The company has been in business for over half a century. It has brought its expertise to more than 120,000 customers and has won several awards for its innovation
To continue providing the best possible service, Waterair has turned to the Microsoft Dynamics range of applications to manage the various aspects of its business
Waterair optimizes its customer service with Microsoft Dynamics 365, improving customer relationships, sales efficiency, and after-sales service
Waterair is a French manufacturer of steel-framed swimming pool kits: this affordable option offers a high-quality, durable product. The company, which employs over 300 people, has chosen Microsoft to optimize its customer relations, marketing and sales management. In order to match its customer support with its expertise, Waterair had to replace the in-house software it had developed for its outdated CRM system. "The main goal was to have a single CRM, shared data and a 360° vision between pre-sales and after-sales”, explains Thibaut Jeanpierre, Application Database Administrator for the group.
Technologies were initially implemented in pre-sales activities, with the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, automating certain routine tasks and providing personalized recommendations. The deployment was carried out with a small team of key users in various sales functions, gradually expanding to 200 users in the sales teams. The fact that Dynamics and Outlook are interconnected is of particular benefit to this user population. "The CRM can automatically send emails from the salesperson to the customer, and this major advantage is much appreciated by employees," explains Thibaut Jeanpierre.
Power BI was then deployed to provide comprehensible and in-depth analysis of sales data. This set of services can transform heterogeneous data into coherent information that can be visualized and shared with employees. Today, the entire sales network is equipped with the technology for sales activity reporting.
As for marketing teams, they can draw on personalized recommendations of Customer Insights for a holistic view of customer paths and profiles.
The company had already been using the Microsoft 365 suite since 2019, which tools proved indispensable at the time of the pandemic. "Teams was a revolution for us and enabled us to equip teams that had never worked from home before," stresses Isabel Coppola, B to C Customer Support Manager at the company - which activity significantly increased during this period.
As a European leader with 90 million euros revenue by 2022, Waterair also needed its foreign concessionaires to have access to CRM information. The company therefore called on an integrator to develop a Microsoft Azure Portal integrated with Dynamics technologies, enabling exchanges across numerous entities. According to Thibaut Jeanpierre, "Microsoft enables interconnections between environments, especially thanks to Power Platform, allowing us to go much further in terms of business process flows". Waterair has been working for several years with an expert integrator of Microsoft technologies: "We detailed each expertise, and they drew up an extremely precise specification of our needs," says Isabel Coppola.
The integration and rich functionalities of Dynamics technologies greatly simplified processes. "It was important for the tool to be uniform. For example, it used to be very complicated to place orders in distance selling, whereas now everything is fully integrated in Dynamics," she explains.
Waterair is committed to providing its customers with state-of-the-art support throughout the life of their pool. It therefore made sense to continue deploying technologies and optimizing customer service. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service was integrated at the beginning of 2022, with 60 users. Designed to optimize field service management, Field Service schedules client appointments, and provides everything needed to increase resolution rates from the very first intervention.
After-sales teams can also rely on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, which was deployed more quickly than expected, given the strong take-up of Microsoft technologies. Customer Service is ideal for diagnosing and resolving customer issues across any channel. "Working with different departments on a customer file proves great ease," says Isabel Coppola.
The interconnection of different Microsoft technologies ensures optimal customer follow-up, without losing context for a personalized experience. "When a customer calls us, we have access to all the previous history: it's very useful to have this information in the CRM," she details, underlining the positive impact on brand image and customer satisfaction. "The customer is identified right away". Data from connected objects is also integrated into the back office with easy access, enabling customer service agents to give the best advice. Customer Service also helps to improve employee workflow, thanks to the creation and rapid access to a knowledge base that quickly provides relevant information. Also, training time for temporary workers was halved in the after-sales service department after the adoption of the technology.
"There's no doubt about it: the Dynamics environment enables us to be more efficient," concludes Thibaut Jeanpierre.
Teams was a revolution for us and enabled us to equip teams that had never worked from home before
Isabel Coppola, B to C Customer Support Manager, Waterair
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