Palletways

Challenge

The rapid growth Palletways has enjoyed since its formation 24 years ago saw it evolve from a UK business to an international one with 400 depots across Europe. It was therefore vital each partner delivered the same high-quality experience, regardless of where they’re located.

Solution

As growth continued, it became clear the legacy CRM system in place wasn’t flexible enough to align with Palletways’ business objectives. Following a recommendation from a key partner, Sugar was chosen as the CRM platform to adopt a data-driven approach, first in the UK and then across the entire pan-European network. The flexibility of the platform ensured tweaks could be made in each location to align with regional differences, such as compliance and differing customer requirements.

Results

• Uniform experience for all customers, regardless of their location
• Removal of regional silos between Palletways’ businesses
• Data-driven relationship management
• Constant year-on-year growth

SugarCRM Partner Enable Technologies integrates Sugar with Palletways Portal

Founded in the UK in 1994, Palletways has grown to become Europe’s largest pallet delivery network. With over 400 network members strategically positioned across 20 countries, it currently delivers up to 45,000 pallets every day.

SugarCRM offers a seamless solution to enable 360° insights

As Palletways grew from a UK focused business to an international brand, it needed to transform its business processes to handle its 400 network members located across 20 countries. The previous CRM system was limited with very basic licences which allowed low number of users to own it on a standalone machine. There was no mobile functionality, which proved difficult for an international delivery business which requires constant updates for their partners around the world.

Thomas Olsson, Group IT Director at Palletways, says, “Before we started working with SugarCRM, the system we had in place was very limited and not aligned to our business objectives and growth goals. It worked when we were a national company but as soon as we started to develop internationally it became clear we needed a smarter, integrated platform which delivered a seamless, data-driven model that could be rolled out across our entire network.”

“The key was being able to deliver a uniform service regardless of the location of the customer or partner. Our users should have exactly the same experience whether sending a pallet from Oxford to Newcastle or from London to Madrid. The data-driven approach Sugar facilitates offers us a 360° view of our customers and partners and this is a key reason we’ve been able to achieve this goal across all of our locations.”

One of the key challenges to creating a uniform business model were the regional differences across the Palletways’ partner network. Where an ‘out-the-box’ solution would have faltered, the combination of SugarCRM and its implementation partner Enable Technologies turned out to be perfect. Thomas adds, “Unsurprisingly, there are some key differences in the way our partners work on a daily basis so ensuring a uniform customer experience can be difficult.

For example, compliance can differ from country to country and it’s vital each of our partners delivers the Palletways experience while adhering to the needs of their markets. The work of Enable in tweaking the Sugar platform to align with these specific needs has been central to the success of our business. What could have been a complex, time-consuming project was a seamless process that has added value to every arm of the business.

“Without Sugar, Palletways wouldn’t be the business it is today. The continued growth across an ever-expanding international market simply wouldn’t be possible without the data-analysis and uniform business model SugarCRM facilitates. 15 years ago, the business had approximately 100 network members – 70 in the UK and 30 in Italy – and was moving 4,000 pallets a day. Fast forward to 2018 and we now average up to 45,000 pallets a day with a next-day delivery service level agreement in place across 400 network members in 20 countries. This growth simply wouldn’t have been possible without SugarCRM, the flexibility of its platform and the work of Enable to roll it out across all of our locations.”

About Palletways

Founded in 1994 and based in Lichfield, UK, Palletways is Europe’s largest pallet delivery network. With over 400 depots strategically positioned across 20 countries, they’re unrivalled in their ability to connect businesses to the continent. You can learn more at  www.palletways.com.