Sales innovation success at IRIS Software Group using Cloudapps behavioural science and AI technology
Cloudapps is a leading provider of revenue intelligence technology in the CRM sector. Its solutions have been adopted by IRIS Software Group, a global software provider of accountancy, payroll, human resources and education business solutions that help businesses scale and achieve the next phase of growth.
When IRIS Software Group first launched in 1978, it was the vision of founder David Guest to revolutionise the way accountants use software to carry out their daily work. More than 40 years later, IRIS is one of the UK’s largest private software companies, supplying business critical software and services to more than 100,000 accountancy practices, businesses, charities and public sector organisations.
IRIS helps customers improve the way they work by automating core business processes to quickly solve problems and provide actionable insight. Using intelligent integrated software, IRIS gives professionals time to do what they value.
Well-versed in the world of technology and implementing high-quality innovative solutions, IRIS is known for acquiring disruptive companies, which means it is consistently ahead of the competition.
Making the most of sales skills and systems
IRIS maintains ambitious plans for sustained growth and relies on effective processes, as well as a productive and motivated sales team to achieve its targets. With consultants working in numerous sites, across different systems and architectures, it was important the teams were aligned on sales processes, best practices and had access to the tools and information to succeed.
For IRIS, achieving its targets was not a matter of simply increasing the number of sales calls in the diary. The company recognised the need for an intelligent growth solution to improve both its CRM system and team skills to maximise productivity.
“In order to grow, it’s not uncommon for businesses to crank the handle faster,” explains David Turner, Chief Marketing Officer, IRIS Software Group. “While short-term gains are possible, there’s a matter of sustainable scale to consider and importantly, the wellbeing of colleagues. Our strategy was to find a platform of tools we could use to support sales teams and existing procedures. One method we were already exploring was the possibility of harnessing AI and behavioural science techniques to identify and promote successful behaviours within teams.”
To accommodate its growth strategy, IRIS was looking for a partner that would align with its business objectives while also addressing the challenges at hand.
“We had a technical discussion with the Cloudapps team to see what they could do for us and came away excited at the prospect of working together. The roadmap encompassed what we were looking for and that was the beginning of our story.”
Maximising performance with holistic modelling
By applying Cloudapps’ revenue intelligence platform to its Salesforce CRM system, IRIS is now able to identify successful sales behaviours and share them with the entire team.
Combining behavioural science with AI technology, Cloudapps extracts information from the CRM system and time-sequenced data from across the business to provide valuable insight. This is shared across the teams to evolve best practice and empower them to improve efficiency, productivity, and success.
As the sales team grows, Cloudapps’ technology is also supporting new starters, providing tailored training and coaching according to their needs. “Since the implementation, we’ve seen a 20% decrease in time spent onboarding new colleagues,” says David Turner. “With Cloudapps, it’s beyond the traditional vendor-supplier relationship. It’s a partnership that continues to grow from strength to strength.
Andy McDonald, CEO, Cloudapps, says: “We are proud to be working closely with such a great company. With many market-leading solutions across multiple business segments, it is brilliant to see our unique AI software helping IRIS to discover and promote untapped potential. The use cases being identified by IRIS demonstrates the unique versatility of the Sensai AI platform. Cloudapps has developed an extremely close working relationship with IRIS, resulting in this mutually successful partnership.”
