. As we worked with Concentrix to build that out to mirror what we had in the online or Internet-facing instance, it did not give us what we were looking for. Those are the two major issues when it comes to Sugar.

When working with Concentrix, what do you find to be unique compared to other IT consultants that you have worked with?

I have not had enough experience to be able to draw a good distinction between them and other consultants in that space. I am definitely pleased with their team’s willingness to ask questions, learn about our business model, and make an effort. For someone like me without a strong IT background, they asked questions that were geared toward understanding where this might go several months or years down the line. Their questions were not shortsighted. They asked good questions, and they helped me circumvent some of the challenges that I might have otherwise experienced, not knowing more about the system and how the buildout can work.

Is there anything you would do differently or think that Concentrix could improve upon?

One of the challenges is being available on the back end of the project. We had a service agreement in place with Concentrix that brought us to the point of implementation and in the near-term thereafter. The handholding did not stop right when we went live, because that is a critical point. I believe they could improve upon following up after the fact and making sure that everyone’s needs are met. The systems work in the way you need it to. I would like to see a troubleshooting effort in which we feed them some data, and they test that data to ensure that the system is working the way it should.