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 HELP
Solutions Energizes CenterPoint
Energy An End-to-End Business
Management Solution
With its headquarters in
Houston, TX, CenterPoint Energy
operates in five primary
businesses: electric
transmission and distribution,
natural gas distribution,
interstate natural gas
pipelines, field services, and
competitive natural gas sales
and services. Independent
surveys positively reflect the
company’s commitment to customer
service excellence. To help
deliver on its customer service
commitment, the CenterPoint
Energy Pipeline and Field
Services division turned to Sage
SalesLogix and the capable
consulting team at HELP
Solutions.
Challenge
CenterPoint had no cohesive
system for managing its customer
relationships. Sherry Poimboef,
a customer excellence
representative for the company,
explains:
"Our ERP (Enterprise Resource
Planning) system had some of the
information, we had a couple of
Access databases that held other
information, and sales
representatives all had their
own spreadsheets, but there was
no place where we could see the
complete details of our customer
interactions. We needed
scalability, flex-ibility, and
the ability to interface with
our ERP system."
A change in management prompted
an overhaul in the company’s
system. To move to a more
customer-centric business
culture, it needed a CRM
(Customer Relationship
Management) system that would
serve as a centralized database.
Solution
CenterPoint Energy Pipeline and
Field Services division
evaluated several solutions, but
with help from HELP Solutions,
soon singled out Sage SalesLogix
as its choice. “HELP has
excellent consultants who
analyzed our needs and growth
plans and helped us make the
best decision,” says Poimboef.
“The user-friendly interface of
SalesLogix, broad customization
capabilities, and the ability to
interface with the company’s
mainframe ERP software were all
selling points.”
HELP Solutions worked with the
IT department at CenterPoint
Energy to design and implement
an import utility to bring data
from the ERP software into Sage
SalesLogix.
Results
HELP Solutions customized Sage
SalesLogix to meet many of the
company’s unique requirements.
360° VIEW OF CUSTOMERS
The company’s customer service
staff relies on SalesLogix to
provide a comprehensive view of
customers and to help the
company remain in compliance
with federal and state
regulations that govern the
energy industry.
INFORMATION WHEN AND WHERE IT IS
NEEDED
“We work from several offices
across many states, so the
remote access capabilities of
the software are vital to us.
Workers from the field or
another office can access the
main database to view and enter
up-to-date information,” says
Poimboef.
“The engineers are out in the
field, yet the communications
regarding the permit process
come to our main offices. When
we update the status of each
project in SalesLogix, an e-mail
message is sent to the engineer
so they always know what’s going
on. This is definitely a case
where time is money, because the
minute we obtain the permit, we
can begin generating income.”
The company’s field service
personnel utilize SalesLogix to
track problems or service issues
with the pipelines, creating a
Service Ticket to assign
responsibility and track
resolutions. “The goal is to
improve our service and
reliability by tracking the
nature of our service calls over
time, identifying and
eliminating problem areas.”
Poimboef has nothing but praise
for the consulting team at HELP
Solutions. “They are great to
work with,” she concludes. “I
really feel like they work in
partnership with us to make this
project a success.”
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