Selling upgrades - a-solutions deploys Doktool to win substantial new Microsoft Dynamics AX business

Denmark based a-solutions was one of the first Microsoft Partners to incorporate Doktool™ into their product portfolio. This case study will outline the results achieved to date as well as providing examples of how the tool has been used by both resellers and end users

Background

a-solutions is a well established business, operating since 1997 and as a specialist Microsoft Dynamics AX reseller since 2002. Managing Director Jorn Rejndrup has always been cost focused both for himself and his clients who range from 26 user installations right up to world leading organisations with 275 concurrent users.

"We are really good at earning money" says Jorn "we have delivered a profit every year since starting the business and even though the core team is kept small, we are able to deliver on a large scale and have many of Denmark's largest businesses as clients."

Despite winning most business from word of mouth recommendations, Jorn maintains that his close eye on the sales process is a vital part of maintaining profitability; it was this sales awareness that first drew him to Doktool™.

Choosing Doktool™

Jorn first saw Doktool™ at Microsoft Dynamics Convergence in Copenhagen and was convinced of its merits almost from the start:

"The biggest difficulty in the sales process for us is estimating the volume of hours required for a client upgrade - we can have a margin of error of up to 200% which can be either a nasty shock for our client or an expensive mistake for us. To mitigate the risk we spend many hours working with clients to get this right."

"Our clients have complex infrastructures, often the current management are unaware of changes made by their predecessors. There can be so many changes that it is impossible to keep track; in my experience they are never documented. Doktool™ is a way to get much more accurate estimates, in a much shorter time which means less cost for me and better prices for my clients."

Using Doktool™ for Sales

As one of the first resellers of Doktool™, a-solutions worked closely with the Cimbax team to refine the process and a number of product innovations came about from these early conversations.

Jorn is particularly pleased with the colour coding to highlight additional code (red) or amended code (green). "Doktool™ makes it easy to sell upgrades. You can actually show clients the changes that will need to be incorporated into their upgrade."

"In every case deploying Doktool™ leads to more involved discussions with prospects. The colour coding comes into its own, especially with clients who were under the impression that they have very few, if any, modifications in their systems. When they can actually see the scale of their issues they are much happier to talk about solutions and involving the client in this process builds trust right from the start of the relationship and that helps us close the sale."

"In the past winning clients has been a difficult process, now we have a shorter, cheaper and much more accurate process which allows us to pursue more prospective clients."

The second use a-solutions make for Doktool™ is as a reseller to existing clients it creates opportunities to add value and re-establish links with organisations that haven't reviewed their AX developments for several years. Larger businesses in particular value the audit trail functionality that Doktool™ provides.

The a-solutions team will spend a day onsite with the client installing and configuring Doktool™ and then a second day running the documentation and going through it with the client. In some cases this is sufficient for a new CIO to get to grips with a complex Microsoft Dynamics AX configuration, on other occasions this audit will highlight a clear development path which can be easily prioritised into urgent medium and longer term issues.

"We can work alongside clients reviewing their configuration module by module or even screen by screen." Jorn adds "Doktool™ allows users to decide whether the modification to their existing system needs to be incorporated into their upgrade " - in many cases the modules are made redundant either by a change in the client's business model or a development of the software.

Results so far

"I use Doktool™ for selling upgrades" Jorn says simply. "In some cases new clients but more often existing or even old clients. In the current climate many businesses are putting off their upgrades and Doktool™ is a simple audit process that helps clients make intelligent decisions about the work that could be delayed and the work that must be done now"

With very large clients protective of their brands Jorn is reluctant to name names but is confident that his Doktool™ investment has generated its own revenue stream as well as being able to win two substantial upgrade projects.

For more information contact the Doktool™ team or register for a free demo version or you can even submit a sample of your own data and have the Cimbax team produce your documentation.

Download this case study as a PDF file here