It’s one thing for us to tell you our CRM system was built specifically for DMOs and to demonstrate this; but when your peers in the industry—or even competitors—find our CRM so helpful they’re willing to share with you how they use it day-in-and-day-out … well, that’s saying something.
The Situation
The Bowling Green Area Convention & Visitors Bureau in Kentucky was originally on another CRM platform when their Executive Director, Vicki Fitch, recognized the need for something different. “The CRM system we had in place was not working for us anymore,” said Vicki. I had heard other DMOs, those our size and bigger ones, talk about Simpleview CRM.”
The Peer Recommendation
More than one of those DMOs even invited Vicki to see their Simpleview CRM in action. She decided to take Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau up on their offer. Paducah has been working with Simpleview since 2006, utilizing our integrated CRM and CMS solution, as well as other services. “They showed me the platform and talked to me about it, essentially saying, ‘Look, this paid off in spades for us.’”
This connection offered Vicki clear insight into exactly how Simpleview’s CRM could work for them, which allowed her to present the idea of switching to Simpleview to her board with solid information about what to expect from this industry-specific platform. In June 2015, the board agreed, and Bowling Green began implementing the CRM.
The System Adoption
A key element to the success of the system was it’s ease of use from the get-go. One of Vicki’s sales team was new to the tourism industry at the time the CRM was introduced. She was accustomed to juggling multiple projects in her former positions, but not quite as many as with Bowling Green. She immediately saw the Simpleview CRM as a tremendous advantage. “She thoroughly embraced the Simpleview CRM. She was so faithful about putting everything in there,” said Vicki. She recognized the organizational capabilities of the system, and how easily this new tool could help her track information. She also greatly appreciates the reports she can customize and generate with the CRM.
“She was the first one on our team to get full-on excited about using the tool, and her excitement overflowed to others. That was inspiring to get the others on board. She’s a cheerleader for it, and that made it a lot easier for our salespeople to get acclimated to it.”
Our CRM is so intuitive to DMO users right out of the box because it was built specifically for DMOs from the start. Over the years, we’ve worked with over 525 DMOs, plus user groups and advisory boards, to refine and perfect the system to continue to meet the travel industry’s evolving needs.
“It’s just been so helpful to our operation in so many ways, that we had the Simpleview CRM,” said Vicki. “And the Simpleview team has been very receptive to making us want to use the product, as they are receptive to ideas from DMOs that make it better.”
The Integration - Our industry-specific CRM + our market-specialized CMS
Bowling Green has been so pleased with the CRM, they decided to move forward with Simpleview’s CMS, as well. The two platforms are designed to integrate seamlessly, sharing information with ease.
“We brought Simpleview’s CMS on board about a year ago. Internally, we love it! It is such a better product.The depth of what you all have put into the CMS is amazing.”
Read more case studies here>
Simpleview CRM - Trusted by hundreds of DMOs across the globe
By the Numbers
As of January 2017 Simpleview had:
- 538 clients
- 371 CRM customers
- 205 CMS customers
- 30 CRM-only customers moved to Simpleview's fully integrated solution
