Costa

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Costa

Founded in 1971, specialist coffee retailer Costa Coffee has almost 3,000 outlets in 30 countries, supplemented by several thousand Costa Express automated vending outlets located in airports, petrol stations, and public buildings. Headquartered in Dunstable, UK, and employing over 10,000 people, the company has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Whitbread plc since 1995.

* Increased sales

* A single view of the customer

* Greater efficiency and faster installation

* Better aftersales service

* A single way of working

Its familiar High Street retail outlets are known to millions of consumers.  But Coffee Costa outlets and automated vending facilities are also to be found in locations such as hospitals and airports, and in places such as corporate headquarters buildings, where they serve employees rather than ordinary consumers. Sales to such outlets are the responsibility of a separate Costa Coffee division handling sales to contract caterers and large corporates.

During 2012, the sales teams serving such clients came to the conclusion that their largely paper-based systems were contributing to a lack of visibility into the sales process and associated pipeline.

Establishing what opportunities were in the pipeline at any one time, for instance, was complicated and time-consuming. There was duplication of effort, too, with multiple Costa personnel potentially servicing outlets in the same location—such as an airport, for example.

Nor was there a single coherent system for establishing the infrastructure services associated with a particular potential outlet, which was a particular need in the case of automated vending facilities, where a prospective location needed the provision of water, waste removal and electricity supplies before installation could commence.

Finally, there was a sense that there was a lack of integration between the sales process and the subsequent Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP processes that took over once a sale was made.

“Too much information was being held in paper systems,” sums up Bridget Ledgar, business relationship manager within Costa’s IT function. “We needed a central, consistent view of our sales pipeline, and of the machines that our clients might be requiring.”

Thanks to the greatly enhanced sales pipeline visibility provided by Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Costa Coffee now has a central, ‘machine by customer, and machine by location’ register of all upcoming automated vending machine installations. Better still, tight integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides a seamless transition from sales pipeline to invoicing, support, and servicing.

Explains Bridget Ledgar, business relationship manager at Costa Coffee:

“Until we implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we didn’t have a clear insight into our sales process, or where our new customers would come from, what types of machines they would want, and how many machines they would require. Now we have all that—plus, it’s integrated with our Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP system.”

Results

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM already successfully operating in its customer call centre, Costa quickly realised that it would also fully meet the requirements of its contract catering and large corporates salesforce.

Tasked with the implementation: Microsoft Gold Partner eBECS.

“It was immediately clear that eBECS understood exactly what we were looking for,” says Ledgar. “They offered us everything we were asking for, and more besides.”

* Increased sales

Implementing Microsoft Dynamics CRM has increased sales by around 10%, says Ledgar. Within six months of the January 2014 ‘go live’, she relates, the decision had been taken to extend Microsoft Dynamics CRM across Costa Coffee’s other sales channels. “We’ve seen the sales charts move in the right direction, and we’re rolling it out across the business,” she notes.

* A single view of the customer

Thanks to the move to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Costa Coffee now has a single view of even the largest corporate accounts, irrespective of the number of geographic locations or individual outlets over which the customer in question is spread.

* Greater efficiency and faster installation

When the order for a new automated vending outlet is received, it is immediately clear what is required by way of the installation of infrastructure services. “As we capture opportunities, there’s a structured questionnaire within Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which covers issues such as water, electricity, and waste services,” says Ledgar.

* Better aftersales service

Once sold, an automated vending outlet receives regular audit visits from a Costa Coffee brand excellence advisor. During the sale process, the frequency of the required visit schedule is captured within Microsoft Dynamics CRM, ready to be actioned at the point at which installation is complete.

* A single way of working

Thanks to the use of Costa Coffee-specific standard business processes defined within Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the sales team has a single, consistent way of working. Not only does this provide smoother handovers and more consistent holiday cover, but it also enables management to build a single consistent view of key sales metrics.

Solution overview

Costa is the nation's favourite coffee shop and the largest and fastest growing coffee shop chain in the UK.
eBECS
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Retail
UK

Testimonial

"Until we implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we didn’t have a clear insight into our sales process. Now we’ve seen the sales charts move in the right direction, and we’re rolling it out across the business."
Bridget Ledgar,
business relationship manager

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