DAIHATSU MOTOR CO.

Creating motivation with maps.

─ What are the initiatives of the Corporate Division?

Tanimoto: Automobile sales are generally conducted at car dealerships. The customer comes to the showroom and the car is sold. However, there are customers who do not come to the store, for example, for business purposes. In order to get such customers to buy cars, we need a sales method that does not rely on stores. It is important for us to go to see the customers to grasp their information and needs, and to make accurate proposals.
Of course, blindly visiting customers is not the best way to get a clue. We have begun to strengthen our sales efforts by focusing on welfare and nursing care facilities. These facilities have several characteristics. One is the large number of vehicles used at these facilities. The other is the relatively small scale of their operations, and the fact that there are many small facilities scattered throughout the city, which makes sales ineffective. This is why not much work has been done in this area, but if we can develop sales activities in an efficient manner, we will be able to do business.

─ After the introduction of UPWARD, what were the first steps you took to make the system take root?

Tanimoto: At first I tried to see if I could develop new business myself. I organized it by putting up a residential map on the wall and writing down sales destinations. What I realized was that it could be done well enough depending on how it was done, and that it was a large market that was responding well. The problem was how to get people to do it and what kind of mechanism to create. The key was that efficiency could be increased by using the power of ICT, and that a map was necessary.
In new business development, it is also important to find ways to motivate people. In this respect, the use of maps was also effective.

Mr. Oi: In UPWARD, destinations are indicated on the map as white zeros, and after a visit, they are colored. When a business meeting occurs, the color changes. If a contract is signed, the color changes again. In this way, the places we have visited are visualized on the map.

Tanimoto: We think of this as "greening the desert". That creates motivation for sales. It also makes us think about what sales route would be more efficient to increase the time we spend meeting with customers. When we look at the activity history on a map, we can see the loss of activities. That is where we think rationally about "why. The essence is not to be gutsy, but to improve so that we can sell to many customers without overworking.

'Reproduce' is the goal.

─How is UPWARD used in the field?

Tanimoto: It is common in the sales field, but there is a way to add activities logeach time. However, this method does not last long. There is no way to motivate people in the field. It is tedious to input data, and managers are not likely to respond to reports that are inputted each time. Furthermore, there is no way that salespeople will sympathize with a report written by a manager who does not understand the field. The power of ICT is that it can make the satisfaction of the field visible on the spot using a map. This really encourages the field.
One of our innovations this time around was to allow all input to be done by voice input using a smartphone. This allows input to be done after the visit is over and before getting in the car. And as an incentive to the field, we eliminated the daily report. We also limited managers to those who had experience in this activity. Those who know the field can see a little further into the concerns of the people in the field. Also, it is easier to convince the people in the field.
In addition, we have a web conference every morning, during which we confirm what was entered the previous day. By checking, we are able to compare our movements with those of other people and get organized. In other words, we are trying to find effects by combining the virtual and the real, so to speak. While combining these results, we will create a manual that says, "This is the way to communicate to the customer. I believe this will be very effective.
In reality, it is not easy to develop good examples horizontally. You may think you know how to do something, but the actual results will not be the same. If we want to reproduce them, we have to share them within the same framework. The map has the efficacy to objectively show us "why this person can go around 15 times a day without difficulty. Our goal is "reproduction. We must be able to achieve the same results no matter who does it and where. That is why we need a map. 

─What is the structure of your sales department?

Tanimoto: In the case of cars, the dealership system is generally divided vertically with each prefecture as a territory. Our activities, on the other hand, are based on a horizontal axis. Right now, we are targeting the welfare and nursing care sector, but for this genre, even if we are in different regions or dealerships, we are connected horizontally and operate under the same system. We are connected not only through UPWARD from time to time, but also in our morning meetings, and we have a longer meeting once a week, which is also connected. We share the same system by using both virtual and real time.

─ Will the sales representatives be competing with each other for the area (customers)? ‍

Tanimoto: Our approach is a policy of selling volume as a team rather than taking individual credit. Of course, each person has his/her own activity plan and territory to some extent, but basically, it is important that everyone understands the customer in the same way, and that horizontal cooperation is firmly established so that the customer can smoothly take over the business. This is also the significance of using UPWARD.

─ How effective is the actual introduction of UPWARD?

Mr. Tanimoto: First of all, people tend to think that this kind of sales management system will not last, but at this point in time, it has continued without a single dropout. It is also highly reproducible, so it can be done the same way by anyone, anywhere. We measure the effectiveness of the system by having the dealers try it with us for 17 days.

Mr. Oi: Many people do not believe at first that door-to-door sales can sell cars. However, by showing them the "greening of the desert," they began to understand what could be done.

Salespeople say "I want to do it!" on their own. I want to be an organisation where people raise their hands and say 'I want to be a part of this'.

─Do you find out about some things only when you meet the customer?

Tanimoto: We cannot make good proposals unless we know our customers. It is also a matter of rediscovering what is troubling them and who the customers are. For example, in a welfare and long-term care facility, there are not only the management, but also employees and users of the facility. It is not enough to simply know who can pay for the service (the manager), but knowing the problems from each of these perspectives will lead to good proposals, which will ultimately benefit the manager as well. This is something that can only be understood by talking to them directly.

─ What is your outlook for the future?

Tanimoto: We must recognize that there are customers who "have no reason to go to the store. Until now, the site of sales has been the showroom. However, I believe that essentially the place where customers are using their cars is the site. It is important to understand the customer's situation and to develop from here with proposals from various angles. This approach has been unprofitable in the past because it is inefficient, but ICT has allowed us to see the light of day. We can make good proposals only if we consider what the customer expects by going to see them. In that sense, I think the way stores and sales will change in the future.
Also, I would like to use maps not only to increase efficiency, but also to provide motivation. It is important to get people to think about what they are doing by looking at the map. If they don't think about it, it won't be interesting.
I would like to use UPWARD to give incentives and make people feel that they would naturally benefit from doing things, rather than having managers make decisions and move people around. By continuing to do so, we hope to create an organization that encourages people to raise their hands and say, "I want to do it! I want to be an organization that encourages people to raise their hands and say, "I want to do it!