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Grand & Toy is the largest commercial supplier of office products in Canada. When its founder, James Grand, began selling stationery products out of a wheel barrow in 1882, he could scarcely imagine what the Company would become more than 120 years later: an innovator and a market leader in the office products industry with more than 2,700 employees working in 90 locations across Canada. In 1996 Grand & Toy was acquired by U.S.-based Boise Cascade Corporation, creating the largest office products distribution team on the continent.
Improving the Customer Experience
Grand & Toy's products are sold primarily to businesses, which buy everything from paper clips to office furniture. Grand & Toy has long been an innovator in improving the customer experience through the application of new technology. For example, in 1997 Grand & Toy decided to automate some of its sales processes. After evaluating sales force automation (SFA) software from ACT!, GoldMine, and RemoteWare, Grand & Toy chose to implement Maximizer Enterprise. Maximizer was selected for its ease of use and because it could be customized to support their sales team and it provided a reasonable cost for installation. Close to 600 of Grand & Toys' employees are now using Maximizer Enterprise 7.5. Grand & Toy uses Maximizer Enterprise to help track all of their customer contacts and prospects, track their competitors and record information on why they won or lost a deal. Grand & Toy knew, however, they could achieve more from their SFA system.
To get the most out of their SFA system Grand & Toy began working with Brodie Computes, a systems integrator who manages the day-to-day admininistration of Grand & Toys' server and provides all of the back-end support. Given their extensive experience with Maximizer Enterprise, the consultants at Brodie Computes also monitor the system and make suggestions to Grand & Toy on how Maximizer Enterprise can better meet their changing SFA and CRM goals.
The Challenge
Having used Maximizer Enterprise for five years, most of the employees in Grand & Toys' sales department were familiar with the concept of sales force automation and how it relates the customer experience. The challenge, though, was in finding additional benefits from their software tools. Because not everyone was using the system it was difficult to accurately measure the performance and productivity of their sales team. Grand & Toy really wanted the ability to measure how often employees were actually using the system. However, the system wasn't configured to provide detailed reports and they also wanted to increase the accuracy of their targeted marketing campaigns. So while the initial goal was to get everyone proficient with using the software, Bill Manveiler, Grand & Toy's National Sales Manager, wanted his employees to improve the way they approached each and every sales opportunity and to use the system to make the most of these relationships.
"When we started this project in 1997 it was the first opportunity some of our sales managers had to use computers. There was some initial resistance," said Manveiler. "Some of our account managers were reluctant at first to share their information. They worried their records could be accidentally changed if everyone had access to the information. What we needed was a consistent approach."
The Solution
Manveiler's goal was to have each user of Maximizer Enterprise proficient enough with the software so they could start seeing even more benefits from the system. Some of the capabilities they wanted from their SFA system included sharing customer information and providing sales managers with automated status and forecast reports, as well as giving everyone on the system the ability to quickly access the most up-to-date customer information. Grand & Toy needed the ability to share all of this information with their remote users as well. They also wanted to put in strict methods for monitoring the system to ensure everyone was using it regularly and properly. Grand & Toy met with Brodie Computes to discuss the specific challenges they faced and to explain what they wanted to do with their SFA system. With these business requirements in mind, Brodie Computes worked on-site with Grand & Toy to configure and customize the software to their unique requirements.
"Brodie took the time to listen and understand our business needs. They customized our SFA system in such a way that, if used properly, would help our sales team perform at their best," said Mike Duggan, Grand & Toy's Director of Customer Relationship Marketing.
The next step was to help the sales team understand all of the capabilities the SFA system had to offer and to show them the benefits they'd get from using it. Grand & Toy created a 'Top 10' list of SFA benefits, and with Brodie Computes' assistance employees at each Grand & Toy location were provided with in-depth training. These employees became expert in the use of the software and were available to train and support Maximizer Enterprise users at each site.
"Some of our account managers were doubtful of its use and were reluctant to change. They didn't think the SFA system could help them do their jobs better," said Duggan.
"Once our trained 'SFA Guru's' were in place at each location, they could show the rest of our employees how the system could help with day-to-day tasks."
Manveiler and Duggan knew all of these efforts would pay off only if everyone used the system consistently and entered information accurately. Strict user guidelines were implemented and staff received mandatory training. Brodie Computes configured the software to generate detailed reports so the sales managers could monitor and evaluate their employees' use of the system. The reports provided a summary of the number of new contacts, notes, documents and hot-list tasks that were added into the system over a period of time.
"After we deployed Maximizer Enterprise with the new user guidelines in place, overall buy-in among our team grew and their errors quickly dropped. Our sales teams are now much more efficient and better organized than they were before we started this program," said Manveiler.
By demonstrating the benefits of the SFA system to their employees, and by working with Brodie Computes to improve the way information is accessed from the system, Grand & Toy was able to raise the productivity of everyone in Manveiler's department.
"Throughout the deployment of Maximizer Enterprise and even now as we continue to make improvements in the way we use it, Brodie Computes has been extremely helpful," said Duggan. "They help us solve problems quickly, provide ongoing support and assist us with further system enhancements. This has helped us enhance our productivity and customer information objectives for the sales teams."
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