Customer Case Study

From Google Sheets to a
Sales Machine

How ASK Management Group replaced 15 years of shared spreadsheets with a live CRM, two structured pipelines, and automated HRD Corp follow-up sequences — going from setup to go-live in 19 days.

ASK HRD Learning & Development CRM + Prospectus Malaysia 2026
19 days Setup → Go-Live
7 Users Licensed
25K+ Contacts in DB
100% Active — Go-Live Day
~60% Avg Daily Active Rate
HN
Harry Nguyen
Business Consultant
LN
Linh Ngo
Customer Success
AS
Dr Adeva Sangkuni
CEO
EN
Erlin Nelviza
CRM Manager
01 / 17
Contents

What This Case Study Covers

01 INDUSTRY

Company Overview + Industry Context

HRD Corp-claimable training, the 25,000-contact cold-call operation, and why generic CRMs fail for Malaysian L&D companies.

02 TURNING POINT

Why Now — The Decision to Act

Three compounding pressures: a collapsing Google Sheets infrastructure, invisible sales KPIs, and a hard government deadline.

03 IMPLEMENTATION

19 Days from Setup to Go-Live

Kick-off to go-live in under three weeks — with 100% team activation on day one and no post-training usage drop-off.

04 CRM SOLUTION

What Was Built on Rework

Two pipelines, per-AM webforms, Track A/B follow-up sequences with D-21 enforcement, and a multi-channel inbox.

05 ADOPTION

Usage & Team Adoption

CEO logging in nightly. AMs generating 300+ sessions per day. A data cleanup project that doubled as onboarding training.

06 BD TOOLKIT

Before/After & Sales Intel

Key terms for HRD Corp deals, and the insights that win the next L&D company in your pipeline.

02 / 17
Company Overview

ASK Management Group — 15 Years of Corporate Training, One Week to Transform the Sales Stack

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Menara MBMR, Kuala Lumpur, ASK Management Group delivers over 1,100 HRD Corp-claimable training modules across 15+ industries. The company serves B2B clients across 9 Malaysian regions plus Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, UAE, and Hong Kong — with corporate packages ranging from RM 10,000 to RM 15,000 per company.

Alongside its training catalogue, ASK runs flagship conferences (Elevate HR Summit, Hospitality Sales Metrics Bootcamp), a customised TNA consultancy service, and AI@ria — an AI-powered sales assistant deployed on a separate chatbot platform.

HRD Corp is the product, not the training

Malaysian employers fund training through a government levy — making the grant claim process as important as the programme itself.

25,000 contacts, zero pipeline stages

A 15-year contact pool living in a shared Google Sheets file — with no funnel, no stage tracking, and no activity log.

D-21 is the only deadline that matters

Every HRD Corp event has a registration cutoff 21 days before the event date. Miss it and the training becomes non-claimable.

Main Sales Motion
🎯
Fill all training slots every month
Target: ~10 seats per event, every month. Revenue depends on consistent slot fill, not one-off deals.
📞
Sales-led motion via outbound reach
AMs cold-call from a 25,000-contact database. High volume, repeating outreach — every dial and outcome must be captured.
1,100+Training Modules
25,000+Contacts in DB
9Malaysian Regions
7Markets Served
Tech Stack Before Rework
Google Sheets WhatsApp (personal) Sales Bot (separate) No CRM
03 / 17
The Turning Point

Three Compressing Pressures That Made a CRM Non-Negotiable

Wake-Up Call

The Google Sheets Trap

Four to five salespeople sharing one file across 9 regions. A single undo keystroke erased a colleague's work. Two to three contacts per company created invisible duplicates. There was no funnel, no stage tracking, and no way for management to know where any deal stood.

The Blind Spot

KPIs Built on Self-Reporting

Dr Sangkuni needed revenue per AM, dials per day, and an engaged contact view. None of it existed. Monthly reviews ran on what the team chose to report. Within days of going live, she caught a bounced email in the activity log that Erlin had missed — the first real coaching moment the system made possible.

The Hard Deadline

HRD Corp D-21 — In Everyone's Head

Every HRD Corp event has an unforgiving timeline: campaign starts D-35, registration closes D-21. Miss the window and the training becomes non-claimable — the entire commercial proposition evaporates. With AMs tracking deadlines personally across multiple simultaneous events, the risk of a miss was structural, not occasional.

"I'm on this page almost every day until late night going through every inch of it. I like it though — because it records everything we do on a client. It's a very good system."
— Dr Adeva Sangkuni, CEO, ASK Management Group
04 / 17
Implementation Timeline

19 Days.
Setup to Go-Live.

Six structured sessions from kick-off to user training — with 100% of licensed users active on the official go-live date.

Mar 19First Active Date
Apr 6Go-Live Date
100%Active on Go-Live
7/7Users on Day One
~Mar 18, 2026

Session 0 — Kick-off & Planning

Scope confirmed; pipelines drafted; team roles mapped.

Mar 19–20, 2026

Session 1 — System Setup

7 users provisioned; webforms configured; pipelines built; per-AM URLs live.

~Mar 25, 2026

Session 2 — Pilot Review

Deal naming standardised; data cleanup underway; webform notifications tested live with full team.

~Apr 1, 2026

Session 3 — Pre-Training Review

100% team active; email tracking enabled; channel connections started.

Apr 6–7, 2026

Session 4 — User Training & Go-Live 🚀

100% active on day one. ReworkCaller deployed. Facebook Messenger and TikTok connected.

TBD

Sessions 5 & 6 — 1-Week & 1-Month Review

Adoption check; revenue attribution; dashboard review.

05 / 17
Needs & Goals

Before Rework vs After Rework

Before Rework
🗂️

25,000 Contacts Underutilised

Scattered across separate spreadsheets and personal phonebooks. No history, no qualification status, no way to know if a contact had ever been called or converted.

📋

Pipeline Visibility

Zero funnel stages. Google Sheets with no stage column. Management received verbal updates only.

📞

Call Logging

Calls made from personal mobiles. No log, no duration, no outcome. Self-reported on request.

📩

Lead Capture

Separate JotForm sent to email, manually keyed into spreadsheets — or inbound to personal WhatsApp. No central intake. Manual forwarding with no attribution.

💬

Multi-Channel Inbox

Facebook, TikTok, website chat — unmonitored or in separate apps, disconnected from any CRM.

📅

Training Events Calendar

PDF file, lost in folders. No single source of truth on upcoming events, HRD Corp deadlines, or available slots.

After Rework
🗂️

All Contacts Verified & Centralised

Full 25,000-contact database cleaned, qualified, and structured. Every record has ownership, status (Qualified / Cold / Disqualified), and a full activity trail.

📋

Pipeline Visibility

2 pipelines: Event Registration + Corporate Sales. Deal cards with full activity trail. All sales activities — notes, emails, calls — logged. Revenue-per-AM dashboard live.

📞

Call Logging

ReworkCaller logs every call with duration and outcome. Dials-per-day dashboard. Answer rate dashboard. Activity visible to management in real time.

📩

Lead Capture

7 unique per-AM webforms with UTM attribution — each AM's leads are tracked to source. In-app push notification on every submission.

💬

Multi-Channel Inbox

Rework Prospectors: Facebook Messenger ✅ TikTok ✅ live. WhatsApp + Instagram in progress. One inbox, assignee routing, all inbound centralised.

📅

Training Events Calendar

Single source of truth for all training events — including HRD Corp submission deadlines, event dates, and slot availability. No more hunting through folders.

06 / 17
CRM Solution — Overview

The Full Transformation at a Glance

Six problem areas. One platform. Here's every scope — before and after Rework.

Scope Before Rework After Rework
🗂️ Contacts
25,000 contacts in separate spreadsheets & phonebooks
Unknown history, no qualification, no ownership
All contacts verified, centralised & attributed
Qualified / Cold / Disqualified statuses; full activity trail per record
📋 Pipeline
Zero funnel stages — Google Sheets rows only
Verbal status updates to management via WhatsApp
2 pipelines: Event Registration + Corporate Sales
Deal cards with full activity trail; all notes, emails & calls logged; revenue-per-AM dashboard live
📞 Call Logging
Personal mobiles — no log, no duration, no outcome
Self-reported on request only
ReworkCaller logs every call automatically
Dials-per-day dashboard + answer rate dashboard; management has live visibility
📩 Lead Capture
JotForm → email → manual spreadsheet entry, or personal WhatsApp
No central intake; no attribution; manual forwarding
7 unique per-AM webforms with UTM attribution
In-app push notification on every submission; each lead attributed to source AM
💬 Inbox
Facebook, TikTok, website chat — unmonitored
Separate personal apps, fully disconnected from sales
Rework Prospectors: Facebook ✅ TikTok ✅ live
WhatsApp + Instagram in progress; assignee routing; one centralised inbox
📅 Events Calendar
PDF file lost in folders
No visibility on HRD Corp deadlines, slots, or event dates
Single source of truth for all training events
HRD Corp submission deadlines, dates, and slot availability — all in one place
07 / 17
CRM Solution — Scope 1 of 6

🗂️ Contacts

25,000 contacts imported, cleaned, and attributed — with qualification statuses and per-AM webform tracking.

Before Rework
25,000 contacts in separate spreadsheets & phonebooks. Unknown history, no qualification, no ownership. 2–3 PICs per company; simultaneous edits caused data loss.
After Rework
All contacts verified & centralised. 7 per-AM webforms with UTM attribution — lead auto-created on submission with instant push notification to owning AM.
08 / 17
CRM Solution — Scope 2 of 6

📋 Pipeline Visibility

Two structured pipelines replacing zero funnel stages — with deal cards, activity trails, and a revenue-per-AM dashboard.

Before Rework
Zero funnel stages. Google Sheets with no stage column. Management received verbal updates only — no deal reference numbers, no activity trail.
After Rework
2 pipelines: Event Registration + Corporate Sales. Deal cards with full activity trail — all notes, emails & calls logged. Revenue-per-AM dashboard live.
09 / 17
CRM Solution — Scope 3 of 6

📞 Call Logging

Every call logged automatically — duration, outcome, AM name — with a dials-per-day and answer rate dashboard.

Before Rework
Calls made from personal mobiles. No log, no duration, no outcome. Self-reported on request only — management had no visibility on dial counts.
After Rework
ReworkCaller logs every call with duration and outcome. Dials-per-day dashboard + answer rate dashboard. Management has live visibility — Razali logged 302 sessions in a single day.
10 / 17
CRM Solution — Scope 4 of 6

📩 Lead Capture

7 unique per-AM webforms with UTM attribution replacing a disconnected JotForm-to-email-to-spreadsheet chain.

Before Rework
Separate JotForm → email → manual spreadsheet entry, or inbound to personal WhatsApp. No central intake; no attribution; manual forwarding with no source tracking.
After Rework
7 unique per-AM webforms with UTM attribution. Lead auto-created in Rework on submission. In-app push notification fired instantly — each lead attributed to source AM.
11 / 17
CRM Solution — Scope 5 of 6

💬 Multi-Channel Inbox

Facebook Messenger and TikTok centralised into one Rework inbox — with WhatsApp and Instagram in progress.

Rework Prospectors — Unified Inbox
Facebook Messenger ✅ TikTok ✅ live in one unified inbox. Assignee routing, conversation history, and all inbound captured in Rework.
ASK-HRD Website Live Chat — Connected
ASK-HRD website live chat connected to Rework Prospectors. Website visitors handled in the same inbox as social channels.
12 / 17
CRM Solution — Scope 6 of 6

📅 Training Events Calendar

A single source of truth for all training events — including HRD Corp submission deadlines, event dates, and slot availability.

Before Rework
PDF file lost in folders. No visibility on HRD Corp D-21 deadlines, available slots, or event dates. AMs tracked deadlines personally across multiple simultaneous events.
After Rework
Single source of truth for all training events. HRD Corp submission deadlines, event dates, and slot availability — all in one place, visible to the full team.
13 / 17
End-User Adoption

100% on Day One. No Drop-Off After.

All 7 licensed users were active on the official go-live date. Seven weeks later, the average daily active rate holds at ~60% — with weekday peaks above 70% and no post-training falloff.

Weekly Active Rate — Post Go-Live
Week 1 (Apr 6–12)
66%
Week 2 (Apr 13–19)
51%
Week 3 (Apr 20–26)
67%
Week 4 (Apr 27–May 3)
41%
Week 5 (May 4–10)
79%
Week 6 (May 11–17)
59%
Week 7 (May 18–24)
69%

CEO as the Power User

Dr Sangkuni is "on this page almost every day until late night." She uses the activity log to coach AMs in real-time — spotting bounced emails, identifying which leads haven't been followed up, and recreating SOPs from the system trail.

Most Active Users
Roziana Barnie
400 sess
Razali Hasanan
302 sess
Puguneswary Saker
165 sess
Rosyafika A.M.
121 sess
Mohamad Shahrizat
126 sess

Sessions = peak single-day count

5×Days at 100% Usage
302Peak Daily Sessions
14 / 17
Before & After Summary

What Changed — Side by Side

Category Before Rework After Rework
Pipeline
None — Google Sheets rows, no stages
Self-reported status updates via WhatsApp
2 pipelines (B2C + SME, 7 stages each)
Deal reference numbers; full activity trail per deal
Lead Capture
Inbound to personal WhatsApp; no attribution
Manual forwarding; no central intake
7 per-AM webforms with UTM tracking
In-app push notification on every submission; fully attributed
Call Logging
Zero — verbal self-reporting only
No dial count, no duration, no outcome recorded
ReworkCaller app; dials-per-day dashboard
302 sessions in a single day by Razali (May 22)
HRD Corp Deadlines
Personal calendars; AM memory dependency
One missed D-21 = non-claimable training
Track B step B4 auto-fires at D-21
Campaign-to-deadline logic enforced by system; D-35 start built in
Data Quality
25K contacts; duplicates; wrong emails
Shared Google Sheets; simultaneous edits caused data loss
Active cleanup: Qualified / Cold / Disqualified
Account-level grouping; regional segmentation; 17 gaps flagged
Multi-Channel Inbox
0 channels — personal apps only
Facebook, TikTok, website chat unmonitored
Facebook ✅ TikTok ✅ (WhatsApp + Instagram in progress)
Assignee routing; one inbox; all new inbound in Rework
Reporting
None — no dashboards, no KPI visibility
Revenue and activity figures were entirely self-reported
Revenue per AM; dials per day; engaged contacts
Management uses activity log for live AM coaching
15 / 17
BD Toolkit

Win More Deals Like This

Industry Key Terms
HRD Corp (PSMB)
Malaysian government levy body. Employers with 10+ staff pay a mandatory levy (0.5–1% of payroll) claimable for approved training. Every ASK programme is HRD Corp-claimable — meaning the employer pays nothing if they qualify. The CRM must be built around this claim process, not around a generic deal stage.
D-35 / D-21 Rule
Campaign starts 35 days before event. Registration deadline is 21 days before. Miss D-21 = training is non-claimable. The 14-day window between D-35 and D-21 is the entire commercial execution window for the AM — and it must be encoded in the CRM, not written in a personal calendar.
SBL-Khas
Skim Bantuan Latihan Khas — HRD Corp grant scheme covering 100% of training cost for registered employers. The AM must confirm HRD Corp registration before quoting any programme. Non-registered companies cannot claim.
Open Enrolment vs In-House
Open = public event, multiple companies, individual or small cohort. In-house = private programme for one company, larger deal (RM 30K–100K+), longer cycle. Both claimable but require separate pipeline tracks — the SME pipeline should handle in-house; B2C handles open enrolment.
AI@ria / Sales Bot
ASK's proprietary AI chatbot deployed on WhatsApp and web. Currently on a separate platform with its own phone number — disconnected from Rework. When connected, it will pass warm conversation history to the AM so they don't start cold. This integration is the next major upsell.
BD Insights

Lead with HRD Corp, not the product

The first question in every Malaysian L&D deal is: "Is this claimable?" If the CRM has D-21 triggers and claim tracking built in, that's a feature no generic CRM offers. Lead with it — it's the close.

Data cleanup is the real first deliverable

Every L&D company above 50 employees has a broken Google Sheets pool. Offer to structure and clean it — not just "import" it. That's what earns trust in week one and drives adoption in week two.

The dial-count gap is universal — and embarrassing

Ask any L&D CEO: "How many calls does your team make per week?" They won't know. Show them the dials-per-day dashboard. That moment is your close.

The CEO who logs in nightly is your champion forever

Dr Sangkuni checks the system every evening and coaches her team using the activity log. When the CEO is personally in the CRM, adoption is cultural — not optional. Find this person in your deal.

The AI chatbot silo is your wedge

Companies like ASK have already invested in AI. The AI warms leads, but those conversations live in a separate system. Connecting the AI inbox to the CRM — so the AM sees the full history — is a pain they feel every day. That's your upsell.

16 / 17
Conclusion

ASK didn't just replace Google Sheets.
They built a selling operation that can actually be managed.

Before Rework: calls nobody counted, emails nobody tracked, HRD Corp deadlines nobody automated, and 25,000 contacts in a file everyone could break. Nineteen days later, the system records everything — and Dr Sangkuni is in it every night.

"I'm on this page almost every day until late night going through every inch of it. I like it though — because it records everything we do on a client. It's a very good system."
— Dr Adeva Sangkuni, CEO, ASK Management Group
19 days Setup → Go-Live
100% Active Day One
25K+ Contacts Imported
~60% Avg Daily Active Rate
4 Channels Connected
17 / 17