Profit Magazine - May 2008

“We now have true sales and marketing visibility, and that means we
have the data we need to support our strategies.”

—José A. Díaz, Corporate Marketing and Strategic Planning Director, 3M Mexico

vides a more quantitative element that can be used to further develop design strategies for both the long term and the mid term,” says Díaz.

The driving force behind 3M’s success in a highly specialized market space, according to Díaz, is balancing what he views as “transactional” (hands-on) client relationships with direct marketing and education. “Effective transactional outreach into the field is one of the most significant operational challenges 3M solved with Oracle CRM On Demand,” says Díaz. “It allows us to approach our customers with very targeted messages, which we can do very quickly.”

Using laptops as their mobile office, representatives can connect from home, an internet café, a library—anywhere with wireless connectivity—and access customer contacts, sales appointments, special events, and other information. “Representatives don’t have to spend a lot of time in the office collecting or sharing data,” Díaz says. “Instead they can spend just a little time compiling data offline, and when they have time to connect, they can click a couple of buttons and the system synchronizes with the online data. It’s an incredible time-saving feature.”

Functioning with greater insight and accuracy, the 3M sales team can better allocate their time following up with established customers instead of spinning their wheels cold-calling customers who, as Díaz describes it, “aren’t yet prepared to have a deep understanding of our specific value proposition.” He continues: “Traffic is an issue here in Mexico, and it’s very hard to go from one place to the other. You can spend two hours sitting in your car just trying to get to one place. Instead of sitting and accomplishing very little, through the [Oracle] CRM On Demand system our sales team can strategically plan their routes and visit doctors within a specified area.” It’s also standard practice for 3M to drive increased purchasing through special promotions, and Oracle CRM On Demand helps streamline this process. Says Díaz, “If one of our customers purchases product A with product B, we might offer them a promotional discount on a third product. Advance notification of promotions helps clients make better purchase decisions because it allows them to evaluate special offers before their sales representative arrives.”

SINKING THEIR TEETH INTO THE PROBLEM

Because 3M’s medical-grade products typically require a high level of technical understanding, after-sale customer service can be a delicate but critical aspect of the sales cycles. “Customers occasionally need assistance in selecting the appropriate product for a patient, or they may not be using

a product in exactly the right way,” Díaz explains. In these situations, technical support is paramount. “If we receive a phone call and find that the doctor is not correctly complying with product instructions, we have to troubleshoot the situation quickly and accurately.” With Oracle CRM On Demand, providing the support person with a complete view of a customer’s profile is straightforward. “Once the troubleshooting is complete and the customer is satisfied, we can gauge the situation and possibly offer a savings promotion opportunity before the conversation is complete.”

ROI ON DEMAND

Since implementing Oracle CRM On Demand, 3M Mexico has increased its team of field sales professionals by 10 percent. The net gain, according to Díaz, has been a 15 percent growth in revenue in just 18 months. “This is strong proof that the efficacy of Oracle CRM On Demand is helping 3M accomplish solid growth numbers,” he states.

3M has also been able to finesse its list management practices, using Oracle CRM On Demand to segment its customer database. By maintaining information that’s broken out into logical groupings, 3M can approach clients with different products that make the most sense for their particular needs, be it endodontics or pediatric or cosmetic dentistry.

“3M is a practical and ingenious solutions company that is ahead of the game in bringing technological solutions to its customers. We seek the same philosophy in working with our business partners,” says Díaz. “We consider Oracle a strong business partner because we believe it is very much on the same page. We’ve been receiving fantastic support, and whenever we’ve faced technical or connectivity issues, we always enjoy a very fast response.” Oracle’s leadership role in the competitive and rapidly changing CRM software market creates a good foundation for 3M, asserts Díaz. “Having a solid [Oracle] CRM toolset in CRM On Demand helps us address the challenges of gaining and maintaining market share.” <>