Sales & Marketing

The Client
An innovative software company that sells custom built automated shipping systems to save manufacturers time and money in their overall shipping operations. The case study below is on one of the many processes they've implemented with HighOrbit.

The Client's Need
90% of the client's sales leads are generated from their website. Prospects in search of a shipping system solution find their site, and make an online request for information in the form of an email to the sales department. But there was no system in place to help the sales staff track prospects and manage the company's relationship with them. As a result, the prospect's inquiry would be answered, and if they didn't reply back, they'd be forgotten amid the swarm of other tasks at hand. There was no efficient means in place for capturing and tracking new prospects.

Secondly, there wasn't a standardized means for alerting management staff at key points in the sales cycle. If the prospect became interested and began taking steps toward becoming a customer, management had no way to know unless they were told. So it was very hard for management to evaluate the company's position regarding new business at a given time. And there was no way to know if the sales staff was effectively following up with prospects or if the emails were getting buried and forgotten about.

How HighOrbit Helped
HighOrbit Workflow was used to create a sales process management system to address both of the client's concerns. With HighOrbit Workflow, prospects requesting more information via the web all fill out and submit a standardized form. The task is sent to a sales representative who answers the prospect's question and qualifies them through a series of criteria. If the prospect is qualified, he is approved and routed to a new sales follow-up process. At this point, management is also informed that he has been qualified and receives a summary of qualifications.

This follow-up process schedules points in time for the sales rep to get in contact with the prospect. Within this process, the sales rep has two more processes that he can proceed to- one to schedule an online demo of the product and another to submit a proposal. At each of these points, management receives a status report. If the prospect is sold and becomes a client, they are transferred to a series of operational processes in accounting, administration and fulfillment.

The Results
HighOrbit's Workflow provided 3 essential solutions for the client:

• It established accountability among the sales staff, ensuring that valuable prospects aren't lost and management is kept 'in the loop.'
• It allowed for greater efficiency, giving sales reps the ability to prequalify contacts and stay in regular communication to convert prospects into customers.
• It created a traceable, seamless process that carries prospects through the appropriate channels within the company from sales to operations.