Cloud-based CRM software like Salesforce is serving as the foundation for interdepartmental communication and providing insights into company performance. The key driver for organizations pursuing practical transparency is to enable insight through better information and data sharing. CRM tools provide features like interaction tracking, real-time alerts and notifications, and centralized information that help build practical transparency within organizations by streamlining communication both vertically between management and employees, and horizontally across departments. This was demonstrated through a case study of a media company that improved interdepartmental collaboration and understanding of business processes by customizing Salesforce to integrate their different business platforms and systems.

1. CRMs and the effect of
seeing everything
The key driver for any organization working toward practical transparency is to enable
insight. Today, cloud-based CRM software, such as Salesforce, is serving as the foundation
of interdepartmental communication among co-workers and third parties, as well as
providing the insights through which leadership teams gauge company performance.
PRACTICALLY
TRANSPARENT

2. 1
“Internal communication: a tool for building trust and transparency in organizations.”
Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership. April 2013. 7 Feb. 2015. <http://www.corporateexcellence.org/index.php/eng/Knowledge-Centre/Internal-communica-
tion-a-tool-for-building-trust-and-transparency-in-organizations>.
PRACTICAL TRANSPARENCY: What it is
and why it’s needed
By practical transparency, we mean two things: first the
appropriate level of visibility and access to information
that personnel have about the organization to which
they belong; second, the ability to share information
among peers and collaboratively learn from them.
The key driver for any organization working toward
practical transparency is to enable insight. With better
information come better business decisions.
TRANSPARENCY AS A DOUBLE-EDGED
SWORD: Surveillance vs. intelligence
Despite the potential benefits associated with
transparency, initiatives designed to increase visibility
into a business can fall short of expectations. If
promoted the wrong way, transparency-based projects
may inadvertently create a negative response from
employees who perceive an increase in surveillance. Yet
when implemented the right way, practical transparency
encourages teams to make educated decisions,
to act based on evidence-based reasoning and to
employ data driven analysis—all in the name of
increased productivity, innovation and profitability.
TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATIONS:
The consistent flow of credible data
Implementing a transparent operation requires
communication at every level of an organization, without
becoming excessive. A study conducted by Corporate
Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership1
found
that effective transparency requires a consistent flow
of credible data. The point is to share only necessary
information, rather than delivering irrelevant, incomplete
or unreliable data.
The communication of data to employees also requires
a medium through which information can be easily
accessed and interpreted. Today, that medium is
rapidly emerging as cloud-based, CRM software, such
as Salesforce. These technologies are serving as the
PRACTICALLY TRANSPARENT
CRMs and the effect of seeing everything 2

3. foundations of interdepartmental communication
among co-workers and third parties, as well as providing
the insights through which leadership teams gauge
company performance.
TOOLS THAT ENABLE PRACTICAL
TRANSPARENCY: the CRM
Software Advice, a company that gives reviews on CRM
software, studied how and why 385 small-business leaders
that led companies with annual revenue of $100 million
or less, selected their CRMs.2
The report showed that:
• Interaction tracking was the most desired feature,
with 82 per cent expressing the desire to log email
conversations, call notes and social media conversations
• Visibility into real-time was valued, with 67 per cent
seeking alerts and notification settings
• 26 per cent of respondents wanted a CRM that could
help them centralize information
These small business leaders are attuned to how CRM
solutions can provide their organization and employees
with the tools needed to build a foundation based on
practical transparency. They implemented CRMs in
order to streamline communications vertically, between
management and employees and horizontally, across the
organization.
CENTRALIZED INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION: A CRM success story
When collaboration is hampered by manual and
redundant processes, operations can become sluggish.
If the rate and pace of productivity in a business is not
in-step with the rest of the industry, this becomes a
threat to its competitiveness.
When Observer Media approached Shift CRM to help
it construct a customized Force.com deployment,
the organization’s sales, operations and accounting
departments suffered from disjointed communication.
These teams used three business platforms – Act!,
PRACTICALLY TRANSPARENT
CRMs and the effect of seeing everything 3
...small business leaders
are attuned to how CRM
solutions can provide their
organization and employees
with the tools needed to
build a foundation based
on practical transparency.
2
Ivey, Jay. CRM Software Small Business BuyerView 2014. Rep. Software Advice, 16 Dec. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2015. <http://www.softwareadvice.com/crm/buyerview/small-business-re-
port-2014/>.

4. QuickBooks and Mediaspan – to track seemingly
disparate business processes. Since these solutions were
not integrated, each sales representative had to deliver
insertion orders to those in operations. A member of
the operations team would then have to manually enter
data into Mediaspan. Tom D’Agostino, Observer Media’s
controller, noted this system offered little visibility into
the firm’s client relationships and business strategy.
Upon consultation with Shift CRM, the Observer Media
team saw that customizing Salesforce was the solution
for consolidating the existing work flows for Act!,
QuickBooks and Mediaspan. This would automate many
of the time-consuming processes that were hampering
Observer Media’s ability to assess performance
and make decisions based on relevant data. After
deployment, the media company’s sales, operations and
accounting departments were able to:
• Access information remotely
• Automatically create proposals
• Centralize client contact and contract data
• Deliver invoices several times faster than
they were previously
The big picture lies in how integrating different systems
gave Observer Media’s sales team a better idea of how
their responsibilities impacted the company as a whole.
D’Agostino noted that whenever sales reps entered
client information into Salesforce, it provided them with
a stronger understanding of what kind of product they
were selling.
In this case, technology provided the foundation
on which practical transparency was implemented.
Observer Media’s interdepartmental communications
strengthened significantly, providing its workers with a
comprehensive understanding of the business, beyond
each employee’s immediate responsibilities.
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About Shift
Shift is a Salesforce Silver Cloud Alliance Partner with more than 150 years of combined experience implementing, configuring, and re-envision-
ing the world’s #1 sales and service platform. We also offer a range of off-the-shelf technology solutions designed to enhance and extend Sales-
force functionality for small businesses and Fortune 500 organizations in specialized industries including technology, manufacturing, media and
communications, healthcare, the nonprofit sector, and professional services. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with a local presence in Ottawa,
Vancouver and New York, we provide both remote and onsite service to a global client list.
PRACTICALLY TRANSPARENT
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