How a US Investment Firm Scaled From Ad-Hoc Seminars to 120 Sessions a Year Using MS Dynamics CRM?
Automated Lead Capture From Website | End-to-End Campaign and Venue Management | Automated Commission and Revenue Tracking
At a Glance
| Client | A US-based firm that plans and runs investment seminar campaigns across multiple territories |
| Industry | Financial Services — Investment Products |
| Service | MS Dynamics CRM 2011 Customisation | Workflow Automation | Plug-in Development | Reporting |
| Challenge | All seminar planning, scheduling, and tracking were done manually. The client needed to scale to 3 sessions a week across 4 territories. |
| Solution | A fully customised CRM system to manage every stage of the seminar lifecycle — from campaign planning to post-event revenue tracking |
| Delivery | 3 developers | 6 months build | 1 month free post-launch support and training |
About the Client
Our client is a US-based firm that sells investment products directly to the public. Their primary sales channel is investment seminars. They plan and run these events at local restaurant venues across the country.
The firm had been managing seminars manually for years. That worked when sessions were occasional. But they had bigger plans.
They wanted to grow to three seminar sessions a week across four territories. That meant roughly 120 sessions per year, per territory. Managing that volume manually was not realistic. They needed a system.
They were already using MS Dynamics CRM 2011. They came to Aegis to build the automation and customisation layer on top of it.
The Challenge
The client had run over 100 seminars over the years. Their processes were well documented. They knew exactly what needed to happen at every stage. What they lacked was a system to make it happen automatically.
The planned scale made the manual approach impossible. Three sessions a week across four territories means coordinating venues, staff, attendees, leads, and follow-ups simultaneously — every week, for 40 weeks a year.
Every part of the seminar lifecycle needed to be managed inside CRM:
What the CRM Needed to Do
| Campaign & session scheduling | Plan seminar campaigns and individual sessions. Manage timing, frequency, and territory assignments across four regions. |
| Venue management | Screen, select, schedule, and track restaurant venues. Record setup details, execution notes, and payment information. |
| Personnel management | Assign staff to sessions. Manage schedules, approvals, accountability, and performance monitoring. |
| Event coordination | Capture and track all event information. Measure attendance, outcomes, and success metrics for each session. |
| Lead capture | Pull leads automatically from the client’s website — whether entered directly by visitors or submitted through the call centre. |
| Post-event sales tracking | Track sales activity and revenue after each seminar. Link outcomes back to the originating campaign and session. |
| Performance measurement | Measure and report on performance at every level — session, campaign, territory, and team member. |
| Future client mining | Maintain a clean database of clients, contacts, and leads for future outreach and follow-up campaigns. |
On top of the scale challenge, there were technical complexities. The solution required custom JavaScript, complex workflows, plug-in development, and integration with an external web application. None of it was straightforward.
The Solution
Aegis assigned a team of three experienced MS Dynamics CRM 2011 developers to the project. The build took six months.
The approach was collaborative. The Aegis team worked closely with the client to analyse and plan each part of the system before building it. The client’s years of documented manual processes gave the team a clear picture of exactly what needed to be automated.
The result was a fully customised CRM system covering every stage of the seminar lifecycle — from initial campaign planning to post-event revenue tracking. Key features delivered are listed below:
1. Automated lead capture:
Leads from the client’s website flow directly into CRM. No manual import. No data re-entry. Staff see new leads as soon as they arrive.
2. Custom field validations:
Date fields check for holidays and off-days automatically. Staff cannot accidentally schedule sessions on blocked dates.
3. Event tracking & data management:
Every seminar session is tracked end-to-end. Attendance, outcomes, and follow-up actions are all recorded in one place.
4. Detailed business reports:
SSRS-powered reports give management a clear view of performance across campaigns, territories, and time periods.
5. Performance charts:
Visual charts show trends and forward-looking indicators. Management can see what is working and where to focus next.
6. End-to-end workflow automation:
Manual hand-offs between planning, execution, and follow-up stages are replaced by automated CRM workflows. The right people are notified at the right time.
How It Was Delivered?
The project followed a structured delivery process across four stages:
Phase 1: Discovery and Planning
The team started by reviewing the client’s existing manual processes in detail. Every workflow was mapped. Every requirement was documented and confirmed before development began. This groundwork prevented rework later.
Phase 2: CRM Customisation
Custom entities, fields, and relationships were built inside CRM to match the client’s seminar model. Campaign and session records were structured to capture every data point the client needed — venue details, personnel assignments, attendance figures, and financial outcomes.
Phase 3: Automation and Integration
Workflows and plug-ins were built to automate the hand-offs between stages. The web application integration was built to push leads directly into CRM. Custom JavaScript handled field validations and conditional logic throughout the system.
Phase 4: Reporting and Go-Live
SSRS reports and performance charts were configured to give management real-time visibility into results. After go-live, Aegis provided one month of free support and hands-on training for the client’s team. By ensuring they could use the system confidently from day one.
Results
The client received a system that handled everything they had previously managed by hand. The impact was immediate:
- Lead capture became fully automatic. No more manual imports from the website.
- Scheduling errors dropped. Holiday and off-day validations prevented accidental bookings.
- Event data was centralised. All session, attendance, and follow-up records live in one place.
- Management gained clear reporting. Campaign and territory performance was visible at a glance.
- The team was ready from day one. Post-launch training meant staff could use the system confidently from the start.
The client was pleased with the outcome. They confirmed the system worked exactly as they needed and that it had made their seminar management significantly faster and easier than before.
For Aegis, this was one of the most complex and significant CRM projects delivered to that point. The combination of custom workflows, plug-ins, JavaScript, reporting, and external integration pushed the team’s capabilities across every area of the platform.
Key Takeaways
| Document before you automate. | The client had years of well-documented manual processes. That clarity made automation faster and more accurate. Undocumented workflows would have multiplied the risk. |
| Scale requires a system, not a spreadsheet. | Going from ad-hoc seminars to 120+ sessions a year across four territories is not a volume problem — it is a process problem. CRM solved it. |
| Lead capture should be automatic. | Every manual step between a website visitor and a CRM record is a lead at risk. Automated integration removed that gap entirely. |
| Training is part of the delivery. | A one-month post-launch support and training period was included as standard. Users who understand the system get value from it. |
| Reporting turns data into decisions. | Tracking event data is only useful if you can act on it. The reports and performance charts gave management the visibility to do that. |
Technology Stack
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 (Online)
- Microsoft CRM 2011 SDK
- Visual Studio 2010
- .NET Framework 4.0
- SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)
- JavaScript / Custom Workflows
- CRM Plug-ins
- External Web Application Integration
Planning to Automate Your CRM Workflows?
If your team is managing complex processes manually and needs a CRM system that automates the heavy lifting, Aegis can help. We have delivered end-to-end CRM customisation projects across financial services, non-profit, and professional services sectors.
Talk to the Aegis team about your CRM project
Client identity is confidential. Project details verified through internal delivery records. Reference available on request.