SFS optimizes sales management with the itmX crm suite
![SFS Logo SFS Logo](https://itmx.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SFS-Logo.png)
Whether in cars, smartphones or airplanes, SFS AG’s precision molded parts and mechanical fastening systems can be found in a wide variety of end products and, although not always visible, reliably fulfill mission-critical functions.
SFS AG is known among its customers not only for its product expertise in a wide variety of industries and markets, but above all for its proximity to its customers.
In order to deepen this even further, SFS AG relies on the itmX crm suite to manage its sales.
The company was looking for a new CRM that could implement the special sales set-up
Inventing Success Together – that is the value proposition of SFS AG. This is the guiding principle of tailor-made products and intelligent solutions that provide customers with sustainable added value. In addition to innovation and quality thinking, this also requires in-depth technical know-how.
In order to manifest this in the sales initiation process and in regular customer support, SFS AG wanted to replace its old CRM system with new, up-to-date software. This was not only to be seamlessly based on SAP ERP, but also to implement the special sales management that SFS AG has due to its many different product ranges.
Requirements for the new CRM solution included:
Transparency in customer potential simplifies capacity planning in sales
The primary goal of the new introduction was to further expand customer orientation and to use the capacities of the sales force more efficiently. Efficient use here means not only avoiding idle times, but also spending the time with the right customers, i.e. those for whom the potential is high. To achieve this, SFS now has a potential date for each customer and per main product group, which is regularly updated by the sales force.
Weekly planning has also been considerably simplified with this potential-supported sales management. Whereas SFS sales representatives used to take an office day to finish the past week and plan the new one, today they are usually on the road on all five working days. This is because the transparency of customer potential has made planning much easier.
“The captured potential of our customers has increased many times over compared to the past. Today, our sales department spends its time with the right customers. This has not only brought a significant leap in transparency for the sales department itself, but also for the sales manager, who can now better manage his employees.”
Customer profitability calculation takes sales appointments to a new level
But it was not only the planning of visits that could be significantly simplified. The quality of customer conversations has also been significantly improved by the use of CRM. Today, the sales force is able to retrieve all information about the customer with just a few clicks. Among other things, customer profitability, in which the direct costs caused by a customer can be systematically assigned to each business transaction. This gives SFS field service the opportunity to discuss possible process improvements on a completely different level than would have been the case in the past.
Thanks to sophisticated offer and activity management, SFS has also managed to significantly increase the success rate of offers. Each time a new offer is created, an activity is immediately created that reminds you of the follow-up.
No interfaces thanks to direct integration into SAP ERP
From a technical point of view, too, the integrated approach of itmX helps SFS AG enormously. Since itmX crm is based directly on SAP, data synchronization between ERP and CRM is simple and, above all, interface-free. No additional system is required, as would be the case with a classic SAP CRM.
In addition to the deep SAP integration, the biggest benefit of the itmX solution is probably aFrom a technical point of view, all our divisions now have access to only one global system. Thus, we have created a tool that allows us to gain complete insight into all customer-related company data. In this way, we have brought our individual divisions even closer together and thus strengthened cooperation throughout the company.
Another benefit is that all divisions of SFS AG now work together in one system. Before the introduction of itmX, the individual divisions were each operating in different systems and thus had no transparency whatsoever about the activities of the other business units.
The ability for us to access all SAP data is phenomenal. It enables us to directly view orders and offers for the customer and thus also directly read out key figures that are always up-to-the-minute.
Customer networking has improved significantly since the introduction of CRM
SFS AG agrees that with the introduction of CRM, in addition to internal transparency, management has improved overall. Today, better metrics are available to make strategic decisions. Questions such as: Where is an additional sales representative needed because areas are still unserved? But also questions such as: Where are too many sales capacities currently being used? can be answered easily today.
The overall result of the field service has also changed a lot since the introduction of itmX crm. The number of visits per working day has increased. This is due to the fact that salespeople are more careful and, above all, more efficient with their time and for the most part only visit customers who have a high potential.
„Overall, SFS sales has become more driven. Thanks to CRM, we are more successful in networking with customers. In the meantime, there are no 1:1 relationships between the customer and just one sales representative, but today, for example, a measurement technician is networked with a quality manager, or a sales manager with the production manager, etc.”
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