Matthews International offers all kinds of marking technologies, from old-fashioned ink printing to
cutting-edge laser marking, to clients in all areas of consumer and industrial product
manufacturing. When it needed a way to track the sales cycle, Matthews turned to Salesforce.com for
a rapidly deployable system that would allow its remote sales force to view data anytime, anywhere.
SearchCRM.com spoke with network administrator Brad Gross about the project.
ABOUT THE VENDOR
Salesforce.com builds and delivers customer relationship management applications as scalable online
services. The company's CRM solutions provide integrated online sales force automation, customer
service and support management, and marketing automation applications. The Salesforce.com product
suite -- Professional Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Offline Edition -- gives companies a
complete 360-degree view of the customer. Founded in 1999, salesforce.com is headquartered in San
Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia. Salesforce.com currently has over 5,000 customers,
including Autodesk, Bertelsmann Services, Dow Jones Newswires, Ericsson Microelectronics, Fujitsu
Technology Solutions, Kikkoman Corporation, Le Meridien, Paymentech, PMI Mortgage Insurance, Putnam
Lovell NBF, Siemens PT&D, Suntory Foods, Textron Fastening Systems, USA Today, and
Wachovia.
ABOUT THE CLIENT
From simple marking devices to sophisticated,
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computer-driven systems, Matthews offers a
comprehensive range of marking technologies, including etching, contact printing, ink-jet printing,
indenting and embossing, laser marking, and printing inks. The company serves the packaging,
electronics, wood products, beverage and food, plastics, ceramic, automotive, metal, glass, and
textile industries which produce a broad range of industrial and consumer products -- literally any
product or component that needs to be marked in any way. Customers include International Paper,
Glad Manufacturing Company, Dole Fresh Vegetables, H.J. Heinz Company, Firestone, Georgia-Pacific
Corporation, Coors Brewing Company, and Tyco Plastics.ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY
The Salesforce.com architecture allows users to log on anywhere in the world and view the necessary data in their native language and local currency. In addition, Salesforce.com's native XML-standard Web services platform offers easy integration with other applications such as ERP, HR, data warehouse, and supply chain management systems, regardless of the platform or system environment.
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SearchCRM.com: Why did you decide to evaluate CRM solutions?
Gross: We decided to look at CRM for three reasons. First, our marketing group wanted to be able to track the sales cycle from a lead to a sale and then to the eventual maintenance of that customer. Problem two, our remote sales force -- we have about 20 people from Maine to California -- are very rarely in our headquarters. So they were looking for an easy way to receive the new leads and manage them. The last thing was, the executive staff was looking for an easy way to track new sales opportunities.
SearchCRM.com: What were you looking for in a CRM solution?
Gross: The solution had to be extremely easy to train. Our sales force has become used to doing the same thing for 10 years. We knew that we were going to get a little bit of a backlash. It also had to be very easy to maintain; our IS staff is just two people. Finally, it had to be reliable -- it had to be up and running all the time.
SearchCRM.com: How many vendors did you look at, and why did you choose Salesforce.com?
Gross: We were looking at four vendors. They ranged from a small software base to a large enterprise-class solution. We chose Salesforce.com for a couple of reasons. The first thing was the fixed cost pricing -- we knew that every month, it would be the same price. We could plan it and budget for it. Two, it was extremely easy for us to customize. I worked with the marketing manager and we did it in about 20 days. We had all the fields we had to get in, we knew how the system was going to act -- it was very easy for us to get moving. Another reason was that it had a reliable back-end system. This is based on a hardcore system -- you know this thing is going to run. The final thing was the fact that we could play with it -- we had a trial period. And it wasn't one of those trials where only certain things worked; this was, go for it; you have 30 days, try it, play with it, try to break it. And if you have a problem, give us a call.
SearchCRM.com: How did the implementation go?
Gross: Implementation went really fast. From the moment that we looked at the trial to the moment when we had to deploy it we had thirty days, which was a little challenging. If we were do it all over again we probably would want to stretch that out a little more. Since implementation was short, we had to do a lot of things right the first time. Getting data from our old solution to the new one really took us a long time to get right, but once we got it right we were gone. Setting up salesforce.com to accept our information was the part that took the longest period of time but was the most beneficial.
SearchCRM.com: Did you experience any internal resistance?
Gross: That's always a challenge. First, our people were very used to using a solution that was dated. It was a custom program solution, and we had gone beyond its capabilities. We had to teach these people that instead of thinking of it as a program that sits on their computer, this is more of a service. There really is no software involved, there's nothing that we have to keep up to date. It's a place that they have to go to get information. That was really challenging to show them.
Once they realized that they had to go through the Internet to get the information, they were very concerned about security. A lot of our data is very confidential, so we had to show them that security was very well thought out and very well maintained.
SearchCRM.com: Have you seen ROI?
Gross: ROI is probably going to come in another two to three quarters. We have seen some really good things come out of the system already. Our marketing department creates a lead status report that used to take them a week to do. Now we do it in ten minutes. Being able to get a lead quickly to the sales rep -- it now takes 20 seconds what used to take days.
SearchCRM.com: Can you give an example of how you're using the system in your day-to-day operations?
Gross: If our inside salesperson gets a lead, he can make a note that this person is very interested in such-and-such. The outside salesperson sees that, notifies a project manager and says, "Hey, can you come up with a good solution?" We just keep pouring information in, and the first thing we do is develop a history of what's going on with that potential customer. Now the project manager can look back and say, "Oh, I know exactly what they need." Bam -- we got it.
SearchCRM.com: What are your future plans for the solution?
Gross: We run an AS/400 back-end. I'm going to be doing some implementation to try to tie in our back-end order entry system into communicating with salesforce.com. Our marketing department is going to start tracking media campaigns. We've also started and will expand on a service and support knowledge base.
SearchCRM.com: What advice do you have for other companies that are thinking of starting a similar project?
Gross: First and foremost, you never want to rush the implementation. We really rushed it. You probably want to give yourself at least 60 days. Second, get management to buy into it. That's one of the things that can be very helpful. Finally, training -- you want to spend some quality time doing training. Spend two days and teach them everything.
Linda Formichelli's writing has appeared in Woman's Day, Wired, Writer's Digest, Family Circle, Psychology Today. Contact her at linda-eric@lserv.com, or check out her Web site http://www.twowriters.net
This was first published in October 2002