Generated at: 2026-09-01 06:27:31

Sales Efficiency Improvement

Successfully Improved Sales Efficiency and Realized Heat Map Strategy

  • SFA/MA Activation
  • Corporate Attribute Enrichment and Analysis
  • Core System
  • New Sales Prospect List

Hitachi Solutions, Ltd.

Internet-related, System and Software Development, Specialized Trading Companies and Wholesalers

INTERVIEWEE

  • General Manager, Digital Marketing Sales Division
    Sales Management Headquarters
    Mr. Kazuo Hata
  • Business Creation Department, Digital Marketing Sales Division
    Ms. Yuka Yamamoto
  • Business Creation Department, Digital Marketing Sales Division
    Ms. Ako Tsuno
  • General Manager, Sales Strategy Department
    Sales Planning Headquarters
    Mr. Yu Konai
  • Deputy General Manager, Sales Strategy Department
    Sales Planning Headquarters
    Ms. Yumiko Koizumi
  • Deputy General Manager, DiCE Promotion Department
    IT and DX Promotion Headquarters
    Mr. Masahito Naka

Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. is a company primarily engaged in the system integration business, providing support for system implementation ranging from application development and package deployment to infrastructure construction. In 2019, the company implemented uSonar, one of Japan's largest corporate databases, to assist in formulating sales strategies and improving sales efficiency. We spoke with Mr. Hata, Mr. Yamamoto, Mr. Tsuno, Mr. Konoichi, and Mr. Koizumi from the Sales Management Division, as well as Mr. Naka from the IT & DX Promotion Division, regarding the background, benefits, and future prospects of implementing uSonar.

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Challenges Before Implementation

Challenges in Information Sharing and New Customer Acquisition Processes

We asked Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. about the challenges they faced that led to the decision to implement uSonar.

Hata

Previously, each department operated independently, and performance figures were aggregated separately by each unit. This resulted in a lack of company-wide coordination and an inefficient state of operations.

Koizumi

From a sales strategy perspective, we were unable to identify our white space—the potential market segments where we had no existing contact. To specifically identify these white spaces, we had to acquire external lists and cross-reference them with our own transaction records and activity history, which was labor-intensive. Furthermore, because analysis was conducted individually, similar analytical data was scattered throughout the company.

The issues of task specialization and the 'black box' nature of operations have been raised across all industries and sectors in recent years. Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. decided that it was time to resolve these issues within their sales department.HTS02.webp

Deciding Factors for Implementation

Streamlining Information Sharing Through Salesforce Utilization

Amidst these challenges, Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. adopted uSonar.

Using LBC, a database of 12.5 million corporate records covering the domestic market built by uSonar (formerly Landscape), they have been organizing and maintaining the corporate information within their existing Salesforce environment. Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. was recognized for their achievements in SFA/CRM utilization at the annual Salesforce National Utilization Championship, where they impressively won the title in 2021.

Source: Salesforce SFUG CUP 2021, 9th Salesforce National Utilization Championship

Furthermore, they noted that the effects of SFA/CRM utilization were tangible at the operational level.

Tsuno

"I originally worked in sales, and I felt that the speed of information sharing within the company increased significantly as the utilization of SFA/CRM progressed."

In B2B business, it is necessary to manage not only corporate information but also information on individuals within those companies. By utilizing uSonar and Salesforce, we were able to visualize the touchpoints between our company and our clients, which has had a positive impact on our sales activities.

Naka

"Previously, we were unable to effectively link the personal information we acquired with corporate information, so we were not able to utilize the personal information we had collected. Now, all business card information acquired at exhibitions, seminars, and other events can be linked to the corporate information in our SFA/CRM. For example, when we want to conduct sales activities for a specific company, we can now trace our professional network to see who already has a connection with that company, allowing us to approach them more efficiently."

Because information sharing has become seamless, it has become possible to improve the efficiency of many business operations.

Hata

Since both the field staff and the management team can now view information in real time, a significant reduction in the time spent creating reports and attending meetings has been a major achievement. While this represents the overall return on investment including SFA and BI tools, not just uSonar, we are seeing a return four times the initial investment.

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Results Achieved

Implementation of Heat Map Strategy

Koizumi

As part of our sales strategy, we have been promoting a heat map strategy since this year. A heat map visualizes which customers have adopted which products by crossing customer segments with business segments, using color intensity to represent the scale of adoption.

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Konai

For example, when we filter by the manufacturing industry, we can see where and to what extent our solutions for the manufacturing sector have been implemented, as well as which companies offer potential for new proposals.
Previously, we could only see information on customers with whom we had actual transactions, but by introducing uSonar, we can now identify white space, making it easier to develop strategies on where to focus our efforts.

By formulating strategies based on data, each department is now able to operate with a greater sense of conviction.

Yamamoto

In our promotion and marketing operations, we conduct seminars and disseminate information based on heat map strategies. Furthermore, since uSonar includes a feature that allows us to identify which companies are viewing our website, we perform daily improvements while verifying whether the pages created based on our strategies are actually being viewed by our target audience.

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Toward Further Challenges

Leveraging Visualized Data More Effectively to Drive Sales

Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. aims to further utilize technology to eliminate reliance on individual expertise in their sales activities.

Konai

uSonar has enabled us to achieve visualization. Moving forward, we intend to make improvements so that everyone can conduct sales activities efficiently, such as by using AI to provide recommendations.

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*Our service and feature names are current as of the time of the interview.

Article Publication Date: September 27, 2022

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