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Michigan Design Center - Drupal Upgrade & Custom CRM

Michigan Design Center in Troy, Michigan, is a design showcase with over 2000 member professionals in interior design and architecture. MDC's current web portal was built in Drupal 7, with a scheduled end-of-life date in 2022. Their back-end management software, MDC Enterprise, is built on another platform that is already end-of-life. They needed to upgrade both.

THEIR NEEDS

  • Complete data migration from legacy software to new portal with custom CRM
  • New functionality to create and edit records for all member and customer types
  • Retain all current features of the existing front-end public web portal and apply the same styles and layout to the new site
  • Robust report functionality
  • Management of events and activities at MDC

PROVISIO'S SOLUTION

Many of the features of these two systems overlap and require custom integration. Upgrading either

of these systems independently will require a new integration project. By combining the functionality of both systems into a single portal, the need for integration is eliminated, and data management is streamlined. Drupal 9 is a digital experience platform (DXP) with an architecture designed for easy upgrades. It has a content management framework that powers enterprises around the world. Its scalability ensures excellent performance and means that new functionality and upgrades can be added later without having to replatform. Provisio’s custom solution included:

  • Retained all current features of the existing front-end public web portal and applied the same styles and layout to the new site
  • New reporting built that includes information and metrics for all member types, customers, and activities
  • Enhanced ability to upload photos and add and edit content for designers and showrooms featured on the website
  • Ability to create and manage products and services offered, as well as manufacturers available at MDC
  • Developed new event management functionality, including registration, online payments, and custom event types and audiences
  • Upgraded badge management, including creation, tracking, and printing of badges for all visitors

Off the Shelf CRM vs Custom CRM for your Business

Customer relationship management (CRM) software allows businesses to organize client interactions. It can handle sales and marketing, customer service, human resources, and other tasks connected with client relationships. While this may sound like a simple undertaking, CRM software is an investment that requires a substantial amount of training to master.

The first step in choosing the right CRM software is determining your needed features. Many companies work with an off-the-shelf CRM solution, which will include all the basic features but may not be designed for your company's needs.

 Customers have learned to expect more from their business interactions, including personalized support and attention, customized solutions tailored to their specific needs, and reliability regarding information access and availability. These expectations demand that businesses take every available resource to differentiate themselves from competitors already doing business over the Internet and enable customers to interact with them anytime.

Using customer relationship management software allows you to maintain organization and build lasting relationships with your customers. CRMs allow you to maintain organization and build lasting relationships with your customers by giving you a single, holistic view of each customer's history with your business. 

These solutions also help you identify areas where improvement is needed. For example, suppose you notice that your customers are canceling subscriptions or abandoning shopping carts without buying anything. In that case, this may indicate a problem with the checkout process on your website or other bugs in your ordering function that needs fixing. Using customer relationship management software allows you to maintain organization and build lasting relationships with your customers. In the end, maintaining your current clientele and luring in fresh clients keeps your business viable.