A lot of people in the technology/startup industry take themselves too seriously. They think their idea is “lifechanging” and that they can “change the world”. I don’t take myself that seriously.
I do, however, try my best to be helpful. Maybe I won’t change the world, but at least I am not going to ruin it, either.
So this is the case study I am going to share about how I was helpful to an international charity that was drowning in spreadsheets, ISTA.
About ISTA
ISTA specializes in global learning through theatre.
ISTA is a UK-based charity, founded in 1978, that provides transformative learning experiences for educators and young people worldwide. They create communities of learning, working closely with over 240 member schools and in partnership with a diverse range of educational and cultural settings around the world.
Basically: they’re an awesome organization. They host 200+ events every year, and their team has less than 10 staff. Fair to say everyone is BUSY.
How it started
Keriann, the communication & events manager, posted in a Facebook group we’re both a member of asking for CRM recommendations. I left a comment recommending Insightly, and we started talking.
During our initial call, I remember feeling impressed by the sophistication of their internal processes. They were using a custom-built WordPress website, a Shopify store, and about 99 Google Sheets. Even though the tools weren’t connected and there were lots of manual processes, everything happened online since the team works remotely across countries.
The more we talked, the clearer the key issues became and why Keriann was looking for CRM recommendations.
Key issues
- Each process had too many points of failure
- Team members spent hours updating different spreadsheets every day
- Endless duplication of work
- Leadership has no ongoing visibility on performance
- Reports had to be done manually
The low-code CRM solution: Insightly
I am technology agnostic and prefer using low-code tools that can be edited and managed directly by the team once set up. I don’t have a “default” solution that I implement for everyone, rather I like to choose the best software for the specific requirements.
These were the points we considered when evaluating solutions:
- Must integrate with Google Suite so emails are shared/visible
- ISTA uses Xero and Mailchimp, so integration is a must
- Needs to have reporting capabilities
- Needs to integrate with the website (WordPress + Gravity Forms)
- Needs to have both “sales pipelines” as well as “project management” capabilities
The solution that best fit the requirements was Insightly, a small business CRM. We considered some charity focused platforms, but they didn’t tick enough boxes and the price point was sometimes higher than Insightly.
Insightly has a flat monthly fee based on the number of seats, no upfront costs and a 14-day free trial.
Giulia’s crazy process: a 2 week sprint
I could feel the hesitation when I spoke to the leadership team about my proposed timeline of 2 weeks to go from 0 to 80% implementation. Aaaand I don’t blame them. Most agencies and freelancers juggle multiple projects at the same time with big teams and consequently, long timelines.
We met once more before starting the sprint and we kept communicating via emails to exchange ideas and uncover more bottlenecks.
One more unusual thing about this process? We didn’t “scope” the project. The scope was simply “I’ll do whatever it takes to implement this CRM and free the team of manual work”. We had a clear goal in mind, but the road to get there wasn’t precisely mapped out – and there’s a method to this madness which I’ll explain below.
The schedule: 10 very intense work days
From Monday to Friday, from 11am – 7pm, I only worked on ISTA. No other client calls, no other meetings, a “vacation” autoresponder on my inbox.
Usually, between 11am – 5pm I worked independently. Then, between 5-7pm I hosted an open “office hours” session where anyone from the team could come and see what’s going on. I had a loose schedule of who was going to show up to make sure I would get to meet everyone and make sure what I was building was useful to them. Even the schedule of the office hours was flexible to accomodate for different timezones!
These sessions were KEY for many reasons:
- They were a blend of user research, training, problem-solving and IT advice – all at once. Separating each of these processes would have taken FAR longer for everyone involved
- They allowed me to course correct very frequently, which means I never wasted any time on unwanted features or superfluous things that don’t add value
- They created a collaborative environment where each team member was an active part of the process from the start rather than just on the receiving end
- They allowed me to spend 20+ hours working alongside the team which meant becoming intimately familiar with their daily work, challenges, goals and ideas
We skipped a session because my internet cable was physically cut one day (perks of living in the tropics… coconut tree trimming is dangerous!), but this was easily my favourite part of the day.
This resulted in 100% adoption of Insightly a few days before I officially finished the project.
The implementation process – how do you work with no scope of work?
Here’s how I work without a clearly defined scope without losing my mind.
Step 1: ensure that what the client wants is technically possible.
ISTA wanted to get rid of annotated Google Sheets that weren’t updated in real time and caused everyone to just work through hundreds of emails a day. Possible. Check.
Step 2: ensure you have the necessary tools.
ISTA already had Xero, Mailchimp and a website. We added a CRM (Insightly) and Zapier to connect to the website. Check.
Step 3: locate the keystone of the organisation.
For ISTA, this was the membership process. Memberships renewals alone took 3 months of work for the finance team (1,5 full time staff). All the other processes ran on top of this and intersected with this. Check.
Step 4: locate the holder of the “keys to the kingdom” and make them your best friend.
In this case, Vicki was my best friend during the sprint. Her official title is Engagement Manager and she also happens to be in charge of the membership process. Not a coincidence! Check.
Step 5: make your best friend’s life easier
We started by digitalising the whole ISTA membership process, end to end. From the first form on the website that triggers an automated email, to automated payments, payment notifications, membership certificates… you dream it, we’ve implemented it. Vicki very clearly told me “I’m so busy emailing everyone that I barely have time for lunch”. And as an Italian, I can’t have this happen to my best friend, so we fixed it. Check.
Step 6: improve everything else along the way
To digitalise the membership process I had to get familiar with the website and Xero. The more I learned about how ISTA worked, the more ideas I had of workflows to digitalise. I kept a list of things to tackle after the membership process. Check.
Step 7: stop work on the agreed day
That’s it. I repeated step 5-6 every day for 10 days, and by the time the second Friday came around every team member was already using Insightly as if the Google Sheets never existed (it helps that I highlighted all the cells in BRIGHT yellow and wrote at the top DO NOT USE. Anything to drive adoption up!). Over the two weeks I worked on the website, their Mailchimp account, talked to a board member about invoicing schedule, and did about 14 more unplanned things. Done and dusted!
Once the sprint is over, I offer 14 days of email support and a “I’ll fix anything I broke” guarantee to ensure a smooth transition.
“Our experience of working with Giulia right from the start is that she has always been focused on solutions. From our initial meeting with her, it was clear that she was driven and genuinely interested in the challenges that we faced organising what goes on behind the scenes for ISTA and consolidating/streamlining processes for us. Our favourite moments are when she asks “Ok… but can I ask why we need to do it this way?” This question alone makes us sit down and unpack our processes – getting rid of unnecessary procedures that can get in the way of productivity. Once we have our needs streamlined, she offers us solutions to improve our efficiency. Sometimes we can present her with a real conundrum (which she often seems to really enjoy!) and she will always come back with a workable solution. Giulia’s positive personality has also been helpful in the change over to Insightly – though our team has never met Giulia officially in person – we trust her opinion and always trust that she will be open and honest with no hidden agenda. She always displays a genuine interest in seeing ISTA succeed. What more could we ask for?”
Keriann O’Rourke, Communication & Events Manager
How much did this cost?
Budget: less than $10,000 USD
I use Extreme Contracts, a concept developed by my friend Jacopo Romei. This means I structure agreements to create trust instead of “protecting myself”. I’m all for win-wins.
So in this case, since my “I’ll do this in 2 weeks” claim sounded too good to be true, I knew I had to propose an agreement that lowered ISTA’s risk. So my offer was “pay me once the work is done, or pay me nothing at all”.
They were happy with the work, and hired me again for another 2-week sprint in the same quarter to automate their systems further. One year later, I am still supporting ISTA through Girls Who Web and I’m proud to report everyone is still using Insightly and has time for lunch.
