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The Society of Genealogists reaps early benefits using contact manager™ CRM from Decisions

The Society of Genealogists (SoG) is one of the foremost research and guidance organisation in the field of family history. The SoG is a charity with over 11,000 members whose objectives are to "promote, encourage and foster the study, science and knowledge of genealogy".

The SoG is backed by an extensive library which hosts the largest collection of family histories, civil registrations, census material and County sources available in the British Isles. The SoG’s Boyd's Marriage Index covers 2,600 parish registers with nearly 7 million names along with a general Card Index which contains some 3 million references.  A further 200 million names are referenced upon the International Genealogical index.

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How the Society of Genealogists can help you Author: Else Churchill

The Requirement

With the recent upsurge in interest in the field of genealogy the SoG recognised the need to improve their service offering and benefits of membership. The Society was also keen to establish a higher profile in order to take advantage of the flourishing interest in the area of researching family history. The SoG’s existing system needed to be replaced and a future proof, robust system needed to be implemented.

The Society quickly established the key requirements to a successful implementation. First and foremost was to provide the existing functionality as a minimum; secondly a system to help them grow their membership; and finally a solution which would help them become more efficient and cost effective.

A specific technical requirement was that of an EPOS module. The Society required their sales tills at the library to have the ability to connect with the system in order to register sales directly against an existing contact or a potential prospect.

Another major area high on the Society’s agenda was to establish a good working relationship with the selected vendor. The Society is predominately run by volunteers and it was seen to be essential that the chosen vendor would be able to take on key responsibilities in the area of analysis and project management. Comprehensive training and support were also deemed to be essential requirements.

The Solution

After a thorough vendor selection process, the SoG chose contact manager™ CRM. Not only did contact manager™ CRM offer the core functionality required but the overall solution benefits offered by Decisions provided technical competence and a partnership approach with a detailed understanding of how the society worked on a day to day basis.

Together with the SoG membership team Decisions quickly established the essential work flows and built an implementation plan which fitted in with the Society’s requirements.

Key to the solution was the recognition of user “buy-in”. With the core functionality of contact manager™ CRM firmly established, training and ongoing service and support were given high priority. With the flexibility of contact manager™ CRM, delivery of the specific EPOS requirements were easily met.

The Benefits

Right from the early days of implementation efficiency benefits have been recognised by the Society. The processes of managing and renewing membership have greatly benefited from the system. Due to the systems data integrity the overall confidence in the system has greatly improved.

The Society can now move forward in utilising the marketing and reporting functionality of contact manager™ CRM to not only retain but to increase their membership.

• Robust and future proof platform

• Increased efficiency and productivity

• Established cost benefits

• Increased data integrity and reduction of input errors

• Enhanced marketing and reporting capabilities

 Contact us today to discuss your specific requirements.