Louisiana Department of Economic Development
Weathers the Storm with Sage CRM
The mission of Louisiana Economic Development is to provide excellence in leadership, policy and programs to create a business climate enabling public-private linkages, which result in capital investment, a diversified economic base and quality job opportunities for all Louisiana citizens.
Challenge
In August 2005, the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LED) was looking for a CRM system to replace GoldMine, which they had outgrown after more than ten years of use. In the midst of comparing solutions, hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Louisiana coastline.
Under normal circumstances, LED is the state agency charged with attracting new business and industry to Louisiana and providing economic development services to resident industry, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. However, after the hurricanes, LED was suddenly tasked with providing emergency assistance to affected businesses and their employees throughout the region.
Solution
In the months before the disaster, LED had been working with HELP Solutions to identify a replacement CRM solution. Immediately after Katrina hit, LED turned to HELP for advice on applying CRM in a disaster-recovery situation. HELP recommended Sage CRM as the optimal technology to support both their immediate and long-term needs. Linda Regira, Director of Policy and Planning, stated:
"Based on past experiences, LED assumed all CRM pack-ages would be cumbersome and inflexible. That myth was quickly dispelled when we took a Sage CRM crash course."
Results
LED decided to proceed with Sage CRM, and within three days of implementation, LED personnel were logging critical hurricane-related data.
USING SAGE CRM TO ASSIST AFFECTED BUSINESSES
LED established hotlines where businesses could communicate their status. Staff catalogued every email and call, and assigned follow-up tasks in Sage CRM. LED ran reports to determine the areas in greatest need, allowing them to appropriately allocate resources.
At the 2006 Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, Secretary Michael Olivier stated, “After hurricane Katrina, by getting up and running quickly with Sage CRM, we were able not only to help our displaced businesses right away, but we were also able to be accountable to the Governor about who we helped, when we helped them, and what we did for them.”
IMPROVING FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITYAlthough still assisting businesses in hurricane recovery, LED is now using Sage CRM in a more traditional fashion. The agency has launched two major marketing campaigns, promoting financial incentives for setting up business in Louisiana. LED utilizes the Campaign functionality to track Leads and Opportunities as they progress toward becoming Companies (i.e. local businesses). LED staff tracks brochure mailings, follow-up calls for campaigns, hiring incentives and workforce development programs. Managing projects in Sage CRM helps LED to report regularly on the state’s development efforts to the Governor and tax payers. Looking ahead, LED plans to integrate its proprietary incentives tracking application with Sage CRM to build company profiles reflecting direct business assistance and other opportunities provided by LED. The program will help LED identify how to best assist these businesses in the future. Click here to download the entire storyBack
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