Impact Story
Driving smarter, client-first delivery with eService by Enclude
Find out how eService can boost your impact with smarter data insights
SHARE THIS STORY:
The Challenge
Cork Counselling Services is a charity and social enterprise. It provides accredited and professional training to would-be counsellors, as well as affordable counselling to the local community.
The Covid-19 pandemic led the team to review the ways in which they were working – their systems and processes and how they were using technology. It sparked their digital transformation journey.
They were aware they needed to move away from paper-based systems and processes. Their data protection measures made it difficult for the office team to provide administrative support to counsellors and clients. Grant and funding applications were looking for an increasing amount of reporting and impact measurement that was extremely cumbersome and almost impossible to provide.
They had seen the benefits digital transformation had brought to the training and accreditation side of their work where it simplified processes and led to more offerings. However, they were concerned about their lack of IT knowledge, the extent of the internal change management process, and most importantly the ongoing integrity and security of their client data.
The Solution
Enclude recommended eService – a CRM solution designed specifically for organisations who deliver services to their communities, with functionality and settings based upon best practice in the care and support sector.
Salesforce System Administrator,
Cork Counselling Services
The Impact
The project triggered an organisation wide audit into systems and processes. At each stage they asked why they were doing something in a particular way – was this needed, was this in line with best practice, and most importantly was this contributing to the best possible client experience?
Client Experience
The team were impressed that Enclude didn’t just focus on their experience, but also on their clients’ experience. For example, the office team can now easily access details of clients next appointments as well as generate invoices but not access confidential data. This means client enquiries can be quickly answered. Previously all information needed to do this would have sat with the counsellor which meant requests could take more time and resource to respond to.
Service Development
Using reports and dashboards has enabled the team to spot trends that they wouldn’t have known to look for. Tracking client waiting times means they can look at ways to reduce this. Tracking use of their counselling rooms has led to more efficient use of their resources. They are now driving the development of their service and planning future programmes based upon evidence and impacts, not just anecdotes or what others in the sector are doing.
More Competitive Funding Applications
Having access to real-time information, reports and dashboards in eService means funding applications can be turned around quickly with clear evidence and data readily available. Applications are more compelling and successful.
Betty Quinlan of Cork Counselling Services, explains: “The sort of information funders request now would be almost impossible to provide without a CRM – or at least take a huge amount of resource to provide. We’re in a competitive funding environment, and eService is helping us be competitive.”
Resource Saving
When using paper-based records, the team were limited to annual reporting – at the end of each year an external resource would be brought in to go through their records and compile all necessary statistics and reports. This would take several weeks. Now, all the data and reports are available when they’re needed, at the click of a button.
Continuing The Digital Transformation
The success of the CRM project has resulted in a better use of resources and has given them the confidence to make other changes – such as switching from .pdf forms which had to be manually added to a database, to online forms that feed directly into their CRM.
Betty says: “Working with Enclude has given us the confidence to review what we’re doing and use technology to improve our clients experience.”
About Cork Counselling Services
Cork Counselling Services is a charity and Social Enterprise. It provides accredited and professional training to would-be counsellors, as well as affordable counselling to the local community. Profits made from training programmes go to ensuring counselling is accessible, regardless of the client’s ability to pay.
Find out how eService can boost your impact with smarter data insights
SHARE THIS STORY: