Nitori Co., Ltd.

Matsuo

To improve this situation, a business transformation project was launched within the department in 2019. We began considering the digitalization of internal operations and the streamlining of sales activities, which included upgrading our systems, regardless of whether they were internal or external.

Previously, sales representatives were responsible for entering corporate data into the database, which was time-consuming and lacked high accuracy.

The executive in charge of the project at the time also faced challenges, noting that 'too much time is spent on customer research' and 'we cannot deny the opportunity loss caused by individual-dependent sales methods, and we are not securing enough time for the customers we truly need to focus on.'

Matsuo

We compared uSonar with services from two other companies, but uSonar was the only one that agreed to our essential requirement of 'integration with our in-house developed system.'

While uSonar and SideSonar are services with a proven track record of integrating with various SFA platforms, including Salesforce, this case involved integration with a proprietary system rather than an existing SFA. Nevertheless, we were very pleased that they were willing to respond with such flexibility.

Matsuo

The business division developed an ideal system concept, which the business transformation team then translated into a concrete project. As we advanced our internal system development, we initiated the integration once the API for uSonar/SideSonar was ready. After repeated testing and about six months of collaborative adjustments between both companies, we successfully achieved the integration.

Matsuo

Sales representatives, in particular, have expressed their satisfaction, noting that the time previously spent on data entry and searching has been significantly reduced and that information is now much easier to find. It appears to be highly effective for gathering information on prospective sales targets.

Matsuo

"With the introduction of uSonar/SideSonar, we shifted the responsibility of targeting—which was previously handled by individual sales representatives—to the managers of each zone. These managers possess extensive sales experience and a deep understanding of the customers who truly value our unique strengths: 'Affordable Pricing,' 'Quality and Functionality,' and 'Total Coordination.'

uSonar/SideSonar is equipped with a wealth of features that allow our managers to fully leverage their expertise and experience, and we feel that it has become much easier to achieve success in our targeting efforts."

Matsuo

"By using the 'Story' feature, we can identify customers with relocation plans who might be interested in our office products, or those with employee dormitories where we can leverage our strength in total coordination proposals.

Additionally, we use the 'Live Access' feature to narrow down customers who have visited our website or viewed our catalogs. The fact that a customer has shown interest in Nitori on their own is extremely valuable information, so we make it a priority to secure appointments as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, we identify and map our target companies. This has allowed us to conduct our sales activities with significantly greater efficiency in terms of both time and cost.
Moving forward, we aim to build a system that matches our internal data with the corporate database 'LBC' from uSonar, enabling us to analyze attributes and develop more strategic plans."

Matsuo

"The executive in charge at the time held the view that 'In business, there are areas that should be thoroughly streamlined through IT and digitalization, and areas where it is better to take time and use an analog approach.'

Therefore, we have thoroughly streamlined our sales activity mechanisms by incorporating uSonar/SideSonar into our proprietary systems. At the same time, we remain committed to meeting with customers directly to listen to their voices, developing products that they will choose, and providing proposals that go beyond mere satisfaction to deliver genuine inspiration."