Is there a more economical and efficient alternative to Salesforce?

Choosing a direction when redefining your organization’s technical backbone is never easy. In this case study, we had the unique opportunity to observe the implementation of both - a Low-code/no-code CRM and tailored software solutions over two years. The outcome? When done right, tailored software solutions can bring more value to an organization, faster!

The client

The client is a leading customer credit provider in the United States, committed to assisting customers in achieving their objectives through great customer service and flexible lending alternatives. Let’s call them Genie.

Genie currently handles more than 3.6 million unique loan contracts in different stages of their lifecycle. While this is excellent for their clients, handling this volume has become a beast.

The challenge, a.k.a. the beast

Genie is using various systems to tackle the variety and volume of contracts. Soon the incompatibility between different solutions and workflows started to creep up as a real challenge.

• Solutions often require manual intervention and time-consuming workarounds.

• Multiple manual actions are needed for a single operation, like multiple clicks and data entries leading to risks and inefficiencies.

• Agents often need to rework contracts they had already spent time entering into the system.

Genie realized they needed an overhaul of their systems to continue doing their best work.

It was time to tackle the beast.

The two weapons: low-code CRM and custom software development

Genie decided to tackle the beast with two weapons.

Weapon 1: They invested significantly in a no-code/low-code CRM, Salesforce. A long-term approach that would need multiple consultants and, of course, lengthy implementation cycles.

Weapon 2: For a subset of users, they decided to develop a custom solution simultaneously, to solve an immediate need. Let’s call this approach Metamorphosis, and Incubyte spearheaded the project.

At the time, Genie saw Metamorphosis as a substitute or stand-in for the time it would take to get the ball rolling on the CRM. Two years in, we are in the position to look at the two independent workstreams. This experience has led to some revealing outcomes.

The Incubyte approach – A deeper understanding

Redefining tech solutions for the banking industry has unique challenges. It is a complex ecosystem in which every action and consumer decision has a different intricate workflow. For example, data comes from all directions. Consumers can apply for a loan online, at a branch, or with a pre-approved loan check, and all these data points must be assimilated cohesively so that the process can move forward swiftly.

• We understood that using software to streamline workflows needs more than small tweaks and customizations
• It needs the experience and investigative understanding of a truly cross-functional team to discover the nuances and interdependencies of a complex system
• The solution Incubyte needed to build had to be reliable, fast, effective, and affordable. Most importantly, it needed to enable Genie’s agents to enjoy their tasks and do better daily

Progress in two years: Salesforce vs Custom Software Solution

How we did it

• We started with small solutions for specific workflows, and built on top of them
• The Incubyte team worked with agility and discipline.
• We released small upgrades, got feedback from end users, and iterated - ensuring that the users got the most impactful features fast and could use them effectively
• We automated everything from day one, thanks to TDD and CI/CD - the build process was clearly defined and scripted, making it consistent and repeatable. This helped us improve our release frequency and lead time to release. It made our end users really happy as they saw the features from their wishlists in the product way sooner than expected
• Testing and quality checks were automated, keeping manual testing to a minimum

Metamorphosis was always release-ready.

Scoreboard

The Impact

Genie started saving 1000 hours a day across 225+ daily active users.

What Incubyte Achieved

• Saved 1200 hours a day. Team members onboarded by the Metamorphosis project have a seamless workflow that resulted in time saving
• Over 900 users onboarded by maintaining smaller, stable, consistent releases
• It’s a tailored solution, it is more than customization, because Incubyte developed a solution with the end user and the customer’s use cases in mind
• By being fast, economical, and agile, Metamorphis started adding value from the very beginning

Where Salesforce works

In this case study, we have analysed the progress made by both these methods over the time period of two years for the company Genie. However, it would be wrong to assume that in-house software development and no-code tools are drop-in replacements for one another. They have their own strengths.

A low-code CRM can be very powerful once built and launched well. They are ideal for running campaigns, marketing outreach, and more.

CRMs like Salesforce would work well in a business model where the nature of things is very well defined but the moment multiple systems are involved with different data points, its power weakens. In a nuanced environment, with unique use cases and intricacies, it is just as hard to work with something like Salesforce as it is to develop a tailored software solution to your specifications.

When it comes to adopting solutions like Salesforce, a company would need to pay for the portal (license) and pay separately for the additional development services the business needs. Whereas custom software shifts the cost from Op-ex to Cap-ex.

Consider your requirements and choose wisely. Will your end users absolutely benefit from the CRM or could they do more with a custom tool?

The power of Metamorphosis, a.k.a. Custom Tailored Development

• Built per the needs of business, client and employees in mind from day one
• Cost shifts from opex to capex once built there is no additional expenditure to onboard new users
• Can be faster cheaper and better if done right
• With Incubyte, your software can be reliable, scalable, and significantly affordable

Choosing a direction to tackle a system overhaul is never easy. There are no simple decisions, and every action has long-lasting consequences. We hope this study helped you understand your options better and what they ultimately translate to for your business. Contact us if you want to know how tailored digital products can uplift your business and enable your employees.

Reach out to us at hello@incubyte.co if you are considering tailored digital products vs Salesforce to uplift your business. We would love to help you with your Metamorphosis.