Challenge 

NY Mag’s strategy in 2018 was to transition their business model from a predominately print to digital focus, reflecting the changing media landscape. However, they quickly realized they needed the right tools and partner to fit the fast changes in becoming a digital enterprise. 

The business conducted a review of their process and discovered sellers were providing data in different formats at different times. “What prompted the need for a switch was the amount of downtime and rework required to manually reconcile the data the sellers were providing,” admits Jeanette Galloway, Director of Business Operations at NY Mag. “It was a cumbersome and disjointed process which left us without a clear vision of our pipeline.” 

Solution 

NY Mag knew that if they wanted to streamline their processes, they needed a partner and system they could trust. They had three options. Stay with Excel Sheets, a system that was useful for minor tasks but could no longer handle the complicated data facing NY Mag, scrap their previous integration or try to fix it. They chose to work with Silverline and discontinued their previous integration. “The decision was effortless as Silverline was the strongest, based both on references and industry knowledge. Frankly, we didn’t have the bandwidth to accomplish everything a professional team such as Silverline could do and they spoke both our business language and Salesforce,” stated Galloway. 

In addition to selecting Silverline for their rich and comprehensive media knowledge, NY Mag chose Silverline for its commitment to customer success. “We value collaborating with partners who are interested in developing long-term relationships and need someone we can count on,” notes Galloway. “After we met with the sales team at Silverline, we knew that these were precisely the quality of people we wanted to work with.” 

NY Mag knew it was important to gain user adoption from the sales team to ensure their data was reliable, up-to-date and accurate. “Salespeople want to be on calls not bogged down by a system. It was imperative when we worked with Silverline that they captured the essentials of managing a business,” emphasized Galloway. “We relied on Silverline to institute best practices but not at the cost of the seller inputting non-essential data.” 

Results 

Since switching from Excel Sheets to Salesforce, NY Mag now works with real-time data. “We’re processing data in Salesforce more efficiently than we used to, and I can only imagine how much quicker it will be as we continue our work with Silverline,” says Galloway. “With our customized solution Silverline has laid the foundation for us to effectively use the data passing through Salesforce on a daily basis. Silverline helped us leverage our data to make well-informed decisions at all levels – from executives to sellers.” 

With the help of Silverlines, NY Mag is now functioning at a higher level than ever before. “With just under a year since implementing Salesforce we optimized our roadmap and know our numbers better than ever,” remarked Galloway. Providing NY Mag with a whole new understanding of their business has allowed higher user adoption by the sales team. “While rolling out the changes to the sellers, Silverline was always accessible for any tweaks which were essential during our user adoption phase. They were very connected during the training and we’ve never felt like we couldn’t reach out to them at any time.” 

Reflecting on their decision to go with Silverline, NY Mag is not shy about sharing their admiration of the team especially when it comes to industry knowledge and understanding their business. “Salesforce is a robust tool and can be whatever you want it to be, but it’s important to have a partner [Silverline] that keeps you pointed in the right direction based off your business needs,” reflects Galloway. 

Similarly, the quality relationships with the Silverline team and the Salesforce community continues to impress NY Mag. “At the end of the day, we’re focused on ad sales revenue – not technology. There’s an entire community built around Salesforce, and there’s comfort knowing that both the software and Silverline will continue to meet needs we don’t even know that we have yet.”