Delivering Positive Pipelines for Profitable Performance

Background

Occurro Software is a global provider of innovative Sales Improvement Software (SIS), which boosts the effectiveness of B2B sales teams. Its Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions integrate with the leading CRM and ERP systems, on both PCs and tablet devices, delivering instantly accessible sales uplift to teams, in-house and on the move.

Occurro realised that it could grow its business significantly if it could somehow solve the two fundamental sales issues that existing CRM and ERP systems do not: insufficient quality opportunities in the pipeline and subsequent pipeline mismanagement.

A bespoke software portal solution that would integrate fully with Salesforce was the most compelling option – but Occurro needed a trusted partner to build it for them.

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Challenges

Occurro knew that the project would potentially be fraught with many challenges and risks, including:

• Developer misunderstanding – It was critical that the business goals of the project (not just the technical workflows and development detail) were fully understood by the developers, to prevent “tick box” delivery of a product customers would not want to buy.

• Inflexibility – Capturing stakeholder and customer input would be crucial, but so would the ability to make changes to reflect that input at every stage of the project.

• Untested functionality – Confidence that the system’s capabilities had already been tried and tested was a cornerstone of Occurro’s faith in the project.

• Insufficient support – Break-fix would not be enough; Occurro would need support for further improvements, to keep step with customers’ expectations.

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Solution

Occurro chose Transition to deliver a market first solution – the DealCATALYST pipeline management system.

It incorporates a number of unique innovations, including powerful DealSHEET visual sales reporting and DealADVISER intelligence, which automatically provides salespeople with engagement-enhancing information and advisories, based on best practice.

Transition’s prototyping (wireframe) approach enabled users and prospects to see what the screens would look like once the application was fully developed.

Furthermore, the development was delivered in stages, which enabled Occurro to experience the application, confirm it was achieving what they and their customers wanted, and suggest changes if necessary.

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Benefits & Results

In Occurro’s view, Transition’s consistent delivery of added value has created a highly successful product. As Paul Coleman, Occurro’s Client Services Director, says, Transition was able both to “confirm what was possible and in many instances enhance what was being proposed.”

The trustworthiness of the underlying code on which Transition’s applications are built plays a major role in this value-add process. As Coleman notes:

‍“One of the strengths of Transition is that they had an existing base of functionality that was tried, tested and proven in mass user environments, and this was used as the foundation for the project.”‍

With so many users, however, it was also clear that functional needs would vary somewhat. Understanding those needs – and providing a high degree of configurability to accommodate them – was vital.
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‍“We always knew that to gain flexibility and support different clients’ needs the system had to be highly configurable,” Coleman continues. “Transition’s phased deliveries enabled us to start testing modules early on, and understand how the application should be configured for different clients.”
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But for Coleman, it’s the long-term relationship with Transition that has proven as valuable as their high-quality deliverables.
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“Since the initial development,” he says, “we have worked with Transition to layer additional functions into the software… After the initial release, we also undertook a client review which resulted in Transition supporting further improvements to the user interface, based on in-field use day in, day out.”

“Transition have become a trusted supplier. They guided us through the development process, providing us with good support and migration of skills to our team to take the product forward… They act as an extension of our team, responding to our requests, understanding client requirements and supporting our pre-sales process.”
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A positive process all round, certainly – but what is the ultimate outcome? Coleman puts it simply: “It has enabled us to develop a better product.”

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