Case Study｜PROTO CORPORATION

Non-sales man-hour reduction initiatives aimed at reforming sales activities.

─ What prompted you to introduce UPWARD?

Yamada: Until now, sales activities were conducted on an individual basis, and although the number of customers each person was responsible for increased year by year, each person's activities were based on his or her own memory. This made it difficult to share sales know-how with the entire team, and we were forced to reestablish relationships with customers each time the person in charge changed. We thought that we could improve efficiency and productivity by reviewing our sales activities.
With the conventional approach, time and man-hours are taken up in the preparation of reports and internal reporting. According to the survey results, nearly 60% of sales activities are "non-sales" man-hours other than client support. If these non-sales man-hours can be reduced, it should be possible to increase the amount of time spent in contact with clients during the same work hours. In order to put this into practice, we began considering the introduction of CRM (customer relationship management) and SFA (sales force automation) systems to support sales activities. 

Significant reduction in non-sales man-hours. Increased information visualisation.

─ What were the deciding factors in choosing UPWARD? ‍

Mr. Saito: Before the full-scale introduction of UPWARD, we conducted a three-month preliminary verification. We decided to implement UPWARD because it was judged to be cost-effective since it reduced the time and effort required for activity reporting and improved the efficiency of sales activities. 

Mr. Furusawa: In the previous system, sales staff had to enter the name of the client when reporting. However, since many used car dealerships have similar names, it was difficult to find them by searching for "XXX Auto" or other similar terms from a list. However, after the introduction of UPWARD, the client's name could be entered by simply tapping it on the map, and the entry was completed immediately. As a result of these small improvements in efficiency, the time required for activity reporting has been cut in half. 

─ How is the information accumulated by UPWARD shared? ‍

Saito: This system automatically posts information to the in-house SNS and shares it with the entire team. This has made it possible to exchange information on client issues and questions with supervisors and sales members in a timely manner. The sales staff commented, "I used to e-mail or call my boss or sales members for reports and consultations, but now I can smoothly share information with the entire team with just one report. This has had a significant effect. We feel that this has had a significant effect.

Mr. Furusawa: When the activity status is visualized, we can check for "forgotten visits. As a result, we have been able to eliminate unevenness in our sales activities, and we are now able to go to the customers we are supposed to go to. I think this has also led to improved productivity.
Furthermore, since the activity report information is also stored in CRM, we can now visualize what kind of activities led to the occurrence of business negotiations and the receipt of orders. 

The key to establishing UPWARD is to adapt it to the company culture and make it permeate the company.

─On the other hand, I hear that there were some difficulties in establishing the company. How did you overcome these difficulties? ‍

Mr. Furusawa: UPWARD is a useful tool for sales department staff, as their sales performance improves when they use it. On the other hand, however, it is also true that some sales department members did not like the idea of being managed via a tool. In fact, some members did not use UPWARD. It took some time to get rid of that resistance and get everyone to use UPWARD.

Yamada: We carefully explained to all sales department members that the use of UPWARD was indispensable for sales activity reform, so that they could understand the goal image. 

Mr. Saito: On the other hand, we made sure to create an environment in which "sales department members who are not using UPWARD have no record of activities. In other words, they are not engaged in sales activities. These activities were successful, and from the time when all sales department members started using UPWARD, we gradually began to realize its high effectiveness.

Yamada: The key points in establishing the tool are "how to make it permeate the company culture" and "how to create role models. We are now receiving requests from sales department members all over Japan asking if it is possible to use the tool in this way. This is proof that the tool has been widely adopted and utilized. 

Proto Corporation accelerating the 'change in the way we work'.

─ What is your outlook for the future? ‍

Yamada: Management has changed dramatically since we introduced UPWARD. We can now work from anywhere with a phone and a computer. The number of meetings and conferences for reporting, which used to happen every day, has been drastically reduced. However, we have been able to achieve our sales targets.
In the future, we plan to use UPWARD as an engine for growth and further improve the efficiency of sales activities through measures that enable sales department members to be more proactive. We will also aim to raise the overall level of sales activities by further promoting the penetration of UPWARD in local regions.