CRM Solution Helps Growing Data Storage Provider Meet Its Information Needs
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Compellent Technologies is something of a trailblazer in the data storage industry. While other companies market their products through a direct sales force, Compellent sells exclusively through a group of reseller partners. And while competitors build the storage systems they believe their customers want, Compellent works closely with its customers to identify their requirements and build the right storage solutions for their needs.
So, when designing and implementing a complete IT solution, Compellent again bucked the trend. The company designed and built its IT infrastructure—including a customer relationship management (CRM) solution—before even taking its first sales order.
Founded in 2002, Compellent is a relative newcomer in the highly competitive data storage industry. Nevertheless, the company has plans to become a major player in the field. "Most of the products in the marketplace over the last couple of years have been very expensive, very hardware proprietary focused, and not very scalable or affordable. Plus, they've been terribly complicated to administer," says Michael Beach, Compellent's Director of Sales Operations.
So Compellent built the company and its suite of products around addressing those fundamental data-storage issues. "You don't have to be 3M or GM to afford our solution— and you don't have to be Albert Einstein to use it," Beach says. "We've turned data storage into something that is very affordable at the entry level and will grow with you if you do become the next General Motors."
Compellent is unique in the industry in the way in which it goes to market with its products. The company eschews a direct sales force, opting instead for a tight network of indirect-channel business partners. Some of Compellent's 25 partners are software developers who combine Compellent's products with their own to create a bundled system. Others are storage experts who sell both Compellent's and competing storage products.
Early on, Compellent recognized that a CRM system would be critical to providing outstanding service and support to its business partners. "We needed to be able to blow our business partners away with the ease of doing business with us," Beach explains. "They can buy storage products from any number of companies. If we can make the process easier, faster, more fun, and more profitable for them to sell and support our product, we feel that will enhance our success."
As a result, Compellent built CRM directly into its business model. "We invested in CRM upfront as an enabler of our rapid growth," Beach says. "A lot of companies wait to put in a CRM system until they've been in business for three or four years. We put ours in place before we booked our first order."