Cliantra, member management we did not reinvent

Starting point

Members in a list, contacts in the email program, fees in a spreadsheet, sign-ups in the inbox: this is how many associations manage their most important asset, their members. Every change has to be updated in several places, and no one has the full picture.

The association wanted everything in one place: members, contacts and the daily processes in a system that fits its own way of working, not the other way round.

Solution

We could have sold a complete new build, more effort, more revenue for us. Instead we recommended what really serves the association: EspoCRM, a freely available software for contact and member management used worldwide, tailored by us specifically to the association. That is what we mean by honest advice.

• The right foundation

  A proven base instead of a new build: used worldwide, continuously developed, with no per-user monthly licence fees.

• The tailoring

  We translated the association's processes into the system: the right fields, the right steps, the right reports. A general piece of software became the association's solution.

• The operation

  Set up under the association's own address, operated in Switzerland, team trained. Ready to use, not just installed.

Result

The association now works in one system instead of four: members, contacts, processes, central, traceable, used by several people at once. And because the base is freely available, there is no subscription trap: no per-user licence, no vendor dictating prices, and any development team in the world can keep the software running.

For us, Cliantra is the best example of a principle: the right solution is not always the one we earn the most from. Sometimes it is smarter, faster and more honest.

Timeline

1. Week 0Association processes recorded, base decision made
2. Week 2System set up, association data migrated
3. Week 4Team trained, operation handed over