SAP : Single App, Single Update, Single View of Pipeline Information

There's nothing like a classic entrepreneur's success story to start your day out right. That's just what I did when interviewing Klara Young one recent morning to learn about AppBuddy Cloud for SAP Customer Data Cloud, an app newly available on SAP App Center.

'It's a happy Silicon Valley startup story,' Klara told me, 'where a few colleagues kept running into the same problem and got their brains together to solve it. They started the business on the side, literally working from a friend's flat. Nine years later, it's a big success - completely bootstrapped with organic growth, which has allowed us to stay true to our values.'

One-Click Updates to Multiple Records

The problem they solved, Klara explained, was the absolute frustration of having to update information in customer relationship management (CRM) software record by record, 'with sales reps spending three hours on a Sunday afternoon just to enter that week's data.' What they developed with AppBuddy is a workspace that uses a simple interface for easily updating pipeline information, integrating directly with the data where it lives - in the sales force automation software. So, there's no data syncing or exporting required. The interface works like a spreadsheet, so you can create, edit, and mass update on multiple objects with one save.

'Instead of spending hours on this infuriating task, it takes 15 minutes,' said Klara. 'We've done time studies to demonstrate the productivity gains to senior management. They begin to realize how much time and effort is involved in creating those pretty quarterly reports. When we show them side by side the status quo - an hour to go through 40 opportunities - versus our app, the difference in the metrics is huge. User adoption is very high, and that's the other key to our success.'

One View with Full Visibility

Integration with complete customer data provides full visibility into relevant info in a single screen, including outstanding invoices and open IT tickets, for example. So when you're on a call, you're completely in the know about any issues - maybe even getting things resolved before making the call.

That's what I like about AppBuddy: the ability to answer questions with all the information in one spot for true customer-centricity. You're not sales-focused, you're customer-focused, and that's how to provide an excellent customer experience.

I was interested to know how the AppBuddy team decided to team up with SAP, since Klara told me that the founders, Marc Aubin and Leah Podkaminer, started out with Salesforce.com.

'We realized that as the company grew, there was no reason to be platform-dependent, and the app would be useful in other environments,' said Klara, who has been with the company almost since its inception. 'And then one day, the stars aligned. One of our enterprise clients opted for a big change in framework, moving to SAP. They asked us to prioritize the integration to move with them.'

One Week at SAPPHIRE NOW and Already, AppBuddy on SAP App Center

Then it was a no-brainer to include AppBuddy on the SAP App Center, SAP's digital marketplace. 'We went to SAPPHIRE NOW this past June, learned about the SAP App Center, and wanted to be a part of it,' said Klara. 'It's an opportunity for a different kind of sales cycle. People who know about the marketplace go there looking for a solution to a specific problem; they're already qualified prospects.'

The AppBuddy team has made a commitment to SAP, not only attending but exhibiting at SAPPHIRE NOW to build brand awareness and take advantage of relationships within the SAP ecosystem.

That makes sense to me; I am beginning to see a trend, with customers coming to us at SAP asking whether we have a partner to help them in a specific way. And let me add that AppBuddy has taken advantage of all the best practices on SAP App Center, with a good demo, clear and comprehensive content, and a free trial offer.

One Approach Doesn't Fit All: Configurable Design

I asked Klara what's next for AppBuddy. 'We want to continue to develop it for multiple systems, and to meet individual industry needs,' she explained. 'In retail, financial services, and life sciences, for example, there are specific processes they want to follow, and we don't want to provide a fixed solution. We've built a configurable app that lets you change the view or the UI without recoding. It has point-and-click wizards so a programmer can make changes on the fly.'

Doesn't that make you want to take a look? Go for it - with a single click.