CRM implementation at Pentair Gulf Valves

Need for CRM

Pentair Inc. implemented the Microsoft Dynamics as their customer relationship software which was a
part of their ongoing campaign for better customer relationship. Pentair has 5 verticals namely: Energy,
Food and Beverage, Industrial, Infrastructure and Residential and commercial.
The company under discussion is Pentair Valves and Controls and more specifically Pentair Valves and
Controls Middle East FZE and Pentair Gulf Valve. CRM implementation started in 2011 and it completed
in 2013 though not everyone was able to reap its benefits. Post implementation there is a stage called
Change Management. It was not done properly and staff is still on the lower side of learning curve.
The need to implement CRM software surfaced when Pentair acquired Tyco Valves and Controls and
wanted to have a centralized control and database of global operations. Pentair, after acquiring Tyco
Valves and Controls gauged that they had many customers (Industrial Customers) but the information
about these customers was scattered. Especially in Mid East region, there was no standard way of
storing customer information in computer software and there were many excel sheets which executives
used to maintain.
The CRM software zeroed down by the company headquarters was Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Sales and
Marketing were the key modules. Employees were trained for Sales module and Marketing module.
With the CRM in place, Pentair Gulfs aim was to have a repository of customer information, sales
forecasting and management, marketing campaign planning and customer service. Pentairs gulf
operations are sales and to augment sales a few marketing campaigns. Pentair Gulf Valves is in the
business of valve manufacturing and provides valves (which Pentair manufactures in UAE and import
them from different factories all over the world depending upon the requirement of the customer).
Therefore customer service and customer relationship are the most important components of Pentairs
strategy in Middle East.
For implementation, an implementation team was formed. The team consisted of Team leader, Project
Managers, Department Managers (who were subject matter experts), IT representatives and a Microsoft
Dynamics consultant.
Another set of individuals were recognized from sales, customer service and marketing and these
individuals were the part of implementation team, so that they understand Microsoft Dynamics from
the core and at later stages they would impart training to other employees.
At the end of CRM implementation and execution there was CRM Assessment where CRM experts
would talk to employees about the CRM and their views on the pre and post CRM effects on Sales,

Marketing and Customer Service. Based on that CRM roadmaps were formulated. One such roadmap
which we got from the company documents when we visited Pentair Gulf Valves was:
Sales
The sales team needed more structure in how they approached and managed the sales activity.
Primitive forecasting was bad. A defined and consistent sales process, combined with a modern CRM
application, could solve the forecasting problem. The planned partner channel would also necessitate a
more robust application than Excel to track partner sales activity. From a personnel standpoint,
the lack of knowledge about CRM (Microsoft Dynamics) was troubling, given the strategic goal around
GCC Oil and Gas market. Lastly, the fact that small and large customers alike reported getting lots of
time from the sales team was a cause for concern. Were sales reps making smart decisions about
where to invest their selling time? Did they have the information they needed to judge the potential of
their prospects? This seemed like another potential area for improvement via the CRM program.
Marketing
A combination of process modification on the sales side, asking reps to catalog the outcome of a lead
before closing it out, and a shared CRM application between marketing and sales could solve
marketings lead visibility problem. Marketings Access database would not cut it when the group was
asked to ramp up lead generation and distribute generated leads to the new partner channel. So, there
was clearly a role for CRM here. However, the company partner channel plans were later in the strategic
plan, and the marketing director clearly needed some convincing to support the CRM program. It was
concluded that marketing should not be the initial focus of the CRM program.
Customer Service
The lack of a structured issue management process and an application to support it was the
fundamental problem. Not only would this prevent issues from slipping through the cracks, but the
increased understanding of the types of issues most commonly faced could inform new rep training and
shorten their ramp-up. Managing issues via the CRM application rather than in e-mail would also allow
for easier generation of metrics to monitor the groups operations. A knowledge base tool, which would
provide to reps a searchable place to pool their knowledge, procedures, and best practices, was also an
important need; it would help new reps ramp up and free some of the coaching burden from senior
reps.