Craftsman Technology Group has been a strong partner to Working Solutions in building our technology and systems to keep pace with our growth as a volume microlender. Craftsman took the time to listen to our needs and map out a right-sized project to support our growth. They have provided us with expert, personalized guidance at every step to blend digital solutions with operational flexibility. Team efficiency has increased as a result of the project, and management has new tools for projections and planning that are integrated across the organization. Thank you, Craftsman!
Working Solutions
Supporting Entrepreneurs w/ Salesforce for CDFIs
Working Solutions is a certified, nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides diverse entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area with affordable capital, customized business consulting, and community connections to increase economic opportunity. With a focus on start-up and early-stage businesses, Working Solutions envisions a future where all small business owners are empowered with credit choices, are financially resilient, and strengthen the local community through entrepreneurship.
Purpose
Working Solutions’ data management systems were not meeting the complex needs of a growing organization. Its Salesforce instance was running on Salesforce Classic, and teams were working across multiple, disparate systems. As a volume microlender, Working Solutions needed to centralize operations on a single platform that could support pipeline management and loan origination, facilitate business consulting services, build staff capacity, and streamline data collection and reporting at scale.
Project Details
Craftsman’s Community Development team met Working Solutions’ business development needs through web-based intake tools, automated communication, and document generation and storage solutions. Craftsman upgraded Working Solutions from Salesforce Classic to Lightning Experience. In addition to core elements of Craftsman’s lending solution, automatic lead conversion, email alerts, and credit report pulls were created to streamline loan origination. Additional automation, required document storage, and electronic signature capabilities were also integrated. As a direct result of this project, Working Solutions was able to streamline operations on a single platform.
Ongoing Partnership
Craftsman’s Managed Services team continues to partner with Working Solutions by providing tailored Salesforce support. A Client Success Manager focuses on continuous enhancement of the system and ensures adoption throughout the organization. This includes meeting business consulting needs by fine-tuning internal origination and underwriting workflows. Craftsman is responsible for streamlining the loan application process in Salesforce and FormAssembly. By upgrading to FormAssembly’s Enterprise level offering, Working Solutions has been able to utilize prefill functionality to create and update underwriting document packages.
The Client Success Manager and supporting Managed Services team provide consistent review and improvement of Salesforce functionality. By customizing impact reporting and creatively engaging multiple business units, leadership can effectively manage the team’s portfolio.
Tools + Technology
Working Solutions uses Lightning Experience for Sales Cloud. FormAssembly with Stripe is integrated for web forms and fee payment. Nintex DocGen provides document generation capabilities. Laser Credit is used to pull key credit reports into Salesforce. Outlook is the app for sending email communications. DocuSign is used for electronic signatures and Box is leveraged for file storage in Salesforce.