Prescription for Success: eRx Leverages the Salesforce CRM Platform for Service and Support, and More

Challenge

• eRx Network—a premier provider of e-commerce applications to the U.S. pharmacy industry—needed a system that could handle CRM and service and support functions
• Integration and installation issues made a Microsoft CRM deployment so unsuccessful that the company received a full refund from Microsoft
• Easy, mobile access to data outside of the corporate network was necessary
• Users who couldn’t use the Microsoft CRM system maintained handwritten lists for prospects and new leads
• eRx wanted to replace proprietary service and support systems that were expensive to maintain

Solution

• Citing key differentiators such as customizability by non-technical users, a delivery model, and ease-of-use, eRx selected Salesforce CRM Enterprise Edition and swapped out Microsoft CRM
• Microsoft Outlook integration merges existing contact data into Salesforce CRM
• Salesforce CRM's call center with Cisco computer telephony integration increases productivity by automatically providing eRx agents with screen pops of a caller’s record
• Using the self-service customer portal, value-added resellers easily enroll pharmacies in the eRx Network 
• eRx added additional functionality by downloading and installing apps such as DreamFactory’s Snapshot and AppExtremes’ Conga Mail Merge from the AppExchange marketplace
• Web-to-case functionality enables IT request tracking; in the future, eRx plans to add additional functionality with Force.com

Results

• Salesforce CRM's call center and customer portal have dramatically increased the effectiveness of the eRx customer support group
• Strong user adoption means data is now stored in Salesforce CRM instead of in notebooks—boosting sales
• The combination of CRM and service and support on one system—along with the delivery model—reduces the drain on IT time and resources
• The company plans to integrate Salesforce CRM with its Microsoft Great Plains accounting system
• Force.com's pages will enable eRx to further customize the look and feel of Salesforce CRM to its business