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Change Agents & Use Cases
Equinox clients are change agents. They know they can no longer do "business as usual". To compete with the increasing number of suppliers chasing fewer and fewer distributors they must transform the way they sell.
Our clients use data, CRM and break-through best practices to change-the-game, make trade reps more effective and achieve double digit growth rates. They sell more cases.
A producer of high-end wines wanted better Channel Control. Their products were in demand. Depletions were uneven and prices were eroding. Using CRM and Retail Account Data, accounts were identified where relationships were strong. Sales directed the distributor reps to those contacts where reorders could stick, at the right price. Bye-bye churn.
In addition, the winery used an allocation strategy (tracked in the CRM). The brand was protected while holding distributors accountable. Within six months distributors and retailers were making better margins, the channel was under control and everyone was happier.
And because the CRM and Retail Account Data are combined in one database, the sales team saves DAYS previously lost to spreadsheet wrangling in preparation for Distributor Reviews. Now they use that time to plan strategies that address key business challenges.
Successfully launching a niche spirits label requires a daunting amount of market research plus a SKU sales strategy that matches a well defined account profile. We call this account matching Key Account Targeting. This established producer (outside the U.S.), knew they needed a flexible and user configurable CRM tool.
Leadership wanted sales to focus on the right accounts, right from the start. This would keep them on strategy and on budget. They wanted to avoid the misued principle that "more faces means more cases". Counting account calls was not the answer.
Measuring sales sales activities that drives sales in targeted accounts was the key. They were able to rapidly launch sales teams in one market after the other. Along the way they gathered survey data that further refined their understanding of their markets through segementation analysis. They even tracked POS ROI, critical to their launch strategy.
With thirty-two SKUs, placing order commitments and tracking sales call activity all over the state, at break-neck pace, was just too much for the standard CRM solution in the market.
This brewer needed a tool designed by the industry for the industry. One that could flex with their growth requirements, including routing and keg tracking. It had to run on any device because the sales team wanted to use what was in their pocket. What they were using amounted to an electronic rolodex and it wasn't enough.
With a CRM configured for their way-of-work, sales can can evaluate account and product success by territory and then plan market and account strategies. In-market, sales can efficiently plan routes, place order commitments and update account data, as they go, right from their route map.
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