Vega Medical guarantees flexibility with the help of Next Consult and Salesforce

One of the most exciting customer success stories at the annual Salesforce conference was undoubtedly the implementation in Vega Medical. Maxim Kolev, Partner Software Solutions at Next Consult, and Dimitar Ivanov, CEO of Vega Medical, revealed details about the process, challenges, and new business development opportunities. One of the most exciting customer success stories at the annual Salesforce conference was undoubtedly the implementation at Vega Medical. Maxim Kolev, Partner Software Solutions at Next Consult, and Dimitar Ivanov, CEO of Vega Medical, revealed details about the process, the challenges and the new business development opportunities. Vega Medical was established in 2010 and is a distributor of medical supplies. The company is a leading supplier of medical consumables and equipment in Bulgaria and abroad and is a logistics partner in the region. Its mission is to improve healthcare.

What made you look for a CRM solution?

DM: When we considered the numbers, we became aware of our need for a working CRM. In addition, it becomes increasingly complex to deal with our partners and customers, digitally or otherwise. That, combined with our thirst for being the best in this tough market made us choose Salesforce. We started with an ERP system at first, which had an embedded CRM feature, but it wasn’t enough. As a customer-oriented company, it is extremely important to begin all processes with an identified customer need, rather than being left at the periphery. Knowing the customers, being close to them and serving them properly were our key motivations to make this choice. Our need for a CRM system is also due to several other factors. Those of you in the B2B sector know how long the sales cycle is and it can take up to 2 years, if not more. It is extremely important to have a history of this relationship in order to be able to deal with our clients in the best possible way, thus making sure that we offer them the most appropriate products and services.

What made you choose Salesforce?

DM: Our choice was mainly due to the huge market share of Salesforce. In this sphere, it is impossible to be a leader by accident - you have to earn and defend this title. Since so many companies worldwide have trusted the platform, it was the safest choice for us. On the other hand, the platform offers many customization options to match our personal needs. As a business, this is extremely important for us. The platform is very big, it’s secure and for this reason, many number of people are trained to work with it – also, this number is growing in Bulgaria. This makes it easier for us to work because we can always find the necessary help, be it an administrator for our system or technical experts to upgrade the platform. All this gives us security, freedom, and independence. We build a more successful and, most of all, up-to-date business.

Why did you choose Next Consult for the implementation process?

DM: We found the company on the Internet, the usual beginning of a customer's journey nowadays. The main reason was that after our first contact with a company representative, in a conversation a year later, I felt that our needs were never forgotten. A year later, after contacting a client to know what he wanted and why you could not answer the need, these are some of the things that prove the professionalism and the correct customer relationship with our partners. Precisely this attitude towards the client is what we are looking for and it’s what made us pick Next Consult. This good first impression was preserved over time. The proven experience of Next Consult and the big number of successful projects are very important to us because we cannot risk any delay or bad work ethic. The fact that you have a partner that is as customer-oriented as you are, gives you significant assurance.

What is the difference before and after Salesforce implementation? What are the results at the moment?

DM: Our first big success was that we successfully implemented the system. Something we did not expect was that we had the "buy-in" and "adoption" functions in the sales department. It means that the system is not something I’ve implemented to control the business more efficiently, but it's something that every employee now recognizes as a product that serves them in their everyday work. Accordingly, the benefits are visible in Vega Medical's various areas of work: from a management perspective, the platform offers a great opportunity for control, workflow automation and a complete vision of the company and its staff.

The other important benefits that we reported were in terms of customer service improvement.

The new thing is that we don’t receive repeated and unprocessed customer complaints. This allows us to serve our clients in the best possible way. On the other hand, our company staff gets the chance to work from anywhere, be it from their phone, computer or home. In addition, we have a faster deal approval process and more coordinated travel plannings. By now, we think that this choice is a success and we are excited that we have a constant opportunity to further upgrade the platform.

Do you have recommendations for anyone who has decided to take on this road?

DM: I consider two important recommendations. The first one is to begin the implementation as early as possible if you feel like you need such a solution. From my experience, I can say that if you consider the implementation of such a platform, you've probably been needing it for a while. If you wait too long, it may be late. By saying late, I mean that the the process might take much longer than expected, but it's not impossible, especially if you are in a growth phase. My second tip is to start small. As a very ambitious manager, I always aim to get everything done at once. For this reason, I am now a supporter of the "Agile" methodology, which states that today, you know the least of a given problem, on the contrary with the future. This is why I advise all those of you who have decided to take on this challenge not to rush or try to understand everything at once. Start with your critical processes, those that are important to you and must be online on the system straight away. Once you've implemented them and have gained good experience, start upgrading the system and find out what to expect from the future processes.

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