About Pacific Boating
Pacific Boating offers members the opportunity to enjoy a luxury boating lifestyle without the costs and hassles associated with boat ownership. Having started the company with just a couple of boats and no customers, Managing Director , Phillip Pitt now has a fleet of 19 luxury sports cruisers and around 800 members.
The Challenge
As a small, growing business, Pacific Boating needed a cost-effective yet powerful CRM solution that would provide them with a clear picture of what they need to do for each member, without complication and fuss, in order to provide the best customer service.
The Solution
Act! was a great fit for a Pacific Boating because it’s so easy to use. While Phillip had used Salesforce at another company, he found Act! much less complicated and far simpler to use.
Currently, 19 staff use Act!. Mostly they are in the sales and customer relations teams, though others in finance and management also make use of the system. All interactions with staff, suppliers and, of course, existing and prospective members, are recorded in Act!. Along with all contact information, there’s also a record of every call, email or SMS message received or made by any of the team. In total, that amounts to a database of about 20,000 records.
Having such a detailed history is something Phillip values greatly. “I’m always going into Act! to make sure we’re consistently following up everyone we should be, and at the right times. Act! certainly allows us to be much more efficient in the way we follow up on leads and potential members,” he says.
“Another tremendous benefit of having every communication detailed in Act! is the way it helps us to recover overdue debts,” says Phillip. “Because we have a complete history of each conversation with a customer, even if they try, no one can dispute the fees for long.”
Phillip and his sales manager now know the system so well that they can tweak the system or introduce new staff to it as needed. For upgrades and major training requirements they call in Act! Certified Consultants, Act Today, with whom they have a long association. “They’ve been a great support in getting our database just how we need it,” says Phillip, “and are always there if we need them.”
The Results
Pacific Boating use Act! to capture and detail every relationship with existing and would-be members, as well as suppliers and staff. In all, Act! comfortably handles over 20,000 records.
Pacific Boating’s business has been built on delivering the highest levels of customer service, something they can only do with the right CRM system in place. “If we weren’t running Act!,” says managing director Phillip Pitt, “we wouldn’t be able to manage a database as extensive as ours.”
Act! provides them with a clear picture of what they need to do for each member so they can deliver the excellent customer service that creates loyal members. “Another big thing for us is the way Act! lets us plan tasks, so we can be sure we do what we said would for our customers. That means we’re able to consistently deliver the highest levels of customer service.”
Act! also enables the company to keep bad debts under control. Because they have a complete history of every conversation with customers, should there be any dispute over fees it can be quickly resolved.
Pacific Boating’s walk on, walk off business model is a perfect example of how Act! has the power and flexibility to help businesses thrive in an increasingly subscription-focused membership economy.
