Together we build greatness: How Vandersanden & HAVIK collaborate to gain the most out of Marketing Cloud

The best way to introduce Vandersanden, is by telling you what they do - Vandersanden produces bricks: facing bricks, facade systems, brick slips, and clay pavers - but that doesn’t say it all. Vandersanden is so much more: they focus on a better future, and develop innovative products. Just a few months ago, they launched a CO₂-negative brick named “Pirrouet®”. 

Vandersanden is not only innovative in their products - but the company is also currently going through a digital transformation. Their main goal: creating a better customer experience by having a complete 360° customer view. Implementing Salesforce Sales & Service Cloud was step one, migrating from Selligent to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE), was step two. While Vandersanden is currently active in 10+ European countries, their marketing team is centralized in Belgium.  

In 2023, we stepped into a partnership to co-create on a daily basis. They were in need of a partner who would help them with a migration from Selligent towards Marketing Cloud, as well as share strategic advice with them.  One thing led to another, and we kicked off the replatforming project in 2023! 

Migration towards Marketing Cloud 

We kicked off our collaboration with Vandersanden by hosting three strategic workshops to discuss their technology stack, data management in Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE), and their ideal marketing-sales funnel. This helped us understand their processes and requirements, enabling us to design an initial setup for MCAE. 

Vandersanden sought to give their marketeers more control over the lead-to-ROI customer journey, prompting their move from Selligent to the user-friendly MCAE platform. This transition involved migrating all marketing assets—emails, forms, and automation flows—while optimizing them as needed. We collaborated closely with Brightfox, Vandersanden’s Sales & Service Cloud partner, throughout this process. 

Our contributions included a modern email template, a branded email preference center, opt-in management logic, automated campaign assignments, and lead qualification flows. Brightfox added Salesforce functionality for logging form submissions and creating follow-up tasks. 

After training, the Vandersanden team successfully migrated most marketing assets themselves, initiating a phase of co-creation, while HAVIK managed more complex campaigns requiring custom setups and API integrations. We migrated over 200 forms, 130 emails, 35 campaigns, and 35,000 prospects. 

During this time, Vandersanden launched their new Pirrouet® brick, with HAVIK leading the campaign setup in MCAE. The campaign launched successfully on September 5th. 

With processes in place and assets migrated, we completed the final phase, migrating existing contacts from Selligent and syncing with Salesforce. The “go live” was celebrated with an email to engaged prospects and a celebration at Vandersanden's HQ. 

Continuous focus on user adoption and a data-driven mindset 

User adoption is crucial when implementing a new tool, and HAVIK recognized this from the start with Vandersanden. We provided tailored training to enhance user skills in Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE). Our training began with basic concepts and progressed to more advanced topics, including data management, segmentation, campaign setup from scratch, and creating dashboards in Analytics Studio. 

After going live, Vandersanden has been using MCAE daily, and HAVIK continued to support them in maximizing their use of the tool. One effective method we employed during the first months after go-live is weekly Q&A sessions, where members of the marketing team could join to ask questions and receive guidance from our marketing automation experts. 

Our commitment to user adoption extends beyond initial training. We work closely with Vandersanden's marketeers to optimize current customer journeys and keep them informed of the latest innovations and industry best practices. Our workshops are designed to prioritize co-creation, encouraging marketers to adopt a data-driven mindset. 

As a result, Vandersanden's marketing team is now equipped to connect strategy with customer journey setups, allowing them to measure the impact of their initiatives effectively. This ongoing focus on user adoption ensures that Vandersanden fully leverages MCAE to enhance their marketing efforts and drive business success. 

Enhancing Lead Management for Sales and Marketing Collaboration 

Effective lead management is essential for activating collaboration between sales and marketing teams, enabling them to create value together. By discussing and refining the lead management flow, organizations can foster co-ownership of processes, breaking down the silos that often exist between these two critical functions. 

After our initial setup of lead management—covering lead qualification, assignment, and overall management—Vandersanden reached a pivotal moment after one year of adoption. With valuable insights gained from lead behavior, asset value mapping, and conversion rates, it became clear that a more advanced approach to lead management was necessary. 

This new strategy focuses on data-driven lead and deal management, promoting a sense of shared ownership between sales and marketing teams. By leveraging insights, we can facilitate faster conversions on leads without overwhelming the sales team with additional work. Importantly, this approach establishes a continuous feedback loop that keeps communication open and productive. 

HAVIK always encourages a pragmatic approach, continuously optimizing our processes based on data-driven insights. We understand that this setup is not set in stone; rather, it serves as a foundation for ongoing improvement. By taking these steps forward, Vandersanden is well-positioned to enhance collaboration, streamline lead management, and ultimately drive greater success for both sales and marketing teams. 

HAVIK will keep supporting and inspiring Vandersanden in creating a better experience for their prospects and customers. Our partnership will help them take their marketing automation to the next level and make sure they use the MCAE platform to its full extent!