Sales Force Automation Solution for one of Leading Cement Producers

The Indian cement industry is world’s 2^nd largest after China and it contributes significantly to India’s GDP. Most sales in cement industry happen via 2 channels i.e. Trade (Dealer-Retailer) and Non-Trade (Direct buyers)

From the outside, the Trade channel may look like a typical FMCG set up with field sales team visiting retailers to capture their order daily however there are 2 stark differences that should be noted:
a) Push strategy
Cement is not a preference- oriented market, the target segment (mason and contractors) are generally inconspicuous about which cement brand are they buying. They will purchase whichever brand is available to them at the dealer or retailer. It becomes crucial for cement manufacturers to keep high inventory and visibility at their dealers and retailers.

b) Dynamic pricing
Cement prices are prone to high fluctuations on everyday basis. Manufacturers must keep a constant track of the competitor prices to give better deals to their Dealers and Retailers.
So, as a leading cement company one must be

• always be available for its dealers and retailers via its field force
• Keep a track of schemes and discounts given to individual dealers
• Capture the competitor pricing.

Our client being a global giant, they were using a world-renowned CRM solution for managing their field activities

Problem Statement 

• The biggest challenge the management faced was availability and visibility of data on real time basis. Since it was online web-based CRM system the users were not using it while on field so there was always a lag in data capturing.
• CRM and Sales Force Automation (SFA) are 2 terms that are often used interchangeably but there is a big difference between them.
• CRM helps in customer profiling, purchase history tracking, marketing communications tracking etc. With SFA you can Plan the daily activity, real time data capturing, actionable data for Sales team, Order Capturing, Market Data Capture for more details read Best in Class Field Force Solution to get more understanding.

As cement prices keep fluctuating daily it becomes even more important for decision makers to have access to the right data, at right time and from right source. The field team are the eyes and ears of the organization,  any decision is market driven whether it is related production, Supply chain, Pricing etc.
Even a price difference of INR 2 per bag can lead to a major loss in sales on a day.
With the existing system being online based it was not market friendly for field users to use and update the transactions.

Channelplay’s Solution

The company needed a solution which acted as a CRM and an SFA solution for its field force. Channelplay delivered the same with its best in class solution 1Channel. Below are the modules provided keeping in line with requirements,

1. Being always available for its dealers and retailers via its field force
   • Attendance Management via mobile phone
   • Helping field team to create Journey Plan via mobile phones
   • Access to dealer history and other info on the go
2. Keep a track of schemes and discounts given to individual dealers
   • User friendly Order Management System integrated with SAP
   • Dealer specific Target and schemes will be known to field team before the scheduled visit.
3. Capture the competitor pricing.
   • Capture the organization’s pricing details micro pocket wise
   • Capture the Competitor pricing details on a real time basis.
4. Offline mode helps field team to record data without any glitch even in remotest of location.
5. The management team got access to cutting edge data analytics and visibility for better decision making.

Outcome

• Sales officers started performing all data entries such as market information, order, JCP planning using mobile app, saving huge time for the company and increasing productivity
• Sales officers now have access to all critical business information such as credit limit, outstanding, order status, invoice details etc. on the go in their mobile
• Management has full visibility of market working of sales officers in terms of daily coverage, JCP status etc.
• Management also has full visibility of business metrics such as sales, competition price, outstanding information etc.
• 1Channel team pulled of herculean effort to complete the development and implementation in 45 days’ time.
• A dedicated team was deployed at the client location to handle field escalations.
• The major focus was to avoid adoption issue and have a smooth transition from the old system to 1Channel.