Client Success Snapshot
Client Profile:
- Overview: A division of an internationally-recognized battery provider
- Industry: Manufacturing (Household Batteries)
- Team Size: N/A
- Annual Revenue: N/A
- Headquarters: CT, USA
- Markets: Global
The Challenge
After outsourcing its sales efforts to an external firm, a major battery manufacturer struggled to access real-time information about the work its 50-person sales team completed on its behalf. Data silos between the two organizations prevented our client from achieving real-time visibility into sales activities; the manufacturer was completely reliant on weekly briefing calls. This information-sharing delay limited our client’s ability to make timely strategic decisions, prepare for upcoming contract expirations, and deliver tailored marketing materials to clients.
Gerent’s Approach
Gerent proposed an Experience Cloud Quick Start. In just four weeks, our client gained a fully-functional Experience Cloud iteration with accounts, contacts, leads, reports, and dashboards. The sales team could input their updates directly into this platform, thereby giving our client full visibility into sales operations, progress, and achievements. Gerent also implemented automatic notifications for upcoming contract expirations or renewal opportunities. Lastly, Gerent held two training sessions for the battery manufacturer’s sales team and delivered a voiceover-led video to help onboard future members.
Key Outcomes
Gerent’s implementation eliminated the battery manufacturer’s silo problem and empowered the organization to improve its customer relationships, reduce time-consuming manual tasks, enhance contract tracking, improve its collaboration with the sales team, and automate scheduling and follow-up processes.
Client Success Story
When it comes to deal making, real-time sales data is a must. With timely information at hand, company leaders can make informed strategic decisions, prepare compelling offers, and maximize their chances of landing — and keeping — customers. The logic is intuitive; a sales team can’t effectively plan tomorrow’s deals if it’s forced to rely on last week’s intelligence.
Sales data lag is a problem that Gerent’s client, a major division of an internationally-recognized battery manufacturer, knew all too well. After outsourcing its sales efforts to an external firm, the division struggled to access real-time information about the work its 50-person sales team completed on its behalf.
Insufficient tech creates silos, wastes time, and limits efficiency
This communication lag was mostly due to a reporting problem. While the external sales team recorded all of their outreach and deal making progress in their firm’s internal Salesforce system, the battery provider had no means of accessing that data on-demand.
Walled off from real-time updates, the manufacturer was unable to leverage its real-time sales data or make the most of Salesforce’ dynamic reporting capabilities. Instead, the manufacturer was forced to source its intelligence from the spreadsheets and PDF reports provided by the sales team during weekly briefing calls.
Naturally, this information delay caused problems. The battery provider often found itself behind the curve when it came to preparing timely marketing materials or preparing for contract expirations. Waiting even a week to address an expiring deal could have a massively detrimental effect on the brand’s ability to complete a renewal agreement.
Gerent empowers efficient collaboration with Salesforce Experience Cloud
Determined to improve communications between its internal leadership and external sales teams, the battery manufacturer began searching for a Salesforce implementation partner. Over the last several months, the firm had become increasingly dissatisfied with its previous technology provider — so much so, in fact, that it decided to switch to Gerent, a well-regarded implementation partner with ample experience facilitating transformations in the manufacturing sector.
It didn’t take long for Gerent’s solution architects to identify the problem and propose a solution: implementing Salesforce Experience Cloud.
Powered by Salesforce’s revolutionary Customer360 technology, the Experience Cloud platform empowers businesses to improve customer engagement through innovative and connective digital outreach strategies. With it, teams can accelerate their daily operations through automation and craft digital touchpoints (websites, portals, mobile apps, etc.) that delight their users.
Because the battery manufacturer needed functionality on a quick turnaround, Gerent suggested an Experience Cloud Quick Start. In just four weeks, our client would have a fully-functional Experience Cloud iteration with accounts, contract, leads, reports, and dashboards. The platform would allow the sales team to input their notes directly into Experience Cloud, rather than their original siloed system.
Post-implementation, both the sales team and battery manufacturer could view real time updates, generate accurate reports, and leverage Salesforce’s analytical capabilities — no weekly meeting or spreadsheet printouts required. Gerent also implemented Chatter and Salesforce Emails so our client could communicate with its sales team without ever leaving the Experience Cloud platform. Lastly, Gerent instituted a few minor automations that would notify the battery manufacturer of upcoming contract expirations or renewal opportunities.
Gerent’s implementation achieved its initial goal: to eliminate the battery manufacturer’s silo problem and facilitate better collaboration with its sales team. However, those weren’t the only benefits our client received from its Experience Cloud Quick Start. Following its partnership with Gerent, the client was empowered to:
- Improve its customer relationships
- Reduce time-consuming manual tasks and empower its sales team to pursue more opportunities
- Improve its expiration tracking processes
- Gather, share, and track competitive intelligence
- Automate and standardize processes relating to scheduling and follow-ups
- Improve visibility into and communications with the sales team
- Make collaboration with the sales team easier
This quick start was a relatively small project that offered a comparatively enormous benefit to our client. However, Gerent’s assistance didn’t conclude with the implementation process.
Gerent provides end-user training to support current (and future) employees
Usually, in cases where 50+ people need training on new Salesforce technology, Gerent recommends train-the-trainer sessions. These are fairly self-explanatory; after receiving training from Gerent’s staff, client representatives take on the challenge of teaching their team members how to use the new software.
In this case, however, our client requested that Gerent hold training sessions for its 50-person sales team. Our trainers rose to the challenge, planning and hosting two small-group learning sessions. As an added bonus, Gerent’s instructors also created a voiceover-led training video for the sales team to use in the event of team turnover or growth.
“Gerent was second to none in professionalism and quality of work performed,” the battery manufacturer shared in a survey. “They were flexible and nimble even when needed at the 11th hour of the project.”
Post-implementation and training, our client can make the most of every growth opportunity — without needing to play catch-up with its sales team. Interested in finding out more about how Gerent can help your team eliminate silos? Contact us today to set up a conversation!
.jpeg)
.jpg)
