Guildford Borough Council

The challenge

The council faced operational and financial pressures, including reliance on more than 15 legacy systems, limited digital capability for customers and a savings target of £10 million. Past technology programmes had failed to deliver expected benefits, reinforcing the need for a new approach.

The goal was to improve customer service, modernise systems and support a more flexible and efficient organisation, with a new CRM at the centre of the digital transformation.

The result

Ignite supported the council to shape the digital strategy, assess platform options and manage the procurement and implementation of a new CRM.

Salesforce was selected as the core platform for the citizen self-service account. Implementation was completed in under 12 months, supported by coordinated launches of additional digital platforms for council tax, housing benefit and licensing.

The key outcomes included:

• Consolidation of 15 phone lines into a single contact number

• Creation of a knowledge base to support contact centre staff

• Over 3,000 customer accounts registered within six weeks of go-live

• 73% first contact resolution in the early weeks of operation

• Field teams were able to update cases directly via mobile access

• Real-time dashboards introduced for managers to monitor performance

What made it successful

• Informed procurement: structured engagement with the market enabled a quick, evidence-based platform decision.

• Clear priorities: a minimum viable product and prioritised backlog kept the implementation phase focused.

• Strong governance: regular reporting, issue management and coordination with other technology projects supported delivery.

• Focus on benefits: a live benefit model helped track savings and maintain alignment with the council’s transformation aims.

• Collaborative delivery: a joint team from the council, consultants and implementation partner ensured local knowledge and technical expertise were combined.

• Capability building: product ownership was supported through mentoring and agile working practices, helping to build internal confidence and skills.