Uchida

Our company aims for data-driven management, and as part of that initiative, we efficiently share customer information, property details, and sales negotiations via Salesforce to leverage them for our sales activities.

Until now, we have grown the company based on the "intuition, experience, and courage" of our sales team. However, with the advancement of IT, tools that can quickly analyze vast amounts of data have emerged. Furthermore, since data is also accumulating in Salesforce, we have been aiming for data-driven management since around 2021, believing that if we utilize this data, we can further increase our sales win rate.

Within this context, I am responsible for promoting the utilization of SFA/CRM tools (Sales Force Automation/Customer Relationship Management) and BI tools (Business Intelligence tools).

Uchida

Before implementing Salesforce, we managed customer information using individual sales notebooks and Excel files. This resulted in information becoming siloed, leaving the sales organization unable to leverage valuable data effectively. Consequently, we decided to implement an SFA/CRM system to promote company-wide data utilization.

Initially, we developed an in-house system to accumulate customer information, but it did not perform as expected. We then introduced Salesforce; however, there were many cases where the frontline staff lost sight of the objectives or the data was incomplete.

Furthermore, a significant issue was the high volume of duplicate data within Salesforce, which reached approximately 10,000 records. This duplication caused multiple sales representatives to approach the same company, occasionally leading to customer complaints.

Additionally, we use the BI tool Tableau for management analysis. Because the data within Salesforce was duplicated, the figures generated in Tableau were not being aggregated correctly. Since Tableau is used for management meetings, inaccurate results could lead to flawed management decisions. Therefore, it became essential for us to clean and organize our data.

Uchida

Since we had previously managed sales opportunities using Excel, transitioning to a system where everything is managed in Salesforce required us to help staff understand a completely different approach. We involved sales managers and spent six months coordinating with the frontline teams to define sales phases and probability levels.

Uchida

The ease of integration with SFA and CRM systems is a key advantage. To effectively utilize data, it is necessary to aggregate not only information on clients, business negotiations, and activities, but also data from other core systems via API integration. A major factor in choosing uSonar was its ability to integrate seamlessly with various systems.

Furthermore, by using uSonar for data cleansing, we were able to eliminate duplicate records and establish a foundation for leveraging data within Salesforce.

Of course, the fact that it possesses a volume of corporate data unmatched by other companies, as well as the breadth of comprehensive and user-friendly information, were also deciding factors.

Uchida

We compared three to four companies, but we chose mSonar by prioritizing the ease of integration with Salesforce and the convenience for our sales representatives in the field. We believe field convenience is particularly important, and after having them provide demonstrations, the consensus was that mSonar was the most practical solution. Compared to other business card management applications, mSonar offers an overwhelming amount of information, and the ability to freely search not only for business card details but also for corporate information while on the go is a significant benefit for our field staff.

Uchida

The time savings in list creation and company extraction, as well as the significant cost reductions, are substantial. In particular, using "Stories" (qualitative company attributes uniquely labeled by uSonar) is convenient because it allows us to create lists based on specific company characteristics. For example, stories such as "Companies likely to relocate offices," "Companies with corporate housing," and "Companies promoting work-style reform" align well with real estate, allowing us to create lists for outreach that lead to successful results.

The "Good Industry" categories (industry classifications uniquely defined by uSonar) are also well-regarded by our sales team. Even when companies have attributes that differ from our perception under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' industry classifications, the "Good Industry" categories often align with our own attributes, making the segments in our aggregate results much easier to understand.

Furthermore, before introducing uSonar, our only option was to purchase corporate data from other companies on an ad-hoc basis. While the data accuracy was high, the drawback was the significant time and cost required to utilize it. On the other hand, uSonar allows us to use 12.5 million records of corporate data whenever and as much as we want, which has drastically reduced our costs related to corporate data and overwhelmingly increased the number of companies we can approach.

With the reduction in corporate data purchases, the issue of data duplication has also been resolved. When we were purchasing corporate data, we had to cross-reference it with the data we already held internally and perform duplication checks. By introducing uSonar, we have been able to reduce the man-hours previously spent on that task.

Uchida

It is convenient to be able to view credit information by scanning business cards, search for company information, make calls directly from the app, and view the location of headquarters on a map. It has become a habit among our sales members to check mSonar before visiting clients to stay updated on industry news.

Uchida

The man-hours required for creating materials for meetings have been significantly reduced. Previously, we had to submit materials several days before a meeting, so we struggled with creating documents by aggregating figures in Excel and making graphs for every meeting. Now, we operate using Tableau, and no advance preparation is required.

This is only possible because we have a culture where data normalized by uSonar is entered into Salesforce. Our president and executives have even stated that they only look at Salesforce for meeting materials. In other words, not entering data means that no results have been achieved, so the culture of data entry is deeply ingrained.

That said, data entry is time-consuming, so I do not think all members are fully convinced. Therefore, our president and executives periodically speak about "why data entry is necessary" to continue our enlightenment activities.

Uchida

We intend to further leverage uSonar to increase our sales win rate.

By seamlessly integrating uSonar's corporate data, news, and Live Access information with the customer data registered in our Salesforce, we are considering building a system that allows us to precisely capture customer needs and approach clients who require our services early and accurately.

Furthermore, through data-driven initiatives, if we can capture the interests of potential customers in real time and visualize priorities to approach them effectively, we can accelerate the process from lead acquisition and nurturing to order closure. I am optimistic that we can improve our win rate, moving from our current 7-5 record to 8-4 or 9-3.