CRM Consultants & Implementation Partners in Newport, RI

Overview

Apollo Consulting Group is a Rhode Island management consultancy that combines general business advisory work with hands-on CRM implementation through its partnership with Apptivo. Bryan Mason started the firm in New Jersey in 2008 and moved its home base in 2014 to Rhode Island. Its website lists bases in Newport and Providence, and it works with clients throughout Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts as well as nationally. For buyers evaluating CRM partners, the appeal is an adviser that examines workflows, pricing and profitability as well as the software itself.

CRM and Apptivo services

The firm holds Apptivo partner status and has steered clients toward the platform for years. Apptivo is a cloud suite of more than 60 connected apps spanning contact and lead management, opportunities, territories, marketing, help desk, field service, work orders, order handling, supply chain, financials, projects, HR and expenses. Apollo takes on Apptivo engagements throughout the lower 48 states, and its scope includes:

• Initial rollout covering configuration, conversion of existing data, user training and overall project management
• Reviewing and streamlining workflows first, then designing the Apptivo setup around them
• A combined operations manual and user guide showing staff how their daily tasks map to the system
• Customized onsite training sessions
• Coordinating Apptivo services and providing continuing support after go-live

Technology and integration consulting

Beyond Apptivo, Apollo offers broader IT advisory. It can write a technology plan that maps a company's processes and required systems to a defined target state, scope and run technology projects with requirements and schedules, judge whether packaged or custom software is the better fit, and connect disconnected systems so information no longer has to be rekeyed by hand. It also helps select and oversee the data tools needed for advanced marketing analytics. The IT consulting page states that the firm does not represent software makers when making those package-versus-custom recommendations, which buyers may want to weigh alongside its Apptivo partnership.

Who they serve

Most clients employ roughly 10 to 300 people, though the firm has also worked with startups and some larger organizations. Industries named include service firms, retail, entertainment, restaurants, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, financial services and nonprofits. Alongside technology work, Apollo handles profitability improvement through its proprietary Apollo Profit Acceleration Technique, pricing and conjoint-based feature optimization, marketing strategy and analytics, business and strategic planning, financial modeling, operational efficiency and cannabis business consulting.

Background and engagement model

Mason has more than thirty years of experience across corporate roles, consulting and entrepreneurship. Before Apollo he served at Citibank as an SVP and program manager, where he led the turnaround of a major retail banking system project, and earlier spent ten years as CEO and president of Newport Software Corporation, which provided technology advice and built custom software. He has also served as chief information officer for two financial firms and counts complex database design and software development among his skills. He contributes monthly columns to a Rhode Island small business publication and has appeared on the PBS program White House Chronicle. Engagements begin with an initial no-commitment review of the client's situation and a proposed plan, contracted work carries a fee cap guarantee, and New England clients can meet in person in Providence or at their own site.

Rejoiner is a Newport, Rhode Island company that combines its own retention marketing software with a team of hands-on specialists. It works mainly with ecommerce brands that want to get more repeat revenue from the customers they already have. The company describes its work in four parts: building email marketing software, offering email marketing services, publishing educational content for online retailers, and studying how brands use email to grow. It is a fit for buyers who want customer data, segmentation and automated messaging in one system managed with expert help, rather than a classic sales CRM.

Platform and channels

The platform holds customer records in one place and uses them to run several channels from a single account. Clients can coordinate email, text messaging, website pop-ups and printed postcards without moving data between separate tools. A visual journey builder lets marketers map automated sequences with true/false decision points, A/B test branches, custom wait rules, tagging and webhooks in both directions. A segment builder groups shoppers by purchase history, on-site browsing, email engagement, demographics, RFM scores, partner data or custom fields. These segments update automatically and can be used for targeting, exclusions, starting journeys, pruning inactive contacts and syncing audiences to ad platforms.

Automated lifecycle programs

Rejoiner comes with prebuilt triggers for the key moments in an ecommerce customer's life, including:

• Abandoned cart and abandoned browse follow-ups
• Welcome series for new subscribers
• Price drop alerts
• Win-back offers based on signs a customer may leave
• VIP rewards based on spend, order frequency or RFM score
• Cross-sell, anniversary and replenishment reminders
• Subscription milestone and renewal messages

Its email builder links to the client's product catalog, so messages can automatically show bestsellers, new arrivals, related products or items a shopper recently viewed. Deliverability features include custom sending domains, dedicated IP addresses, SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication, frequency caps, real-time address validation, reputation monitoring and a subscriber preference center. The text messaging product supports two-way conversations through Slack or a help desk, consent-based opt-in flows and automatic quiet hours to help with compliance.

How Rejoiner works with clients

Rejoiner presents itself as a partner rather than a do-it-yourself tool. Clients get account management, strategy sessions and creative support along with the software. For postcards, an in-house design team handles artwork, printing and delivery, and holdout testing measures how much extra revenue the mail actually produced. Support is available by live chat and by phone around the clock, every day of the year. The company does not require contracts or long-term commitments.

Team and results

The team is led by founder Mike Arsenault and includes staff in customer success, creative direction, product and engineering. Published case studies include AuthenTEAK, which saw higher revenue and more clicks, and Ketone-IQ, which increased subscription orders. Another client, Triumph, reported that email became its largest source of last-click revenue.