New CRM system to help EDC track economic development

THE SALESFORCE client relationship management system will help the R.I. Economic Development Corporation streamline assistance of local businesses and develop a comprehensive database of statewide economic development, the agency said Monday. Total first-year cost of the new system is $84,939, and the transition is expected to take four to eight weeks to complete.
THE SALESFORCE client relationship management system will help the R.I. Economic Development Corporation streamline assistance of local businesses and develop a comprehensive database of statewide economic development, the agency said Monday. Total first-year cost of the new system is $84,939, and the transition is expected to take four to eight weeks to complete.

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Economic Development Corporation board of directors has selected San Francisco-based Salesforce as the agency’s new client relationship management system, the agency announced Monday.

Total first-year cost of the new system is $84,939, and the transition is expected to take four to eight weeks to complete, the EDC said.

“RIEDC is focused on creating the conditions for businesses in all sectors to thrive,” said Marcel A. Valois, executive director of the EDC, in a release. “A big part of that is having the right tools and data at our disposal to help businesses in a professional and consistent way when they come to us for assistance. … This new CRM system is going to help RIEDC to better coordinate and manage our response to client needs and effectively measure our performance.”

Through Salesforce, the EDC will develop a comprehensive, cloud-based database of statewide economic development using data imported from multiple sources and interactions with businesses. The new tool will allow the EDC to provide improved data-driven, responsive assistance to Rhode Island businesses, the agency said.

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“I am pleased that the RIEDC continues to make important strides to help Rhode Island businesses succeed,” said Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee in a prepared statement. “Having these types of tools will enable the RIEDC to better serve clients, increase efficiency and measure performance.”

Anticipated benefits of the new CRM system include improved client response times, increased transparency and efficiency, centralized activity and performance tracking, and ad hoc reporting.

“Access to reliable and current data and the ability to manage and track how well an organization is delivering services is the cornerstone to any successful organization,” said Tim Herbert, CEO of Atrion Networking Corp. and EDC board member. “As one of the premier and most proven CRM solutions on the market, we determined that Salesforce will help RIEDC provide the greatest value to Rhode Island businesses and move our economic development efforts forward.”

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