Case Study – Ambassador Enterprises
February 28, 2024
Case Study: Creating a Clear Digital Operations Strategy for Ambassador Enterprises
Background:
Ambassador Enterprises is a financial services and investment company with a unique focus on investments that make a positive impact on the world through philanthropic and community partnerships.
Challenge:
Ambassador Enterprises recognized that their disconnected software tools and various data sources were creating broken internal processes that limited data availability to inform healthy decision-making. They needed a clear strategy for managing their internal data that was clear to the entire team, simplified current processes, and automated when possible.
Solution:
Working closely with Ambassador Enterprises, we developed a comprehensive solution to address their challenges by implementing four phases of development to meet their desired objectives:
Phase 1: Data Model and Database Implementation
This foundational phase engaged in deep discovery to understand current data sources, structures, and processes. With a clear understanding of historical data flow, a comprehensive data modeling process was developed to move forward, including:
Collaborative Data Model Design:
- Collaboratively designed a canonical data model, ensuring alignment with organizational needs and objectives.
Salesforce Training and Implementation:
- Provided Salesforce Basics training to staff, empowering them with essential skills for effective platform utilization.
- Conducted Salesforce Operations Training using real client examples, fostering a deeper understanding of platform functionalities and practical applications.
Comprehensive Data Inventory:
- Mapped exhaustive inventory of existing data conducted across all lanes and functions, ensuring comprehensive coverage of essential data points.
Phase 2: Data Migration
Once the data modeling process was completed, it was time to begin building a complete database within Salesforce as the primary source-of-truth for all data related systems, including:
Relational Data Migration:
- Managed the migration of contact lists from multiple staff data sources into Salesforce, ensuring the integrity and relational structure of the data.
Affiliate Data Import:
- Imported all primary data on affiliates and sub-affiliates into Salesforce, laying the foundation for consolidation and performance projects.
Box Data Migration:
- Migrated all relevant data from documents and artifacts in Box into Salesforce, ensuring seamless access and integration of essential information.
Phase 3: Data Funnels
With clarity on data model within Salesforce, the next step was to begin automating the movement of data into the database and enabling tracking functionality within the CRM, including:
Automated Data Collection:
- Developed Web Forms for automated data collection, streamlining the process and enhancing efficiency.
Custom Portal Development:
- Created a lightweight, custom portal for basic data retrieval and entry, providing a user-friendly interface for accessing and managing CRM data.a
Integration with Office 365 and Mobile Apps:
- Integrated Salesforce with Office 365 and mobile app installations, facilitating automated tracking of emails, calls, and meetings, and enabling in-the-field access to CRM functionalities.
Phase 4: Outbound Integrations
With trusted data in Salesforce, we turned our focus to outbound communication and future integration needs, including:
Mailchimp Integration for Automated Segmentation:
- Integrated Mailchimp with Salesforce for automated audience segmentation, enhancing targeted communication strategies and efficiency.
Impact Nucleus Setup:
- Fully deployed Impact Nucleus’ engine and portal completed, providing foundations for most/all integrations and automating key processes for enhanced operational efficiency.
Results:
The implementation of a clear digital operations strategy for Ambassador Enterprises has led to significant improvements across all phases of its organizational development. Through collaborative data modeling and Salesforce training, staff gained a comprehensive understanding of their data landscape, enhancing decision-making capabilities. Centralizing data in Salesforce improved efficiency and collaboration among teams and eliminated dozens of individual spreadsheets and manual data sources.
Conclusion:
This is a great example to show the impact that fully integrated data management can have on an organization. Through this process, Impact Upgrade worked alongside Ambassador Enterprises to fully understand their data flows, automate processes, and create actionable and helpful metrics from trusted data within Salesforce. Ambassador Enterprises now has clear communication strategies and operational workflows, laying a solid foundation for future growth and scalability.