The Philips Lighting sales force saved 2,500 hours per month by integrating digital voice technology and cloud storage into its CRM system data entry workflow
Philips Lighting is dedicated to introducing innovative end-user-driven and energy-efficient solutions and applications for lighting, based on a thorough understanding of customer needs. Its sales team in the US is a highly mobile force of between 100 to 150 account representatives who serve at both a regional and national level and make an average of three to four customer calls each day. As required by their sales leaders, for each call a sales rep makes, they must either create or update information in Philips Lighting’s customer relations management (CRM) system.
Challenge
Historically, following each sales call the account representative was expected to login to the system to type client information and important notes from the meeting. This posed a significant challenge to quick and accurate data entry. Since the sales team was often traveling, unpacking their laptop and finding an Internet connection was a hassle. As a result, the reps spent a significant amount of time doing administrative work instead of negotiating an order or preparing for their next presentation.
To improve the situation, the Lighting team began using a CRM system with an integrated transcription service. While a step in the right direction, the solution was only accessible by telephone. Field reps dictated the required information over the phone using a dedicated call-in number, and then the recorded dictation was retrieved by transcriptionists who entered the information into the CRM system.
Although the process was relatively simple, it often took days for finished reports to be entered into the CRM. Occasionally, bad phone reception would make portions of the dictation inaudible, and any data not entered correctly had the potential to prevent the file from being saved for later entry or completion. Sometimes typos or duplicate entries appeared in the CRM without the account representative’s knowledge. In turn, the CRM system contained lower quality data to leverage for sales analytics and reporting.
Solution
To resolve these challenges, the sales team chose to switch to the latest voice technology from Philips Speech Processing Solutions. They were asked to develop a process sales reps could use with different recording devices at any time to enter information into their CRM systems. They also wanted the solution to help reduce the time spent on data entry — while helping them increase the quality of the reports.
The solution: a flexible approach. Now, after an appointment, sales reps record important information either through the dial-in number, through a Philips digital handheld voice recorder with editing functionality or with the Philips dictation recorder smartphone app. Once the notes are recorded, the file is transmitted securely to a professional transcriptionist who accesses the recording and enters it into the CRM system.
An automated email confirmation alerts the sales rep when the audio file is received, and they also receive an email with their transcribed notes attached within a day —and often within only a few hours. If required, the typist can also perform the time-consuming task of appropriately linking client contact information within the CRM system.
The only challenge that emerged after implementing the new CRM data entry process was that some account representatives were resistant to the change, so they continued to access the dial-in dictation number. The smartphone dictation recorder apps, however, have emerged as a popular alternative. Through the smartphone app — available on all major device platforms — representatives can create and save recordings on their smartphone or email them. That means notes about the meeting can be recorded at their convenience, not just when phone reception is ideal. What’s more, dictations recorded immediately after a client meeting result in more comprehensive reports.
Results
After conducting a pilot project when Philips adopted its new CRM system, the lighting sales team discovered that each account representative on average saved an hour per day — between five and 15 minutes per report — using voice technology instead of typing. That translates to 2,500 hours saved per month for just the U.S. Lighting sales team. In addition, up to 600 records per day — or up to 13,200 per month — could be more rapidly updated with timely data that could be utilised to better serve clients and generate new sales opportunities.
Matt Hisle, account representative at Philips Lighting, explained: “We wanted to make it simple for our highly mobile field representatives to capture accurate and detailed customer data.
“As we discovered, digital dictation with cloud-based recording storage and transcription, was ideal because it is not only faster than typing, but it also helps us generate higher quality, more actionable sales data.”
