Case Study｜Yamanashi Hino Motors, Ltd.

Information had become generic, and customer information was not being utilised.

─First of all, please tell us about the issues you were facing before introducing UPWARD.

Mr. Iimuro: Since we are not a company with a large number of employees, we do not have a department dedicated to "sales promotion" as an organization. We have six sales representatives and three playing managers. The total of nine people in charge of each area within the prefecture inevitably limits the number of sales we can conduct in a day. In addition, we have a considerable amount of information on our customers since our founding in 1961, but we were concerned that we were not making effective use of this information.

Mr. Yamashiro: Even in our daily sales activities log, we have a time table that shows when we meet with Company A and when we deliver the car to Company B, etc. log, but it is not easy to "utilize" the information. For example, the sales staff's job is not only to sell vehicles, but also to contact customers whose vehicle inspections are about to expire, but there was a risk of missing such an opportunity.
Another problem was that the area-assignment system meant that customer information was the sole responsibility of the sales representative in charge of each area, and information became personalized, as if the sales representative did not know about customers in other areas.

Mr. Iimuro: Sales staff would spend a whole day preparing reports on their activities after returning to the office, or would come in early to work and deal with the situation. As president, I had some thoughts about the work-life balance of employees and wondered if it could be improved in an efficient manner. 

Visualization of customer information was the decisive factor in the introduction of UPWARD.

─ What led to the introduction of UPWARD?

Iimuro: In the past, I had the idea that if we could display all of our customers' location information on a map, it would improve our sales efficiency. Mr. Iimuro: In the past, we have considered various tools for this purpose. However, I could not find one that I was satisfied with because it had security concerns or was difficult to use. At that time, a manufacturer told me about Salesforce and I learned about UPWARD, which was exactly what I was looking for: a tool that would make it possible to visualize customer location information. At that point, I had almost decided to adopt it (laughs).

Mr. Yamashiro: Until now, we had been operating a mission-critical system provided by the manufacturer. Since it did not interfere with our normal business operations, when the president told us about UPWARD, we honestly wondered, "Is it really necessary? I was not sure if it was really necessary.
However, when I looked at the current state of our sales team, with early morning work, overtime work, and client information that had become so personalized, I knew that we needed to improve efficiency. The number of activities is important, but how deeply do you build relationships with customers and gain their trust? In order to achieve this within a limited time frame, I came to feel that it would help to make a good sales plan and carefully deal with each customer. 

Helped by attentive follow-up from introduction to operation.

─You have introduced a new tool, but has it been successfully operated?

Mr. Iimuro: When introducing a new system, the common pattern is to use the old and new systems in parallel and migrate over several months, but UPWARD told us that this was not recommended at the time of consideration. However, UPWARD told us that this was "not recommended" at the time we were considering this. There was some anxiety when I said, "I'm going to switch to UPWARD tomorrow," but the transition was really completed in one day. We were surprised that the system switchover went much more smoothly than we had expected. Also, the company responded promptly to our inquiries, so we are now able to use the system with peace of mind. Of course, the fact that all of our employees worked together as one was also a big help.

Mr. Yamashiro: In terms of operations, the major difference from the core system we had been operating until then was that it could be operated from outside the company using tablets. I think that younger employees and others who are accustomed to using tablets on a regular basis were able to make the transition smoothly. We also set aside time to give a lecture to employees who were not very good at using computers, and a person from UPWARD came and taught them very carefully how to use the terminals, so they were all able to quickly master the usage necessary for their work. 

New car sales up 120% year-on-year after the start of operations.

─ Have you achieved the expected results since the introduction of the system?

Mr. Iimuro: It has been about nine months since we introduced the system, and what has shown up in the numbers is the 120% increase in new car sales in the first half of 2018 compared to last year. This is proof that we are able to properly contact customers with sales potential, and that we are able to make a good sales plan by comparing the customer locations displayed on the map.

Mr. Yamashiro: In addition, customers who are approaching the time of vehicle inspection are displayed in a different color. The system sends out notifications according to the customer's status, so we can accurately seize sales opportunities by prioritizing the customers to receive information.

Mr. Yamashiro: The effect is also evident in the number of sales visits. Usually, when new cars are sold, the number of visits to customers inevitably declines because of the increase in detailed communication and work with customers, but the number of sales visits has not declined this fiscal year. However, the number of sales visits has not declined this fiscal year, and I think this is evidence that the UPWARD system has enabled our team to actively share information, follow up with each other, and make visitation plans.

Iimuro: We have actually heard comments from the field, such as "I can now immediately see when I most recently visited a customer," "I can input data outside the office and eliminate omissions in the schedule input," and "It is useful to see what kind of vehicles the sales destination has in its fleet, "It is easier to look back on my activities now that I can check my activity history on the map. Some of the customers have expressed their desire to make more effective use of the system in the future to further increase sales. I am very much looking forward to using the system more effectively in the future to further increase sales!
The ability to input information outside the office has also made it possible for sales representatives to take notes on the content of business meetings immediately after they have completed them. This has helped us create the activity logand has enriched its content.

Mr. Iimuro: Increasing sales efficiency through the introduction of UPWARD. Of course, that in itself is important, but beyond that, there was also a strong desire to improve the working environment, as mentioned earlier. We are very happy that our desire to improve our awareness of time is being realized. 

What is required is a revitalisation of communication. Want to increase small truck sales.

─ What is your outlook for the future?

Mr. Iimuro: Up to now, our company has grown based on sales of heavy-duty trucks. In addition, we have a policy of focusing on sales of small trucks from now on. Speed" is essential for this. Customers who use light-duty trucks have relatively compact business negotiations, and sometimes a deal is concluded on the spot when we bring them a quotation.
In such cases, it is very important to share information within the company and have a solid follow-up system in place. I would like to use UPWARD even more effectively as a foundation for stimulating communication and speedy team response.