Not-so-fun fact: none of us are getting any younger.

If we are Blessed with a long life - our final chapter is one where our independence and mobility tend to erode as we age.  While most people will try to live in their homes, or the homes of their families as long as possible - sooner or later they will need a helping hand getting taken care of (home care).

A healthcare professional with geriatric training will visit the house, while the younger family members try to continue to manage things the best they can.  This chapter in life usually ends one of two ways - more often than not, the senior family member leaves his/her house, and enters a retirement community instead (care home).  These places help to care for their clients until… well - you know.

This is a scary period, where the customer is not often the end consumer (like when parents choose a school for their kids). Younger family members do not necessarily know how to navigate this difficult time, where they find themselves making decisions for their parents, uncles, older siblings...  Thank goodness for them, there is Visavie.

Visavie is a 40 year old company that is a pillar in the community due to the valuable work they do: Visavie helps families find the best possible options for the care of their aging loved ones - and they do so free of charge.

But like their clients, Visavie is also maturing.  As they grew, their need for more robust systems also grew. They had tried different things with varied degrees of success - before we met them, they had just survived a failed Zoho adoption (yes - it happens).

Their previous consultant was out of his depth, and it left them a sour taste.  The team was very cautious, and were slow to trust, but once they realized what Cloud Lion was capable of, we were able to move quickly with the mission at hand:

Visavie was transitioning in their strategies/leadership - they could not continue to do business sustainably with the constraints presented by the system they had at hand (it was like being forced to walk with shoes that are too small for you!).  They had to migrate away from legacy server-installed systems:

• Acomba (accounting) 
• HubSpot LMS (lead management)
• Custom-built legacy CRM
• Mailchimp

Our Cloud Lion business technology needs analysis allowed us to gain an understanding of the situation they were in and where they wanted to be, we established a hierarchy of priorities together to get the job done.

What we did:

1) We prepared the terrain for them (structure + field-mapping) - preparing a CRM to support data from multiple platforms (HubSpot + their custom legacy CRM).

2) We conducted  validation-algorithm-assisted data-cleanup. They had approximately 15 years of data, which had to be massaged, blended and cleaned up.  Doing this manually would have been ludicrous. We had to merge the data between the HubSpot LMS and their old legacy CRM - and homogenize it to fit their new custom-made Zoho CRM environment. 

3) We connected the various types of data into Zoho CRM.  We had new tables where existing and new relationships between data tables had to be created (one-to-many, many-to-one, many-to-many).

4) We migrated the data itself - one year at a time - being careful not to pollute the records as we added batch after batch.

5) We added automations and workflows, improving their already upgraded new system (see Lumbergh's reports section below).

6) We migrated their accounting system from Acomba to Zoho Books.  We had to follow the same migration process described earlier.  We trained their accountants on Zoho Books functionalities, reassuring them - clearing up their questions and doubts.

7) We combined their CRM and Books data (data blending) to bring advanced reporting via Zoho Analytics. These reports were of very high value to top management, and were a significant factor for investors who chose to buy the company - they remain impressed with the technology they found in place.

Fun fact: Businesses often have an exit strategy - via acquisition. In many cases, having a proper business technology system (Zoho One, for example), correctly configured and adopted - could represent getting 20-40% more money when getting bought out - think of that when you’re contemplating the ROI of business technology investments.

One problematic report was sending a customized report for the senior person to the residence. Before Cloud Lion was in the picture - this report would take three to six hours to combine the data from various tables, put it in the standard form, brand it, and send it as an email. 

There was no tracking.

After Cloud Lion - this custom report is produced in under a minute. Tracking, notifications and (most importantly) analytics are now part of it as well.

Example of report: They were able to segment sales (CRM) and revenue (Books) data by region and sales representative - while filtering on revenue channels and marketing sources. This allowed them to better understand who was performing best in each geographic territory, as well as how to attribute the successful leads from a marketing ROI standpoint.

They were also able to classify their revenue based on the residences they work with.  This allowed them to reconcile the 400+ residences they currently do business with.

It is difficult to calculate how much time these advanced reports saved them - some of these reports would take them three to seven days to put together.  Because of this, reports were only carried out monthly, sometimes quarterly (depending on the report).

They now benefit from modern BI - having up-to-date dashboards which track the most important KPIs for them - allowing for data-driven decision-making.

What took hours/days now takes seconds/minutes.

As far as business technology goes - Visavie’s future is no longer daunting - it is now like an open highway: they are seated in a nice car (say, an Alfa Romeo) - they can quickly advance towards the future - while having fun in the process.  We plan on being with them every step of the way.

Takeaways:

1) Don’t give up

75% of CRM adoptions are a flop (industry statistic, not Cloud Lion’s!).  If your attempt flopped - pick yourself up, brush off your knees, and try again - don’t give up on technology just because someone you hired to implement it could not see it through.  Fortunately, there are lots of qualified consultants out there.

2) Build your tech with the long-term in mind. 

Reactive knee-jerk deployments often turn out into a disjointed frankenmonster (trust us, we’ve seen things…).  Think about your tech as a building to scaffold on - from a strong foundation. Think about 5 year plans - and making things that can be built upon, instead of needing to get torn down in the future to rebuild.

3) Make sure whoever you choose to work with to build your tech speaks transparently about the good and the bad. 

It is a fact that things will sometimes not go according to plan, there are many factors in play - there will be friction, there can be complications.  It is important to be honest about the fact that unlike the honeymoon, the marriage will have its ups and downs - with the right communication - a long-term relationship built on respect and trust will endure.

Conclusion:

The road to a successful Zoho One implementation/adoption can be a sometimes-longer-than expected path. 

But like anything worth doing - it is hugely rewarding once you actually decide to move forward - just be sure to have the right people by your side.  It is a jungle out there, with all sorts of consultants offering their services - so be sure to choose a partner that knows what they’re doing. 

When folks see Zoho One, they often experience the kid-in-a-candy-store effect, (all-excited, not knowing what to start with).  Once you establish a hierarchy of priorities, budget,  and partner - the rest is easy.  As the adage goes: knowing what you want is half the battle.

The day will come when we must face the music of what to do with our aging loved ones. We are lucky that people like Visavie exist - They can help us navigate this often intimidating process - they have our best interest at heart, and do not succeed unless we do. Knowing this should bring us peace of mind.  Similar peace of mind can also be achieved when you find the right cloud consultant to lean on regarding your difficult business technology decisions.

Remember - a journey of 1000 miles starts with simply starting your engine. Enjoy the ride!

Fun fact: A company's lifespan can last for hundreds of years.

Just like a fine watch, it could be something that is never truly owned, instead: passed lovingly from one set of hands to another - one generation at a time. We all just do our best, and build something greater than us - for the betterment of our children, and grandchildren.

Let's build a legacy together. ☁️🦁