Since 2015, SMARTCRM supports the sales processes in the field service and back office at MAGE Roof & Building Components GmbH. In Germany, about 30 sales employees work in compact sales teams. Each of them consist in back office and field service collaborators. MAGE has decided to implement a CRM solution to guarantee a smooth communication within the teams and between the departments. In the CRM system, all relevant information should be documented and analyzed. In addition, the CRM implementation should serve the backup of more uniform and more traceable sales processes. Then, the structuring of activities and consistent customer segmentation with reproducible potential form the basis of sales success for MAGE.
Requirements
- Interface to proALPHA
- Extensive up-to-date analyses
- Tour planning and documentation
Due to poor network coverage in some parts of Germany, MAGE has consciously decided against a cloud solution. Instead, the field service employees can access SMARTCRM on their notebooks offline. Moreover, SMARTCRM impressed with modular, flexible design as well as the possibility of an independent administration by MAGE.
Project goals
- Transparent information management and structured sales processes
- Optimal communication between field service and back office
- Complete quotation tracking
- Overview of competitors/competitive products
ERP connection to proALPHA
Besides SMARTCRM, MAGE uses the ERP solution proALPHA. Both systems are connected over an interface specifically designed for the company’s requirements, so that business particularities such as the special price search can be also represented. SMARTCRM imports quotations, open items, special prices and the forecast from proALPHA. When before analyses were sent per e-mail in form of Excel spreadsheets to the field service staff, now they are available in SMARTCRM at the press of a button. Thus, the employees can keep track of the sales figures in their sales territories for example at any time. Changes are detected early thanks to the target/actual comparisons, year-on-year comparisons as well as trend changes. This way the sales activities can be aligned accordingly. Analyses of the product groups were created via external Access databases before the CRM implementation. Today, they are available directly in SMARTCRM up to the product level allowing cross selling potential to be identified and exploited more quickly. The processing of certain customer sales figures based on filter criteria such as the classification was not possible without the CRM solution.
Complete quotation tracking
The quotations are transferred from proALPHA and archived in the respective customer file. A corresponding project file provides all contacts, quotations as well as the complete communication related to this project to all employees in the CRM system at a glance. When launching SMARTCRM, they see diverse individual overviews, including a list of all follow-up offers. This is how a complete quotation tracking is guaranteed.
Planning, managing and documenting tours
SMARTCRM supports the field employees in planning sales tours. MAGE allocates the addresses to given tours in the CRM system using the features. When planning a new tour, all allocated addresses are displayed to the field employee. This way, he can select which customers he would like to visit on this day in a targeted manner. The addresses can be visualized on a Bing Map at the press of a button and the route adjusted accordingly. Following subsequent return to SMARTCRM, appointments and activities for later visit documentation can be automatically generated if required. Due to diverse overviews, the survey of the already driven routes and the upcoming tours remains preserved.
The competition at a glance
If a customers use competitive products, the company documents this in SMARTCRM and opposes its own products. This is how the CRM system supports the sales staff in finding the appropriate argumentation for a change. A traffic light graphic in the address file shows which products have already been presented to a customer and whether interest was awaken. An overview of the product with the corresponding color markings for each status or competitive product is displayed by SMARTCRM in the address file on a separate tab.
The right target groups for your marketing actions
The marketing staff benefits from the use of SMARTCRM. MAGE can select the right target group for every marketing action using the features assigned to addresses and contacts, for instance for sending product documentation and samples. The management, documentation and evaluation of temporary customer surveys take place in the CRM system as well.
Conclusion and outlook
SMARTCRM has become the most important sales tool for MAGE, since it allows each sales employee to independently get a complete overview of their area of responsibility and to ensure a professional exchange of information. Customer care has been precisely structured by MAGE and there is a clear determination of back office and field service responsibilities. The company is also very satisfied with the care provided by the SMARTCRM GmbH and the telephone hotline support.
The SMARTCRM installation at MAGE should be extended in the future. Thus, the company plans for instance to simplify the creation of visit reports for the field employees using questionnaires.
Our sales processes have become significantly more transparent with SMARTCRM, which has improved both sales control and the restructuring of sales processes. With SMARTCRM’s possible classifications, we can focus our sales work on the right projects.
Renate Pfitzmann, Internal sales team at MAGE Roof & Building Components GmbH