The kilt might be a uniquely Scottish product, but wearers of the tartan garment can be found as far afield as America, Canada and Japan. This presents something of a challenge for Lochcarron, which manufactures kilts in Scotland for distribution by sales offices in Europe, Canada and the US.

‘Despite the spread of the business, we are still definitely an SME, and so we have to take a different approach to technology,’ says IT director Chris Turner. ‘In our case, we know there is a solution to our business challenges, but it’s a matter of finding it, and getting it within our budget.’

Turner says that while enterprise IT directors might be courted by analysts, vendor sales reps and industry associations, IT leaders in the SME sector are generally left to fend for themselves.

‘I rely on trade papers, word of mouth and the internet – we can’t afford analyst services and the vendors aren’t generally interested in coming out to see us in the middle of nowhere,’ he says.

As well as kilts, Lochcarron manufactures a range of tartan products, from socks and ties to belts and sporrans.

‘We want to cross-sell and up-sell whenever we speak to a customer, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to know who had said what to which customer, in which office,’ says Turner.

‘We wanted a way for everyone globally to be able to see what had happened with each account, in real time, and to record new actions.’

Lochcarron decided to roll out Lotus Notes and a CRM application from a local technology firm, Kelros.

‘I had worked with Domino before, and I knew the infrastructure was dead easy to maintain once it was set up – that is a big deal for us, because we do not have time to keep tinkering with a system,’ says Turner. ‘I also knew I wanted off-the-shelf software – and the Kelros system was exactly what we needed, without any extra work.’

Turner believes the CRM software has definitely benefited the business.

‘We have definitely seen a reduction in phone calls between the offices, and customer queries are dealt with a lot faster,’ he says.

‘Even without the CRM system, we have the benefit of a single, global email infrastructure which is more reliable and easier to maintain.’