Challenge
To say SAP needed to modernize its internal marketing service request platform is an understatement. For far too long, the company’s marketers were forced to use an extremely frustrating system. They suffered operational inefficiencies. They dealt with complex technical issues. They lacked visibility into requests. And that’s hardly all.
Solution
We helped SAP identify a new technology platform, reimagine operational processes, and increase the services available in the new tool—giving the organization all the modern marketing capabilities it truly deserves. STRATEGY: Before SAP could plot its path forward, it needed a sound strategy. Yesler played an instrumental role in not only devising that strategy, but in clearly articulating the company’s vision for a new marketing services request platform. The story we wanted to tell focused on the promise of change. With a more innovative tool, marketers could achieve a new, simpler way of doing business—one defined by streamlined workflows and increased productivity. Yesler didn’t just provide an overarching strategy for the digital transformation project. We developed a change management strategy, too. This involved informing SAP’s fulfilment team about future changes, inviting staff to participate in the process, and creating various materials to educate users, including a promo video, platform demos, trainings, and walk-throughs. Solution Together, SAP and Yesler laid the groundwork for the Marketing Services Request Center (MSRC), the powerful new system that would replace SAP’s previous Campaign Services Desk (CSD) tool and help reinvent the marketer experience in virtually every way imaginable. But there was still plenty of work to do. First, the team had to evaluate and select the specific technology to use. Yesler led this effort by gathering technical requirements, qualifying vendors, supervising the RFP process, and providing vendor and technology onboarding support. Another critical component revolved around design or redesign. Yesler was tasked with ensuring the system provided an optimal UX/UI experience. We achieved this by collecting stakeholder input, designing wireframes, and documenting design requirements—placing particular emphasis on accessibility. Our redesign services involved reimagining what SAP’s marketing services and operational processes would look like going forward. To do that, we examined the company’s current services and workflows and provided recommendations on how to improve them. A huge step in finally making the MSRC a reality included assisting in the technology implementation. For this, we documented user stories for the development effort, defined business rules and logic, designed system workflows, developed in-platform custom apps, conducted testing, and managed the push to production. Throughout the project, interviews proved invaluable. Yesler took every opportunity to sit down and speak with the marketers and fulfillment specialists who would use the new system on a day-to-day basis. This helped ensure we were building a platform that would address pain points, meet needs, and exceed expectations. With many of the details around technology, UX/UI, services, and processes ironed out, Yesler played a key role in the training and readiness effort. Whether supporting the marketer training or leading the fulfillment team training, we created user guides, cheat sheets, FAQs, and more to make sure everyone understood how to use the platform once it was up and running. Finally, the time came to launch a pilot program. We first rolled out the new system to a handful of high-volume users. Shortly after, we introduced the tool to 20 additional members of the marketing community. This allowed us to solicit feedback and make incremental improvements before the wider launch.
Results
By April 2020, the MSRC was in the hands of SAP marketers all around the globe. And it wasn’t long before employees started seeing the tool as the difference-maker it truly is. In the first three months after going live, 155 unique users submitted 4,870 total requests through the new system. Each request was completed in 3.14 hours—a sharp decline from 1.93 business days in 2019. Delivery times for standard requests have dropped by 80%, while advanced request delivery times are down 30%. The MSRC has helped decrease SLA times, too—from five business days in 2019 to two business days in 2020. Before the new system was implemented, it took an average of 28 business days to execute an email service. Now, with simpler workflows and fewer forms to fill out, it can take as little as two. SAP has also benefited in another key area: cost savings. Retiring its legacy CSD tool has helped the company save up to $200,000 a year in redundant platform licensing and maintenance spend. All in all, the organization achieved exactly what it set out to. It transformed the marketer experience by equipping employees with a sophisticated platform that makes their jobs and lives easier. And recent surveys back that up. SAP saw its user satisfaction ratings soar to 9.88, up from just 6.31 the year before. This increase in satisfied staff has gone hand in hand with a 90% decrease in employee turnover. <41 hrs to complete a request $200K in cost savings 9.88 out of 10 user SAT rating
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