Uchida

Our company aims to achieve data-driven management. As part of this initiative, we are efficiently sharing customer information, property details, and sales opportunities 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. Since data is also accumulating in Salesforce, we have been aiming for data-driven management since around 2021, believing that leveraging this data could further increase our sales win rate.

In this context, my role is to promote the utilization of SFA/CRM tools (sales support systems) and BI tools (management analysis tools).

Uchida

Before implementing Salesforce, we managed customers using individual sales notebooks and Excel, which meant information was siloed, and the sales organization as a whole could not leverage valuable insights. Therefore, we considered a policy to introduce an SFA/CRM to utilize information across the entire company.

Initially, we developed an in-house system to accumulate customer information, but it did not go well... We then introduced Salesforce, but there were many cases where the field staff lost sight of the purpose or the data was incomplete.

Another major challenge was the high volume of duplicate data within Salesforce, which reached approximately 10,000 records. Because of this data duplication, multiple sales representatives would approach the same company multiple times, sometimes leading to complaints.

Furthermore, we use Tableau, a BI tool, for management analysis. Because of the duplicate data in Salesforce, the figures generated in Tableau were not being aggregated correctly. Since Tableau is also used for management meetings, inaccurate results could lead to erroneous management decisions. For that reason, it was essential for us to clean and organize our data.

Uchida

We previously managed sales opportunities using Excel, so when we announced that we would be managing everything in Salesforce from then on, we struggled to help the team understand a mindset that was completely different from our traditional methods. We involved sales managers and spent six months coordinating with the field teams to define sales phases and probability levels.

Uchida

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

Furthermore, by using uSonar for data cleansing, we were able to eliminate duplicate data 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 information that is comprehensively collected and easy to use, were also deciding factors.

Uchida

We compared three to four different companies, but we chose mSonar because we prioritized its ease of integration with Salesforce and its usability for our field sales representatives. We believe field usability is particularly important, and after seeing demonstrations, many of our team members agreed 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 advantage for our field staff.

Uchida

The reduction in time spent on list creation and company extraction, as well as the overall cost savings, have been significant. It is particularly useful to use "Stories" (qualitative corporate attributes uniquely labeled by uSonar) 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 our real estate business, allowing us to create targeted lists and achieve successful outcomes.

The "Good Industry" classifications (industry categories uniquely defined by uSonar) are also highly regarded by our sales team. Even when companies fall under different attributes in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' industry classifications, the "Good Industry" labels often align with our internal definitions, making it easier to segment our analysis results.

Furthermore, before implementing uSonar, our only option was to purchase corporate data from other providers on an ad-hoc basis. While the data accuracy was high, the time and cost required to utilize it were significant drawbacks. In contrast, uSonar allows us to use 12.5 million corporate data records whenever and as much as we need, which has drastically reduced our costs related to corporate data and significantly 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 our existing internal data to check for duplicates. By implementing uSonar, we have been able to eliminate the man-hours previously required for that task.

Uchida

It is very convenient to be able to view credit information by scanning a business card, search for corporate information, and then make calls directly or view the headquarters' location on a map. It has become a habit among our sales members to check mSonar and stay updated on industry news before visiting clients.

Uchida

The man-hours required for preparing meeting materials have been significantly reduced. Previously, we had to submit materials several days before a meeting, which meant struggling to aggregate figures in Excel and create charts for every single session. Now, we operate using Tableau, and no advance preparation is required.

This is only possible because we have established a culture where data, normalized by uSonar, is entered into Salesforce. Our President and executives have even explicitly stated that they only look at Salesforce for meeting materials. In other words, a lack of data entry implies a lack of results, so the culture of data entry is deeply ingrained.

That said, data entry is time-consuming, so I do not believe every member is fully convinced of its value. Therefore, our President and executives periodically explain the importance of data entry to continue our awareness-raising efforts.

Uchida

We intend to utilize uSonar even further to increase our sales win rates.

By seamlessly integrating and leveraging 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 in a timely and accurate manner.

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 from our previous 7-5 record to 8-4 or 9-3.