Tata Steel Case

Steel pipe manufacturer Tata Steel Tubes is a subsidiary of Tata Steel and has three branches. The sales, customer service and supply chain departments work from the headquarters in Oosterhout, where approximately 300 people work. The other two offices are located in Zwijndrecht and Maastricht. The markets that the company serves are the automotive, construction, agriculture and heating sectors. The welded pipes that the company makes can be found in fencing, machines, stadiums, roller tracks, cars, trucks and many other products.

Customer challenge

At the start of the collaboration with UC Group, this company faced a major challenge: a comprehensive CRM implementation. The goal was clear: streamline customer processes and make customer information centrally accessible. Although the technical aspect of the project went smoothly, the commercial director found that the changes were not sufficiently accepted by the organization. The employees for whom the new system was set up found it exciting to actually use it. In March 2023, the company hired a UC Group professional as interim customer service manager. On the recommendation of this manager, a colleague was later appointed as process improvement manager, a crucial role that had been vacant for some time. The commercial director noticed that this quickly made a difference.

Approach

To revitalize the CRM project and create broad internal support, two UC Group professionals joined forces with the “process owners”. Together, they detailed the most important customer processes, such as the complaints process and the customer onboarding process. One of the professionals said: “In a company-wide implementation, it is essential to have the business processes properly described beforehand. Only then can you test during implementation whether all aspects of the process are included in the new system. During our workshops, new things always came up that were not fully included in the technical part of the project. We have processed every comment and tested it in new workshops. This is how we ensured that all processes were fully and satisfactorily defined when all workshops were held. After that, we adapted the CRM system accordingly.”

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Results

• Accessible customer information: All customer data is logically stored and can be found quickly by everyone in the company.
• Increased efficiency: Sales and customer service employees no longer have to consult different systems or switch with other departments, which increases productivity.
• Improved customer satisfaction: The employees can handle questions and complaints quickly and immediately correctly, leading to more satisfied customers.
• Successful CRM implementation: Achieved through effective functional guidance and broad support among all stakeholders within the company.

Our solution

Implementing a new CRM system within a large company is a complex and challenging undertaking. A UC Group professional explains: “Such an implementation involves several departments, where there is often initially a lot of skepticism about the announced change. This project proves that the success factor in an IT implementation is primarily functional guidance.”

The commercial director agrees: “The development of a CRM system requires a lot from your organization. It touches on processes that have been built up over years, and changing them requires a lot of decisiveness and change. The UC Group professionals delivered it to us.”

Although UC Group's task has now been completed, the project is not fully completed. However, the professionals have laid a solid foundation. “One of the best feedback points when we said goodbye was: 'At least you listened to us! ' For me, that confirms that we have chosen the right approach.”

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