CASE STUDY

American Crane & Equipment Corporation (ACECO)

American Crane & Equipment Corporation (ACECO) is a prominent manufacturer of cranes, hoists, and material handling equipment, including components for various applications. With three facilities totaling 226,000 square feet and a lifting capacity of 150 tons, ACECO caters to diverse industries such as nuclear, energy, aerospace, mining, automotive, food and beverage, transit, and construction.

At-A-Glance Results

0
Lost or Missing Service Cases
0%
Personalized Sales and Marketing Outreach
0
Integrated CRM Solution

Client Snapshot

Industry:

Manufacturing

Business:

Materials Handling Equipment

Locations:

Pennsylvania, New York, Alabama

The Challenge

American Crane & Equipment Corporation relied on the limited CRM capabilities in its operational software.

Surface-Level Data

ACECO couldn’t dig deep into historical customer data to uncover trends and opportunities.

Limited Sales and Marketing Features

Because ACECO was managing sales and marketing processes with software built for operations, teams were limited in what they could accomplish.

Disorganized Scheduling

ACECO’s ERP offered limited scheduling capabilities, which led to delays in service call responses and inaccessible schedules for remote technicians.

The Solution

American Crane & Equipment Corporation improved opportunity follow-up and service scheduling with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM.

Unlimited Access to Business Data

ACECO’s new CRM integrates with its existing ERP to combine data and enable real-time reporting.

Powerful Features for Sales, Marketing, and Service

With Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM, ACECO gains the benefits of modern cloud software for sales, marketing, and service.

Smart Scheduling

ACECO can assign jobs to technicians as they come in, and technicians can access schedules from smartphones and other devices.

Implementation

Cargas led a guided implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM for ACECO to expand the company’s sales, marketing, and service capabilities.

1: Discovery & Requirements Planning

According to Karen Norheim, Executive Vice President at ACECO, "Our ERP system wasn't sophisticated enough in the CRM area to do what we wanted. We needed to be able to dig deeper into our customer data for marketing and sales purposes, and we needed a solution to better manage our growing service group." 

ACECO managed their customer information, contacts, quotes, and jobs in their ERP system, but they didn't have the data management flexibility to create marketing nurture campaigns and to do lead follow-up as effectively as they wanted. In addition, their service technicians didn't have access to data nor did they have a scheduling engine in the ERP system. 

After ACECO did some research and decided on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM, someone recommended Cargas to Norheim for the implementation. 

"I liked their background and track record," shares Norheim. "I felt confident in their ability to configure the CRM to meet our specific marketing, sales, and service data management challenges." 

2: Configuration and Integrations

For marketing, ACECO is using the native Marketing Lists functionality within the CRM, and a marketing automation system called "Click Dimensions" for nurture campaigns. Cargas also integrated ACECO's CRM with a database of global projects and their primary contacts. This allows ACECO to direct marketing campaigns to companies who might actively be in need of its products and services. 

The Dynamics CRM is also helping ACECO better track and cultivate sales. With the native Leads and Opportunities features, the company can now generate a sales pipeline report that identifies prospects and qualified sales opportunities. 

Scheduling and responding to service calls has improved as well. By using the CRM Service Calendar in the system, ACECO can assign jobs to their technicians as they come in. Technicians can see their schedules on their smartphones, enabling them to check their assignments remotely. Cargas also implemented an add-on called "Apex Calendar" to enable service schedulers to visually review technicians' calendars and quickly reschedule jobs as needed using drag and drop functionality. 

3: Ongoing Training

"We've had the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution from Cargas for about a year, and we've seen an improvement in our ability to follow up on opportunities and capture metrics. We've also stopped service cases from falling through the cracks," says Norheim. "And I believe we're just at the tip of the iceberg." 

While the initial implementation is complete, Cargas continues to work with ACECO to apply even more of the CRM's features to enhance the company's marketing, sales, and service efficiency and effectiveness. 

Results & Impact

Cargas helped increase service visibility and team coordination with connected customer data, mobile scheduling access, and streamlined sales operations.

No Missed Service

ACECO has a complete view of all service requests, preventing cases from falling through the cracks.

Complete Sales and Marketing Control

Dynamics 365 CRM gives ACECO comprehensive data for every account in the sales funnel and enables personalized marketing campaigns.

Scheduling Flexibility

Technicians can view schedules on their smartphones, enabling them to check assignments remotely.

“I’m impressed with how they’ve been able to match the capabilities of the system to our unique needs. I’m very particular about wanting personalized attention and follow-up. Cargas […] has provided exceptional customer service and expertise. I would recommend them to anyone.”

— Karen Norheim, Executive Vice President, ACECO

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