We implemented a project for one of the leading global manufacturers of the highest quality audio systems. A company has been on the market for over 60 years, and in its portfolio, it has several top brands recognizable among audiophiles.
The company designs and builds solutions for both car manufacturers and individual users, as well as professionals from the music industry. The main business areas are the following: connected car, connected services, lifestyle audio, and professional solutions.
The customer hires 30 thousand employees in 30 countries. In Poland, it’s over 400 people. The company has been operating on the Polish market for 15 years.
The project was carried out for the sales department responsible for audio products for the automotive industry. A quick assessment of sales opportunities and more precise forecasting of sales trends by sectors is one of the greatest business benefits of the project. The sales department was provided with a tool combining functionalities moved from the previously used system with those new, implemented from scratch. Thanks to that, the sales process – in line with established assumptions at the beginning of the project – did not change, although it’s highly improved.
Figure 1 – Sales process improvement
Challenge
Before implementing Salesforce, the customer used the external system (written in the PHP language) that supported around the thirty-person sales department. However, the system did not follow the growing number of orders as the company cooperates with several biggest producers/suppliers of the automotive industry. In months preceding the implementation, it was more and more noticeable.
The essential factors that speed up the decision to implement a new solution were the company’s development and the extension of the offer. Products and systems are more technologically advanced. Depending on the version and used components, they can be very different. Each “new” configuration prepared based on a change in even one of the elements included in the customer solution, changes of price. Drawing up such a detailed offer and specification is time-consuming.
The initial case scenario assumed the system extension, but the solution was rejected as unviable. Introducing new planned functionalities, which were supposed to, for example, improve the above-mentioned technical specification, was too complicated, time-consuming, and eventually, too expensive (the system provider ended technology support). The customer decided the sales department will get a new system, based on a different technology.
However, there were no plans to implement a new sales process from scratch. The previously used proved itself, that is why, to put it simply, the activity of the sales department was supposed to be moved to a new application.
Technology had to meet the fundamental condition. In the first place, it had to enable mirroring the current process and then adding new functionalities at the subsequent project stages. What’s important, the customer wanted to see the implementation results soon and not exceed budgetary assumptions.
Before starting with the project and during its development, additional challenges occurred:
- The project was to be carried out only by the developers’ team. And because of that, there was no business analysis first.
- There was no testers’ involvement – the tests were run by the developers’ team and business representatives.
Solution
To build a new system, the customer chose the Salesforce technology. We were invited to cooperate after the decision about the used technology was already made. The open issue was the selection of a Salesforce product from the portfolio. The product that would meet all the above-mentioned needs. As the experts with experience in the area of implementing Salesforce, we were supposed to not only implement a new system but also help choose an optimal product.
In the beginning, together with the customer, we considered implementing Salesforce Service Cloud. However, the specific sales process carried out at the customer’s company decided about the App Cloud implementation. The sales process in the automotive industry is not a typical B2B sales process that can be modeled by sales opportunities.
The customer sells their products through the partnership network such as MediaMarkt or Wallmart and the most popular marketplaces, for example, eBay, Amazon (US), Bol.com (NL), cdiscount (FR). The customer also expands their own net of showrooms where it’s possible to see the newest products and solutions. A great part of sales is the elements of sound systems installed in passenger vehicles for the top car manufacturers.
That’s why we decided that some functionalities available in the Salesforce Sales Cloud module won’t be adopted. And because of that, there is no need to implement such an advanced (extended) product. Functionalities offered within Salesforce App Cloud – one of the leaders in the low code area – were sufficient. App Cloud enables quickly building scalable apps dedicated to the business.
Figure 2 – Project implementation stages
The project was broken down into three stages: in the first one, our developers’ team implemented the system with functionalities matching those previously met in the PHP system (Dash). Then, data migration to the new system was planned. This provided us with a basis for the next phase of the project, meaning the implementation of new functionalities and integration with an advanced business offer calculator.
Benefits
The project’s goal was to reduce the time needed for the system expansion and introduce new features, which was a necessity resulting from the extension of the company’s offer. Simultaneously, it was essential for the new tool to replace the previous system to maintain the existing sales process. The goal was achieved: the customer got the system in Salesforce technology, of which flexibility is the greatest advantage.
The tool can adjust to the changing business needs. At any time, it’s possible to add the tool with new elements and functionalities from the Salesforce platform portfolio. And what’s more important – it can be done without the need for additional integrations.
Smooth data migration from Dash to App Cloud was a positive surprise for the customer. Thanks to that, further visible effects of our team’s work appeared quickly:
- the users could start using the tool without any delays,
- the customer gained the expected business value, a smooth transition to working with the new system.
It allowed the quick start of working on the next project stages as well as the tool extension.
In the subsequent stages of cooperation, we added functionalities improving the already-mentioned technical aspect of the sales process for the upcoming few years. Sales representatives can now use an advanced comparison website of sales opportunities, broken down into products, options, and used components. They also have at their disposal the advanced calculator of business opportunities (financial and technical data).
From a sales management perspective, reporting is the most essential. Managers can generate reports thanks to which they monitor the ordering execution and progress of opportunities. Managing directors get monthly reports in the PDF files that include trends of business opportunities and the division to sales sectors.
The system enables registering data about competition and monitoring it – it collects information on lost contracts with the analysis of the losing reasons.
Until now, the system was supposed to support selling car audio systems on a few basic stages – and it is preserved this way.
The process starts when the sales opportunity is identified. Then, the company joins a tender. If the company wins and the contract is signed, the contract is executed and overseen until it expires – this process that can take even a few years.
The tool is used by the following roles:
The process, which was built in App Cloud, includes a few divisions. The first group of system users are sales representatives who work on an offer for an initial period; for example, they introduce the business opportunity (enquiry) to the system. Then, the specialists of car audio are involved in the process. Their task is to define which group of products, with what parameters should be included in the offer. At this stage, the sales team is somewhat overshadowed and participates in the process passively. Next, the offer is taking part in the tender.
In case of winning and deciding to execute an order, the system enables monitoring its subsequent steps. The order is completed throughout the years, and based on the arrangements included in the order, the production process is established. The tool implemented by Craftware allows maintaining full control over the spread in time operations end ensures their continuity.
Delivery Team Manager
