Executive Summary
+40% Engagement and 5/5 Satisfaction: Rebuilding a Strategic CRM Partnership
Company
Shaklee
Timeline
4 months
Project
CRM Customizaton
My Role
Creative Director
The Problem
- A previous Salesforce implementation failed to meet distributor needs
- Enterprise workflows ignored the relationship-driven nature of Shaklee’s business
Outcome
- Increased distributor engagement by 40% within three months of launch
- Achieved 5/5 satisfaction on a previously challenging account
- Restored executive confidence and strengthened the Salesforce–Shaklee partnership
My Role
- Creative Director, Account Lead, Team Manager
- Brought in to reset the engagement through research and experience strategy
- Led cross-org alignment and delivery execution
Detailed Case Study
Context and Challenge
Why This Problem Mattered
- The initial Salesforce rollout was built around enterprise CRM norms
- Distributors found the system unintuitive and disconnected from how they actually worked
- Implementation focused on platform configuration, not human behavior
- No deep understanding of the Shaklee distributor network informed the experience
- Distributor frustration threatened adoption and long-term ROI
- The Salesforce–Shaklee partnership risked erosion of trust
Constraints and Complexities
- Needed to re-engage skeptical stakeholders after a failed rollout
- Required proof that design-led strategy would produce different results
- Distributors operate as independent small business owners
- Their workflows revolve around personal networks and informal communication
- Solutions had to leverage existing Salesforce investment
- Experience had to feel simple without sacrificing enterprise capability
My Role and Decision Ownership
- Repositioned the work from system configuration to human-centered redesign
- Established research as the foundation for all strategic decisions
- Aligned Shaklee executives and Salesforce leadership around shared outcomes
- Advocated for distributor needs in roadmap decisions
- Directed research, synthesis, and experience design
- Accountable for restoring confidence through tangible, validated results
Research
Problem Definiton
Target Users
- Independent distributors managing personal networks and downlines
- Executives needing visibility into engagement and growth signals
Core Experience Gaps
- CRM workflows prioritized records over relationships
- Limited support for mobile, informal, real-world selling behaviors
Required Shift
- Move from transactional automation to relationship-centered enablement
- Design for distributors as entrepreneurs, not corporate employees
User Interviews
Conducted 12+ distributor interviews observing real communication and business practices. Also received survey results from 50+ distributors.
Interview Synthesis
Each color representing a different person interviewed with each card representing a sentiment offered by the subject. Sentiments were organized into groups of affinity.
High Level Interview Synthesis Map
Key Findings
Relationships drive revenue
- Business growth happens through trust networks, not pipeline dashboards
- Visibility into relationship strength matters more than visibility into transaction status
Informal interactions matter most
- Text messages, quick check-ins, and personal follow-ups drive momentum
- Tools must support lightweight, real-time engagement rather than structured data entry
Design Implications
- Surface relationship context before transactional metrics
- Prioritize mobile-first, lightweight interactions
Design
Design Strategy
Human Before System
- Redesign around distributor behavior, not CRM structure
- Focus on moments of connection and follow-up
Mobile as Primary Workspace
- The MLM business model runs on frequent, short engagement cycles—often 15 minutes or less.
- Optimize for field use and real-time interaction
- Reduce friction in everyday selling rituals
Strengthen the Partnership
- Demonstrate how design strategy unlocks platform value
- Tie user delight directly to Salesforce ROI
Solution Overview
Experience Redesign
- Reimagined Shaklee Connect around distributor networks
- Surfaced actionable relationship signals
Workflow Simplification
- Made downline management intuitive
- Enabled faster, more natural engagement touchpoints
Strategic Deliverables
- Experience vision aligned to executive priorities
- User-validated prototypes demonstrating adoption potential
- Executive artifacts that rebuilt stakeholder confidence
Mobile Design
A custom implimentation of Saleforce marketing cloud using their core capabilities presented in a more consumer-friendly experience.
Dashboard
Quick view at activity status and follow ups to complete
Business at a Glance
Ongoing trends and analytics into the small business performance
Marketing Campaigns
Ability to create and track personalized email communication with one or many people
Desktop Design
While the design was mobile first, it was responsive to a desktop context.
Dashboard
Quick view at activity status and follow ups to complete
Business at a Glance
Ongoing trends and analytics into the small business performance
Marketing Campaigns
Ability to create and track personalized email communication with one or many people
Impact
5 of 5
Satisfaction Survey
On a previously red account
+40%
Increased Engagement
3 months after launch
"This has been our most successful consultant project."
Quote from CEO