How FC Groningen built one commercial platform step by step

Marketing, sales, finance and hospitality each worked in their own system at FC Groningen. That fragmentation no longer matched the club’s direction. Marketing and sales needed to work together more closely. With the move into the MICE market, the same applied to sales and hospitality. The route from lead to invoice took too much time and manual work. Customers did not get a consistent experience either. The booking process was labor-intensive and frustrating, for staff and customers alike. The club needed one coherent platform.

‘We deliberately did not build everything at once. Each phase had to land properly at FC Groningen before we took the next step. That is why the platform now truly works the way the club works.’
Ruben Doornbos, consultant at CBEE Remarkable

Building step by step

FC Groningen chose CBEE Remarkable as its implementation partner and deliberately expanded the platform in phases. Each step got the room to land properly in the organization.
1. Sales Cloud as the commercial foundation
The club started with Salesforce Sales Cloud. This centralized the commercial processes around sponsorship and B2B sales. The sales team gained one up-to-date view of customers, opportunities and contracts.

2. Marketing on the same platform
FC Groningen then brought marketing (Account Engagement) onto Salesforce as well. Campaigns and lead follow-up now connect directly to the sales process. Leads no longer get lost between systems.

3. AFAS integration for a complete lead-to-cash flow
To make the route from lead to cash run flawlessly, the club connected Salesforce to AFAS. When sales closes an opportunity, the contract and order are created automatically in AFAS. Retyping data is a thing of the past.

4. GoMeddo for hospitality and event bookings
With the move into the MICE market, the club needed one central place to book venues, events and extras such as catering and staff. FC Groningen extended the platform with GoMeddo, a Salesforce-native booking solution that runs on the same data as sales, marketing and finance. The club now manages all MICE activities in one environment, follows every request from first inquiry to confirmed booking and lets hospitality, sales and finance work from the same customer view.
One platform, one customer view

FC Groningen now runs on one Salesforce platform that supports the full commercial cycle. From lead and sponsorship contract to invoice in AFAS. From event request to booked skybox. Teams work from the same data, without manual work to transfer information. That makes collaboration more efficient. It also gives the club a complete picture of every guest, which helps personalize services and capture cross-selling opportunities.

With Sales Cloud, marketing on the same platform, the AFAS integration and GoMeddo, FC Groningen grew from fragmented systems into one coherent commercial platform. A foundation the club uses to enter the MICE market and make the sale of sponsorship and B2B products faster and more scalable.

‘What I like most is that hospitality, sales and finance now look at the same customer view. A venue request and a sponsorship deal come together in one system. At FC Groningen, that simply did not exist before.’
Ruben Doornbos, consultant at CBEE Remarkable

Does this sound familiar in your own organization or club?
Fragmented systems slow down commercial growth, in and beyond football. Get in touch and discover what one central platform can do for your organization.