30.11.2016

Tap business-to-business potential with RegioGraph

 

 

 
 

Efficiency at the press of a button: RegioGraph supports companies of all industries in the optimal use of available resources and the development of potential at detailed regional levels. A case study from the business-to-business sector shows how.

A long-standing mid-sized tool manufacturer sells its products to companies around the world, with Germany as its core market. The manufacturer serves it German customers via its own key-account sales division and also offers an external service network consisting of around 60 smaller operations. The tools are completed at three locations and distributed via a logistics partner in Germany.

The company has been feeling increasing competitive pressures in recent years with the emergence of other global providers. Even so, the quality that the company's name has come to represent as well as its exceptional customer service are esteemed very highly by its customers. However, in recent years, an increasing number of the companies through which the manufacturer sells its tools – often smaller operations with fewer than 100 employees – encountered economic difficulties and had to shut down.

The company now faces the challenge of locating new customer potential in a tight market. The market comprised by small and mid-sized companies with 100-500 employees seems to be not yet fully exploited. This is precisely the market on which the tool manufacturer wishes to focus in order to gain new customers.

The company's head of sales has already been working with RegioGraph for years in order to plan and manage the sales and service territories. The new "Strategy" version of RegioGraph, which includes approximately four million integrated data entries on business potential, gives our client the ability to acquire the new target group consisting of companies with 100-500 employees in various key industries.

Address data on business potential

Business data from Dun & Bradstreet is integrated into a special map layer in RegioGraph Strategy. By entering the relevant parameters, the head of sales is able to restrict the search to "metal-processing companies" in just a few clicks of the mouse. He can then filter the results further based on "company size according to number of employees" and voilà!: One of the most important target groups has been pinpointed. As the data is already integrated into the software, an evaluation of the number of target group companies in each sales territory can be carried out. It's also possible to display the precise addresses of the relevant companies on the map. A quick mouse-over provides comprehensive information such as company type (headquarters or branch) and turnover-volume category.

Using this method, it's easy to fine-tune the sales territory planning process – the information on the number of businesses including number of employees and turnover-volume categories makes it possible to precisely identify A-, B- and C-customers. Sales staff can then receive this information in the form of RegioGraph reports for their particular territories, which ensures transparency and a fair distribution of the workload.

The data of the selected companies can also be exported from RegioGraph. Using the relevant company identification numbers, the contact details for the most interesting new target customers can then be ordered from the business data broker Dun & Bradstreet. This targeted approach allows the tool manufacturer to save money and receive the up-to-date address information it requires. The sales division can then sort the contacts by priority and commence communication.

Distance matrices and product-flow analyses

RegioGraph Strategy offers a distance matrix function that can be used to calculate and display the distances between service locations and the company's production sites as well as the logistic partner's storage facilities. This analysis is complemented by the product-flow analysis, which makes it possible to analyze and display the delivery volumes (for example, for machine parts) from the sites of production to the warehouses and service partners. The distance matrix can be exported out of RegioGraph as a map or table.

Service-network planning of the future

RegioGraph Strategy also dramatically enhances the planning and optimization of a company's service network: Previously all partner operations were treated in the same way in terms of the visitation time expectations for the outside sales force as well as the product information mailings and product training course offerings. Now, using the Dun & Bradstreet data as a basis, the tool manufacturer can focus only on the operations in each sales region that have more than 15 employees. These operations will be visited by the sales staff much more frequently in the future and will also receive special offers for product training courses.

This will make it possible to build a premium partner network in the coming years that offers markedly better service while, at the same time, requiring less money and time from the tool manufacturer. For example, the RegioGraph map analyses with integrated data on potential for electrician operations with more than 15 employees revealed that the partner network in the region around Frankfurt can be cut back, as all customers can be reached by a service partner in less than two hours. By contrast, this was not the case for the Berlin-Brandenburg region, because while the tool manufacturer has many customers there, it only has two service partners. The manufacturer can now use RegioGraph and the drive-time zone analysis to identify two new, optimally positioned service partner locations that close the gaps in the service network. Then, when it comes to finding a concrete service partner at this new location, the Dun & Bradstreet data provides a selection of companies large enough to become premium partners.

This pre-selection process saves the sales division time and money. The manufacturer now just has to look more closely at the prospective partner companies and negotiate conditions rather than having to contact hundreds of small 1-2 person operations, as was the case in the past.

Enhanced reporting and sales territory optimization

The comprehensive reporting functions available in RegioGraph Strategy also allowed the tool manufacturer to extract more insights with regard to controlling. RegioGraph made it possible to easily create and export map analyses, rankings, regional reports and diagrams as well as visualize all relevant information on locations, sales territories and regional market potential. This allowed the manufacturer to work with up-to-date data on daily operations, as the map analyses and reports could be automatically updated each time new data was imported.

The head of sales was also enthusiastic about the ability to directly compare territory planning scenarios in reports and calculate realistic growth targets for each region using the integrated data on business potential in RegioGraph Strategy. RegioGraph Strategy thus serves as the perfect basis for making more informed decisions and coordinating communication among all those involved, from management to outside sales force employees and service partners.

Summary

The expert version "RegioGraph Strategy" is a comprehensive solution for making more informed business decisions and adopting company strategies that promote sustained success. Thanks to the integrated data on potential, it's easy to locate and exploit new business potential, even in tight markets.

Applications for RegioGraph Strategy with integrated Dun & Bradstreet data on business potential:

  • Analyze and plan regions
  • Generate regional reports
  • Analyze locations and catchment areas
  • Locate potential at the level of street segments
  • Identify new locations
  • Evaluate and optimize service networks
  • Visualize product flows
  • Analyze supply relationships
  • Determine distance zones around locations
  • and many more!