CLIENT:
The client is a global manufacturer of pipe fittings and pipe hangers and supports. They sell through distributors and also communicate and interact with end users, contractors, OEMs, and various types of specifiers.
CHALLENGE:
Prior to working with MarketSense, all communications with distributors and other constituencies were handled by each sales team member, who maintained their own lists of contacts in whatever format was most convenient for them.
The records in the corporate database – which was maintained on an AS/400 system – were primarily accounting contacts and shipping locations, not the decision makers with whom the sales force interacted.
When important communications were needed – new products, price increases, etc. – the information was sent to the sales force to then forward on to their customers. Needless to say, this method was slow, error-prone, and inconsistent. This left many customers with outdated brochures and incorrect price sheets.
In addition, when sales reps left the company, their list of contacts often left with them, creating significant challenges for a new rep moving into that territory and, often, significant customer dissatisfaction or defection.
SOLUTION:
MarketSense worked with the client to gather customer and prospect files from all of the sales reps. In addition, the corporate AS400 data was extracted so that there would be at least an address record for all current customers. Contacts were also added from various buying group, mailing, and product registration lists.
A total of 23,724 contact records were obtained from all of these sources. These were then standardized, consolidated, cleaned, and deduped, resulting in a database of 11,328 contacts.
This list was then subjected to several rounds of further cleaning including a review by the sales team and a blast email/mass mailing that allowed customers and prospects to update their own information through a web landing page. Non-respondents were also telemarketed to verify their contact information and obtain email addresses.
MarketSense then built Web-based tools that allow the sales team to select, sort, access, and update this information and enable contacts to update their own data as well as information for other contacts at their location through quarterly blast emails.
RESULTS:
With this solution in place, company announcements and updates can now be instantly transmitted to all customers.
The system has also freed up significant amounts of sales rep and administrative time and virtually eliminated situations in which customers are working with outdated information.
As importantly, the client is now able to effectively manage customer contact information – an important corporate asset. As expected, this has also significantly accelerated the ability of new reps to fully get up to speed and engage with the customers in their territory.
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