persolog Brasil is the exclusive distributor of persolog® assessment and learning instruments in Brazil. persolog® has been active in the German-language market since 1990, with distributors in various European countries, the U.S.A., China, Japan, United Kingdom, Central America and South America (Brazil), offering support materials and services in the personal development sector with products and services resulting from decades of scientific research.

persolog Brasil has been active in the Brazilian market since 2009 and is responsible for the translation, adaptation, production of teaching materials, marketing, Training/Certification and hotline support of certified Analysts/Trainers/Consultants, online printed-product sales, and after-sales activities throughout Brazil.

Image by persolog Brasil

With its headquarters in Montes Claros, state of Minas Gerais (Brazil), persolog Brasil is also represented in Sao Paulo and Recife (in the states of Sao Paulo and Pernambuco, respectively) through Strategic Partnerships.  The Certified Trainers and Independent Analysts work in various other states.

Peter J. Burgener, CEO of persolog Brasil, spoke with us about the migration to Google Apps:

Before upgrading to Google Apps, our email was on an external hosting that synchronized with Outlook on our individual desktops.

To better guarantee our data backup, we needed a more efficient system. We used an external disc manual backup,  which was done infrequently, representing a huge risk.

The main goal of our IT team is to offer support to our Trainers/Consultants and Analysts in the event of an emergency (hotline). Internally, IT support is focused on the sales department and management. Based on the international concept, all other IT activities, such as programming, databases, maintenance and our electronic platform, are under the responsibility of the headquarters in Germany.

In order to optimize resources and increase productivity, we needed a communications and collaboration solution that integrated with our CRM and could free up our team for truly important activities (client and partner support, marketing and sales).

One of TopSolutions’ sales consultants introduced us to Google Apps for Work. He showed us the advantages of this solution and its ability to be integrated with Zoho CRM.

After making a detailed analysis of TopSolutions’ proposal and the experience of other companies with the applications, our executive and sales management teams took approximately four weeks to decide and go forward.

By upgrading to Google Apps, we actually had to make an investment in security and the integration with our CRM system (Zoho CRM).  This integration not only resulted in a reduction in work hours, it also avoided the duplication of information and tasks between systems, which resulted in higher productivity.

The Google cloud gives us piece of mind, as it guarantees our data is protected, keeping safe our registries of communication and data exchanged with our clients (e-mail, documents, …), allowing for the optimization of our work.

Some of our motivations for moving forward with Google Apps were:

• Implement a compatible system integrated with Zoho CRM,
• Use a Drive for file sharing in the cloud,
• Increase the availability and security,
• Improve technical and sales team mobility,
• Minimize spam.

During the proposal evaluation phase, we received prompt responses to all our inquiries, just as we received prompt service during the contracting and installation phases.

The transition happened quickly. It took approximately two weeks to validate the process, migrate the data from the old system and CRM, and carry out the specific development and the integration.

We received all required support during the implementation process from the TopSolutions support team, which led us through the application configuration process very efficiently, ensuring the migration was completed successfully. Similarly, the support we received from the TopSolutions maintenance team has contributed to the continued success of the adoption.

One of the natural worries stemming from changing to a new platform is always how much time it will take for users to learn how to use it. However, this challenge was tempered given that the majority of our employees were already familiar with Gmail (for individual users).

We provided user training to explain the integration with the CRM and the tools and also made available tutorials to assist with learning the applications and becoming familiar with their possibilities.

Due to the specific nature of our work, the technical and sales teams travel to various regions to service our clients. The use of a web interface allows easy access to all information (email, contacts, calendars, documents, …) at any time, from anywhere and on any device, thereby improving our communication and collaboration.

In addition to Gmail, some of the applications we use every day include Google Drive, Google Docs, Calendars, Google+, Google Analytics, Google Translate, Google Maps, Picasa and Site Search. We also have an integration between Google Apps and Zoho CRM that allows us to include the contacts and emails directly into CRM.

Nowadays 100 % of our users access to the applications exclusively through the web, putting the files on the drive and sharing it in real time, not only with the team but also with persolog Brazil external partners, which makes us all more productive and very pleased with the solution.

With Google Apps, our team can focus on strategic tasks, including increasing our market share, negotiating with partners, and transferring know-how to trainers and consultants in Brazil, thus assuring our continuous growth.

concluded Peter Burgener, CEO of persolog Brasil.