Serving up CRM for the DTB

As the pace of digitalisation accelerates, the Deutscher Tennis Bund (DTB) was looking to upgrade its existing system landscape to help the federation prepare for the future.Customer service, marketing and sales at the DTB and its regional associations had previously not been fully integrated, revealing a need for improvements in the areas of member and club service as well as marketing and sales.

DTB was looking to digitally map and automate processes and improve interaction between the relevant stakeholders both within and outside the DTB and its regional associations. B2B and B2C requirements were also taken into consideration.

The DTB teamed up its regional associations to roll out a national CRM system (Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE). To meet the customer’s specific requirements, the DTB and adesso defined the CRM functionalities that optimally matched the needs of the DTB and its regional associations. The CRM system is the central platform that enables personalised communications with members (B2C) and sponsors (B2B). The iterative customisation of the system remains part of the cooperation.

Advantages for sponsors (B2B)

The CRM enables individual and personalised communication with the sponsors’ contacts, which strengthens the bond between the DTB, its regional associations and their sponsors. It also allows users to view the contact history and follow up on previous communication. Targeted sales and marketing campaigns can be carried out for individual sponsors and, if necessary, automatically rolled out to several target groups at the same time.

By consolidating sponsorship data, through personal communications with sponsors and thanks to structured sales processes, the DTB is able to benefit from an increase in potential marketing revenue.

Member benefits (B2C)

The marketing and service departments benefit most from the CRM system (more specifically, the Sales, Customer Service and Marketing modules of Dynamics 365), as it allows them to view a member’s contact history with DTB. This in turn enables them to see which channels were used, which topics were touched on in the past and what enquiries were made (service requests and so on). In addition to that, targeted and personalised marketing and sales campaigns can also be launched for the members. Data that was previously difficult to view or stored at different locations, sports and match data, information on memberships, contact data and the associated communication history are aggregated, bundled and stored, giving the DTB a 360-degree view of its members.

Because the CRM is intended to serve as the platform for marketing automation measures with different customer journeys based on membership status, this creates potential new sources of revenue. In addition to general marketing campaigns, individual regional associations can also carry out their own marketing activities.

Further monetisation activities are planned for the future in the B2B and B2C channels, which will require having a working CRM system.

With the introduction of a CRM system, the DTB is able to create more personalised communications with players, officials, coaches and tennis fans. The data is bundled, and the contact history gives the marketing department a clear overview of past communication and a 360-degree view of the player, official or sponsor. At the same time, the automation and forwarding of enquiries via the new member homepage will significantly improve the service provided by the DTB and its regional associations.