Case Study｜Global Life Co.

Inefficient sales process without "visualization

- What is your company's business and what are its strengths?

Suzuki: We are a company that provides total services including installation, sales, and maintenance of smart house-related equipment such as solar power generation, storage batteries, and all electrification. We have several types of sales activities, but our main activity is what is called door-to-door sales, in which we visit each customer's house one by one. We do not end with the installation of the equipment; we also perform the maintenance afterwards, and this has earned us a high level of customer satisfaction.
In terms of the sales process, the staff members in charge are divided by phase from the initial visit to the signing of the contract. In each phase, we try to provide explanations that are tailored to the customer's situation, so that the same information can be provided by anyone in charge of the project.

- What were some of the challenges you faced in your sales process before introducing UPWARD?

Mr. Suzuki: The biggest problem was that there was a lot of waste. the map system we were using before UPWARD was limited in the information it could input and did not allow us to schedule. We had to make decisions about sales status and next actions based on the limited information in the mapping system, which was very inefficient.
In addition, the daily activities of sales representatives could not be grasped smoothly, resulting in considerable wasteful work in daily tallying and reporting. This is what we call a lack of "visualization. I had to manually tally the daily activity reports of sales representatives and prepare reports, which was time-consuming and error-prone. In addition, the information on activities prior to obtaining appointments with customers was not reported, and we wanted to manage the information prior to obtaining appointments and utilize it in our sales activities.

Sincere 'listening attitude' and 'ability to make proposals' were decisive factors in the introduction of UPWARD.

- HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW ABOUT UPWARD?

Mr. Suzuki: It has been about three years since we introduced Salesforce* to our company to increase productivity in our sales activities. Although we had been using the dashboard and customer information management functions in a creative way, we felt that we were not making the most of Salesforce's* features. While facing these issues, we attended a Salesforce Japan event and learned about UPWARD, which allows sales representatives to easily report information on their daily activities. We felt that we had found something more interesting than we had expected, and contacted them directly.

- What were the reasons for your final decision to introduce the system?

Mr. Suzuki: The most important point was that they were able to talk with us from the same perspective, taking into account our company's position and business operations. In particular, the deciding factor in our decision to introduce the service was that they understood the characteristics of our service, the nature of our business, and the state of the industry, and made a proposal that was well suited to our current situation. I was very impressed by his "listening attitude" to understand our requirements correctly and respond sincerely, and his "service proposals" based on a solid understanding of the issues at our site.

From a small start to company-wide deployment Ideas for rapid implementation

Mr. Suzuki: I thought that smoothness and speed were important in the introduction of the system. Therefore, I dared not to introduce the system company-wide at once.
First of all, it would take time just to gather opinions if we were to do it on a company-wide scale, so we started with the relatively small Yokohama Branch Office. After about three months of using UPWARD, we rolled it out to the entire company after it had been well accepted at the Yokohama branch office. I think the small start made the company-wide rollout go smoothly.
In fact, after the trial implementation at the Yokohama branch office, the staff in Yokohama who had been using UPWARD ahead of the others were able to teach other staff members. In the UPWARD study sessions held within the company, all Yokohama staff members were able to answer any questions that were asked. Because we were able to create such a situation, penetration of the system was quick, and I think we were able to make it difficult for those who did not understand or could not keep up with the system.
Another key point was that we did not start with top-down operational orders, but rather incorporated the opinions of the actual people on the ground, such as the color of the pins and the shape of the marks on the map, to create an environment in which people could see things as their own. People tend to act on what they themselves decide, but not on what others decide for them.

- What were some of the positive aspects of our follow-up?

Mr. Suzuki: I felt confident that they understood our intentions and supported us, rather than simply answering "yes or no" to our functional questions. We were really impressed by the fact that the answers we received were in line with our intentions and not at odds with our intention of "creating a certain function. We also appreciated the fact that they chose their words carefully and communicated with us so as not to create gaps.

Reduced working hours through planned and efficient sales Effective impact on individual training of sales representatives 

- What improvements have been made with the introduction of UPWARD?

Mr. Suzuki: I am now able to go home earlier. Since sales activity information is automatically reported, sales representatives who go out into the field no longer need to report their daily activities, and the time they used to spend on sales reports can now be used for other things. Also, we can now see at a glance which customers we have or have not visited and when, making it easier to plan the day's sales activities.

- Do you have the impression that you are now able to see more of the activities in the field from the manager's point of view as well?

Mr. Suzuki: Of course there are many. In the past, we tended to evaluate sales representatives by focusing on results. Now that the process of obtaining appointments is visualized, we can ask ourselves not only the result of no appointments, but also the actions leading up to that point, such as "Is the number of visits low? "Is the number of visits low?" "Are there many visits, but not enough face-to-face meetings? Or, "Are there too many visits, but not enough face to face meetings? The result of this process is not only an evaluation of the sales results, but also an understanding of the problems that are not leading to results. It is now possible to evaluate not only the sales results, but also the process and provide feedback.

Mr. Takahashi: By using colors and types of maps that are easy to recognize at a glance from the sales representative's point of view, we are able to visualize what the situation is like at the destination and know what needs to be done.
We are also now able to identify the weak points of each sales representative. This is individualized training based on each sales representative's situation, such as, "Mr. A is doing well in this area, but Mr. B is not so good in this area, and Mr. C has some issues in this area. Until now, the entire sales organization had to take the same approach based on results alone, but now we are able to provide advice and training to each sales representative individually.
In addition, it has become easier to calculate targets, and we have found that looking at the number of actual face-to-face meetings rather than the overall number of visits, including those without customers, leads to better results, so a new target of the number of face-to-face meetings per day has been established. In order to meet more clients, we would visit 30 or 40 clients, but in terms of the number of people we could actually meet in their homes, it would be about 10 at most. Now that we know how many appointments can be made if we meet with a certain number of people, we can set a numerical target for face-to-face meetings. In other words, the "goal for the number of visits" has changed to "goal for the number of face-to-face meetings.

More than just improving operational efficiency Deepening relationships with customers

Mr. Kono: With UPWARD's map, we can check not only the location of the visited site, but also past sales activities and future action plans at that site, so it has become clear what the purpose of the visit is, and we now place more importance on the content of the visit, such as the technical aspects of the talk.
For example, by checking the visit status by the color of the pins on the map, the status of the day's KPI and other information became clear at a glance, allowing for more accurate information sharing. We can now see the difference between those who are meeting with many customers and those who are not. It has become easier to share information and make improvements.

In addition, the ability to easily log・check our schedule has allowed us to visit at the appropriate time and meet with our customers more smoothly. I think we can say that this is a change in smoothness and in our relationship with our clients. Moreover, I no longer forget tasks because I can see the status on the map. It's a "remembering-as-you-go" (laughs).

Achieving the social mission as seen through the Sales digital trnsformation

- What is your outlook for the future?

Mr. Suzuki: With the growing awareness of the SDGs, businesses related to smart houses, including solar power generation and storage batteries, are becoming increasingly necessary in society, and we want to make sure that we spread the word in our own way.
The smart house business is gradually spreading, but it is a relatively new business, and it is difficult for customers to obtain the right knowledge on their own at the right time, so I believe that one of our missions is to help them.
Although it is a steady activity, we hope to please each and every one of our customers, little by little. We also hope that all of our employees will feel that our daily steady sales activities will lead to great work that is needed in society. 

- How will you use UPWARD in the future?

Mr. Suzuki: I believe there are many ways to utilize the system. The ways of reporting are still limited. In the future, we would like to continue the cycle of improving our own reports by combining various types of information, but we would also like to make them better by making use of each other's experience and knowledge. We would like to make it better by making use of each other's experience and knowledge.