JSE-listed Value Group Logistics, one of South Africa's leading third-party logistics specialists, has seen a significant growth in sales since implementing Tracer MW, the mobile sales efficiency solution supplied by the company of the same name.
Since converting from Tracer's PC-based offering to that deployed on PDAs in March, Value Logistics has been able to gain greater control of and insights into its sales process. As it enters its busiest sales period of the year and closes off its first year of using the solution, the company expects to report a major growth in sales, in part due to Tracer.
Dese Smit, national sales manager for Value Logistics' truck rental, logistics and Freightpak (hazardous chemical division), has 45 sales reps reporting to her.
"These reps are tasked with bringing in new business and then retaining it," says Smit. "This means they have to sell solutions and build long-term relationships in what is a highly competitive market."
Value Logistics, founded in 1981, has been rated as the leader in its market by Barnard Jacobs Mellet. It employs 6 500 people, has more than 4 500 vehicles and runs 26 depots, warehouses and sorting facilities around South Africa and Namibia.
"We have been using Tracer since 2005," says Smit, "and we've been applying its principles consistently. But when it became available on PDAs, we quickly moved over to it, and we have been enjoying its benefits since."
The success of Tracer CQM (Customer Quality Management) is mandated on a few basic sales principles:
* Sales people should apply the 80-20 principle, applying 80% of their efforts against the 20% of most valuable customers.
* They should target customers based on their business potential and not their current business - in effect, on their lifetime value.
* They should get to know their clients intimately.
* Each point of contact with a customer should be value-adding.
* They should make and maintain contact with the right people in the right companies.
"With Tracer, we've learned to apply consistent processes in approaching the right customers and building relationships," says Smit. "However, as the first iteration was deployed on sales people's PCs, it was not 100% user-friendly. Having the software deployed on PDAs has changed the situation dramatically."
Tracer CQM on a PDA yields multiple benefits:
* It is intuitive, and updating customer details in a matter of seconds - many customer interactions, such as SMSes, e-mail and telephone calls are recorded automatically;
* It has a lengthy battery life compared to laptops;
* It boots up instantly;
* It is small and unobtrusive, and can easily be used anywhere; and
* Despite its relatively small form factor, it is full featured, and through GPRS it synchronises in realtime against a corporate server, giving sales management immediate and comprehensive visibility into their sales force's activities
"Tracer CQM on the PDA now forms the heart of the sales process, and it can't be bypassed," adds Smit. “Now we can see at any time what the reps are doing, who they are seeing, the frequency of customer visits, and with whom and where they are spending their time. Because reporting is done automatically, they are no longer deskbound filling in reports - rather, they should be out in the market, selling, and Tracer CQM lets them do that.
"We can see if they're dealing with the wrong calibre of customer, seeing the wrong person at the right customer, and take corrective action sooner rather than later. We can see if the reps are planning properly and if they have enough appointments to maintain a healthy pipeline. We can then support the reps with the right training."
Feedback from the sales force has been positive, Smit adds. "They know it helps them with lead identification, pipeline management and deal closure. They know it helps them produce better results, and we fully expect heightened sales from Tracer CQM."
"Value Logistics' experience is consistent with that of our many other customers," says Cobus van Graan, MD of Tracer CQM. "Our customers tend to experience 80% growth in sales in the short to medium term, and Value Logistics stands to benefit similarly.
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