908 Devices boosts employee productivity with clicks, not code

Challenge

Improving operational efficiency

Founded in 2012 with a goal to make chemical and biomolecular detection easier, 908 Devices designs and builds portable analytics devices used for multiple purposes, including biopharmaceuticals research and forensics. With more than 200 employees, the Boston-based company holds 79 patents and has 2100 installed devices across 42 countries. Its customers use the devices to rapidly detect, identify, and monitor chemicals for critical-to-life applications. First responders, for example, rely on these devices to detect chemical threats and explosives, where human lives are endangered and with no time to spare.

Since its customers rely on the devices for time-sensitive applications, 908 Devices needed to optimize its internal processes to quickly book orders and reduce delays in customer handoffs from sales to post-sales, field application scientist (FAS) teams. The company identified that sales and FAS teams needed up-to-the minute, accurate information on orders and customers to coordinate customer communications and meetings. Yet, each team found themselves pivoting back and forth across different systems and maneuvering manual processes to piece together necessary customer data; a lost opportunity to provide timely post-sales support.

Objectives

Creating a single view of the customer

908 Devices wanted to improve customer experiences and increase employee productivity by:

• Creating a single view of customer data to coordinate efforts and ensure timely customer training
• Automating business processes such as order processing to meet policy adherence and ensure that sales and post-sales teams have access to accurate data

Solution

Connecting systems and automating processes with clicks, not code

The company assessed various integration solutions to connect data sources and automate its business processes. Without a dedicated internal IT team for the project, 908 Devices was prepared to outsource its integration efforts until the company evaluated MuleSoft Composer, a no-code integration solution that’s part of Salesforce Customer 360 product portfolio. The company was already using Sales Cloud and saw the potential flexibility and benefits of having its Salesforce admin use Composer and keep app integration in-house. Likewise, its Salesforce admin was impressed with how intuitive it was to use Composer. She saw familiar Salesforce patterns similar to Salesforce Flow which made it easy for her to integrate systems and automate processes right within Salesforce. Suffice to say, 908 Devices chose Composer for its ability to enable system integration without code and ease of use.

Without a coding background or a dedicated IT team, 908 Devices’ Salesforce admin connected key systems in just six months. According to Jennifer Cole, CRM & Analytics Manager, 908 Devices, “Composer went beyond our expectations. We expected to use it to simply connect NetSuite, its enterprise resource planning system, with Sales Cloud, but found it could do so much more.”

The Salesforce admin used pre-built connectors in Composer to connect several systems to create a single view of the customer and to automate business processes. Now, when a sales rep marks a deal closed in Sales Cloud, Composer automatically sends the opportunity details to NetSuite to start the order fulfillment process. A Slack notification is also automatically sent to the sales and FAS teams regarding the deal closure. Once shipment is scheduled, another Slack notification is sent to these teams with product and customer details, enabling them to coordinate customer meetings, assign the right FAS, and schedule the all-critical customer training sessions faster than before.

As more teams across the company start to use Salesforce, 908 Devices plans to integrate more systems and automate processes across different departments. The company’s next priority is to connect Salesforce Service Cloud to JIRA, a project tracking software, so that FAS and sales teams are notified of and have full access to technical services calls for each customer. Consequently, they can identify customer knowledge gaps quickly and remedy customer issues with supplemental training.

“As a Salesforce Admin with no coding background and without an IT team, I was able to integrate our systems using clicks and without a single line of code, in just six months. It would have taken 2 or more years to outsource the project with custom code. Something I’ve never seen done in such a short period of time before. Now our sales reps and field app scientists can spend more time with customers and less time in internal systems.”

Jennifer Cole
CRM & Analytics Manager, 908 Devices

Results

Increasing employee productivity and improving customer experiences

The sales and FAS teams now have access to a single view of all customer data and are able to spend more quality time with their customers rather than scrambling to gather information. With up-to-the minute, accurate information, they can quickly coordinate customer meetings, efficiently assign a FAS, and schedule customer training sessions. “We have saved countless emails internally across sales, service, and support teams to have upcoming device information automated,” says Ashley Bell, Director Global Field Applications, Life Sciences, 908 Devices. The teams also saved 3% (40 week hours) a week on manual administrative tasks and reporting, $208k in annual cost savings.* The company also saw a 55% increase in productivity with faster order approval, thanks to the automated sales processes.

“The most significant changes I’ve seen are related to our ability to drive customer success based on real and actionable metrics. Salesforce Customer 360 solution gives us a snapshot into the overall health of each customer, including any need for prioritization or escalation. We now have visibility into needed improvements to our internal processes and have the ability to improve and automate them. ”

Ashley Bell
Director Global Field Applications, Life Sciences, 908 Devices

*Calculation based on average hourly cost for a full-time employee.