CRM - October 2008 - (Page 45)

CRM Eases the Pressure For WIKA Instruments Selltis helps gauge sales solutions for a maker of industrial gauges easurement and regula- The complexities of the firm’s projects tion are important issues only made matters worse. “In engineerwith industrial ma- ing, the work is often done up front, and chines—and also with income arrives later,” says Victor Pawluk, the companies that make them. Such is WIKA Instruments’ national sales manthe case with WIKA Instruments, the ager. “The selling cycle has gotten much Canadian subsidiary of WIKA Alexan- more complicated. Projects can run eight to 10 years, but engider Wiegand GmbH & Co. The subsidiary makes pressure “We weren’t using neers come and go, and sales territories change.” gauges, chemical seals, thermoNo sudden event got the couples, resistance temperature CRM at all; our ball rolling. “The need came detectors, thermowells, and system didn’t tie as realizaother parts crucial to pressure in quotes, emails, to meovera gradualyears at tion eight and temperature measurement WIKA,” Pawluk says. “We and control. But its sales force of or call reports.” weren’t using CRM at all; 30 outside executives and 40 inside salespeople, as well as numerous our system didn’t tie in quotes, emails, product managers and project leaders, or call reports.” It was a challenge to rerelied upon manual processes in spread- view quotations, bids, sales calls, and products for its customer base. In 2004, sheets and text documents. That would be bad enough in one of- Pawluk evaluated and implemented a fice, but WIKA Instruments has 300 CRM system, one he describes as havpeople in its three main facilities, located ing “minimal features and functionalin Edmonton, Alberta; Oakville, On- ity.” That system wasn’t able to grow tario; and Deer Park, Texas—not to with the company, and was weak in mention the numerous sales offices lo- quotation functionality, planning, and cated across Canada and a distribution call reporting—the very things WIKA network throughout the United States. Instruments needed. www.destinationCRM.com M The old CRM wasn’t a great communicator, either.“The previous version was [client-server],” Pawluk recalls, an offline hosted system that wasn’t always available. “Canada is a big, open country, and being able to connect on the road isn’t always a given.” Because of this, records were often badly out of sync. In looking for an alternative, Pawluk found Selltis, a provider of CRM sales solutions tailored to industrial concerns similar to WIKA. Version 5.0, released in February 2008, was the company’s first software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering; previous versions had been offline-only.“We were a little bit concerned about going to a Webbased system,”he says.“We looked at other CRM vendors, but none were as complete a solution as what we had with Selltis.” Selltis added partner management to the mix, as well as a way to link quotes from multiple offices so that WIKA Instruments could always be consistent with its prospects. Those quotes came 50 percent faster as well, “which is significant considering the thousands of quotes that are generated on an annual basis,” Pawluk says. The long cycle for engineering projects ceased to be a problem because the Selltis system allows companies to retain knowledge despite comings and goings of salespeople and client liaisons. SaaS from Selltis proved to be the solution Pawluk needed to combat the laggard updates and poor server connectivity WIKA Instruments used to have—Selltis was always available. The sales team had a tool that actually helped it do its job, one that was reachable from anywhere; the team began to keep records in order, the way the company needed. “Nobody likes to be held accountable, but eventually everybody sees the value,” Pawluk says. “By going Web-based, we solved that issue.” —Marshall Lager the payoff WITH SELLTIS 5.0, WIKA INSTRUMENTS: $ reduced quote generation time by 50 percent; cut time for sales-manager onboarding to one month, from three to six months; solved its out-of-sync customer record problems; and gained partner management capabilities and institutional memory. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | OCTOBER 2008 45 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - October 2008

CRM - October 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality�Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Sprinting Toward Disaster? SAP�Retains Market-Share Lead in�CRM A�Week of Strong Customer�Service CRM�on Twitter Build a Good Event and They Will Come Required Reading There's No Place Like Home The New Breed of CRM�Consultant The Price is Right...You Hope How Much Marketing is Too�Much? The�Sweet Smell of High-Quality�Service The Next Act! For An Acquisition Some Stories Never Get Old CRM�Eases the Pressure For WIKA�Instruments Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - October 2008

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