The Customer
Severn Trent Water, part of the Severn Trent group, is an international utility services and environmental solutions provider, catering to over eight million customers in the heart of the UK.
Severn Trent PLC, listed in the FTSE 100, supplies and treats water and wastewater in the UK and abroad through its primary operations, Severn Trent Water and Severn Trent Services.
The Challenge
Severn Trent Water provides various tankered trade waste disposal services, collaborating with wastewater collection companies to manage domestic, commercial, and trade wastewater efficiently and safely.
The company manages 12 waste sites that process trade or food waste through sewage treatment or at a specialised food waste plant in Coleshill, near Crimson’s offices on Birmingham Business Park.
Severn Trent encountered challenges in handling customer-supplied waste, receiving up to 160 deliveries daily. The management of customer information was cumbersome and inefficient, relying on outdated spreadsheets that were difficult to access and maintain.
The Strategy
Crimson, a Microsoft Gold Partner specialising in customer relationship management (CRM) systems, worked alongside Severn Trent’s Information Systems team. They developed a solution using Microsoft Dynamics CRM to streamline waste stream management, customer enquiries, and business opportunities.
This new system, known internally as the CWID (Commercial Waste Information Database), was seamlessly integrated into Severn Trent’s operations by Crimson. This process included developing the system, conducting training sessions for users, refining the platform based on feedback, and training a designated ‘super user’ within Severn Trent to become an in-house CRM expert.
Return on Investment
The implementation of the CWID has markedly improved the workflow of Severn Trent’s Energy and Renewables team. Centralising customer data has reduced time spent on spreadsheets, allowing more time to be focused on delivering value to customers. The CRM system enhances the security, comprehensiveness, and accessibility of customer information, resulting in improved service delivery.
The system amalgamates previous databases, providing immediate business value and introducing new features such as laboratory testing capabilities and upselling opportunities. It simplifies the management of laboratory samples, permitted waste types, and waste approvals, tasks previously managed across multiple spreadsheets. This integration facilitates quicker, more informed decision-making and the discovery of new sales opportunities, previously not possible.
Crimson continues to offer ongoing support for the CRM system, ensuring that Severn Trent Water and its customers enjoy continuous improvements and innovations in service and management.
“Crimson have been very good at doing what we have asked and were very responsive when we asked for additional changes.”
Matt Lochee-Bayne, Business Analyst with Severn Trent’s IS team