Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008 - (Page 13)

MARKETING STRATEGY “In addition, we were very interested in improving and tracking communication with our customers. We wanted to establish metrics in these and other areas where metrics did not exist.” Nucor’s additional software provides text and activity management facilities constructed around customer, product or vendor, with activity types, user profiles and priorities. Event triggers and activity displays ensure users are kept up-to-date. Information can be accessed via e-mail, PDAs and cell phones. All information is archived with filters and sequence selections to help detect previously obscured conditions and trends. The use of this new tool is illustrated by Nucor’s handling of expedite requests on customer orders. Users are informed and have access to inputs, concerns, issues, feasibility factors, customer/sales call notes, actions taken and dates achievable versus requested within the framework of the enterprise systems. Following implementation, Nucor discovered 50% of its expedite requests were made by just 12 customers, and 42% of priority shipments went to only eight customers. The sales team now had the data to support their hunches and to address the situation. “Final Link has supported the sales organization at Nucor Fastener in numerous ways,” Witucki says. “It assists us in tracking customer metrics: expedites, priority shipments, break-ins, special pricing, complaints, etc.” Businesses need more than the skeletal facts of typical systems. Background, causal and human factors are just as important: Why? How much? How early or late? What else is affected? Who else is affected? What are the alternatives? Recommendations? Cost implications? To that end, Miller says, “The company has implemented Final Link in shipping, receiving, scheduling, AR and inside sales/customer service. Our outside sales force has embraced the product as well and is using it to track customer contacts, complaints, discounts, etc. It really is changing how we do our business.” Business today is based on managing www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com relationships and events. Employee know-how and knowledge are vital. When most ERP systems were designed, this non-system information was not considered, but Nucor has found that transfer and sharing of this information results in significant and tangible payback. JULY/AUGUST 2008 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT 13 http://www.intercall.com/smm http://www.intercall.com/smm http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008

Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Smart Sales Sales Strategy Smart Marketing Marketing Strategy Smart Management Management Strategy The Mother Lode of All Market Data Returns Embracing the Future Training Technology Incentives/Motivation Don't Become a Target Abroad Book Excerpt On the Road The Way I See It

Sales & Marketing Management - July/August 2008

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