Since the publication of “THE MODEL” in 2019, the division of labor has been attracting attention in Japan to improve sales efficiency. HENNGE also has multiple departments cooperating in sales, but there are some unique features and innovations unique to HENNGE. For this interview, we spoke with Mr. Yamashita of the Inside Sales Section.
Before HENNGE, I was in the R&D department of a pharmaceutical company. My job was to go talk to university professors, etc., and develop and manufacture reagents.
So your job was quite different from what you do now. What made you decide to change jobs at HENNGE?
In my previous job, I had to travel a lot to meet with customers, such as going to conferences held in various places. My personal life was becoming more and more convenient with the introduction of e-commerce and IoT, but I wondered why I was so constrained by time and location at work, and thought that I should be able to use technology to improve efficiency.
So, when it came to technology, I thought the IT industry was the place to be, and I jumped into HENNGE.
◾️The Role of Inside Sales
After joining HENNGE, you were in charge of partner sales, and now you are a section manager of inside sales.
Can you tell us what inside sales is all about?
Generally speaking, inside sales is often thought of as the person who makes appointments for salespeople to meet with clients. Since the emphasis is on efficiency and the number of appointments, the list of calls and the content of the conversation are set in a manual, and you just make a bunch of calls, and if they don’t work, you move on to the next one.
HENNGE’s Inside Sales (IS) role is of course to make appointments and connect them to Field Sales (FS), but we place more emphasis on building relationships from a long-term perspective and creating business opportunities rather than just making appointments.
So the role of IS is to build long-term relationships with leads (prospective customers)?
Yes, it is. Even the client may not want to talk to you at a point in time when they are not sure they want you yet. Would you like to talk? (laugh).
We generate business opportunities by determining what kind of company the lead is from, what kind of issues they are facing, what kind of situation they are in, and what we need to do to make them “want” the product.
How exactly do you accomplish this?
Broadly speaking, it is a multiplication of IS efforts and the active action of the lead side.
Even if a lead is acquired through a white paper or event organized by marketing, it is not immediately converted into a business meeting.
HENNGE’s IS has a dedicated team for lead cultivation, which sends information on materials and events to leads and conducts surveys. This is not just one-way communication, but sometimes we also exchange information on issues face-to-face.
At the same time, we also check the actions of the leads, such as the keywords they are searching for, their visit history to the HENNGE website, and the status of email openings.
Based on these, when it appears that the lead is finally ready to consider introducing HENNGE, we approach the lead and make an appointment with them to discuss the possibility of introducing HENNGE, and then pass the appointment to the FS.
There are times when the FS negotiates with the client, but unfortunately the introduction of the system is postponed, right?
Yes, there are. In those cases, the lead will come back to IS and we will maintain the relationship with the lead. Overall, the time it takes to receive an order can range from one year to several years.
So for each lead, you spend quite a bit of time deepening the relationship.
◾️Using Tools to Mature the Relationship
Yes, we use a variety of tools for this purpose.
SFA serves as an aggregation platform for lead information and contact history, and is commonly used by Marketing, IS, and FS.
We use multiple MAs and DMPs to understand the intent of our leads. We use tools to infer not only the response to measures implemented by the company, but also information such as what issues the leads are facing and what actions they are taking.
- SFA: Abbreviation for Sales Force Management (sales support system), a tool to visualize and analyze information related to sales activities.
- MA: MA stands for Marketing Automation, a tool to streamline each step from lead acquisition to lead nurturing.
- DMP: Data Management Platform, a tool for managing and utilizing diverse data accumulated on the Internet.
The members who are achieving results with IS are very good in this area. We don’t ask them to take a lot of time, but rather create opportunities to talk lightly, for example, when we create a new novelty product, we can share updates on HENNGE One while delivering it to them. We also use such communication to update the status and temperature of our leads.
As the relationship deepens and the situation becomes more mature, the lead will often ask, “Can we talk to you about introducing HENNGE One?” I am very impressed with that.
That is amazing.
Recently at IS, we have also been focusing on what we call community sales. We communicate with existing customers and leads before introducing cloud computing, and ask them to share their issues and case studies.
*Example of an event: Solving workplace issues with “karuta! Problem solving workshop with Amane Sawatari
It seems like a higher hurdle than communicating by e-mail or telephone, but do you gather participants?
Yes, each IS member seems to have a certain number of leads who would come to a real event if we invited them. We sometimes receive more applications than we anticipated.
We are creating a good cycle in which we approach leads effectively based on data, and the history of communication is stored in the tools, which in turn becomes data that further improves the accuracy of sales.
Using multiple tools, building person-to-person relationships, and creating business opportunities requires a great deal of skill from IS members, doesn’t it?
Of course, not all members can do everything at a high level. There are strengths and weaknesses. However, I think that all members share the same positive attitude of trying to become better at what they do, rather than being discouraged by what they cannot do.
As a team, we have a matrix of current skill sets and the skills required for the next stage, as if to say, “First, let’s learn to do this, and once we have done that, let’s move on to the next step.
When the direction of the required effort is concretized, it is easier for our efforts to lead to growth instead of spinning out of control.
One of our members once told me, “I understand the concept of deepening relationships with leads, but I don’t understand what specific actions are required. It is true that I had not defined it properly.
Individual feedback tends to fall into localized techniques, or skills become idiosyncratic, so we are trying to visualize skills and see if we can make it work.
◾️The future we are aiming for thorough use of technology
What is required in HENNGE’s IS?
First of all, we expect every member to be able to make calls and to be able to use technology well.
For example, in HENNGE’s IS, we provide the basic policies and then leave it up to each individual member to decide which leads to approach. Without understanding what data is stored in the SFA and what information is presented in dashboards and reports, it is impossible to create appropriate lists.
How do you share such knowledge with your team?
We hold study sessions, and of course, if someone doesn’t understand something, someone who is good at it can teach them.
But basically, all necessary information, such as manuals, is stored in a tool so that it is easy to find when you need it.
You are very thorough in your use of tools.
Waiting for the right moment to ask someone slows down the process.
I think the person asking would also feel uncomfortable asking repeatedly. We want to create a situation where questions can be resolved simply by looking here.
It seems that by utilizing the tool, not only day-to-day operations but also the speed of growth will increase.
Finally, are there any tools or technologies that you would like to see IS utilize more in the future?
There are now systems that use AI to analyze a company’s situation based on its industry, size, and publicly available information, and make recommendations for proposals, so I would like to utilize those as well.
I would like to have a firm grasp of the issues and needs not only of individual leads, but of the company as a whole, so that I can quickly have essential discussions with leads.
We want to leave more and more of what the tools can do to the tools.
Ultimately, I want to create a world where salespeople are no longer needed. We understand that this will not happen immediately (laughs).
I believe that if we continue with our current approach and accumulate data in the tools, we will be able to systematize to some extent which leads we should propose to, when, and what kind of proposals we should make to them.
I hope that the members of IS will see the potential of technology and use new tools more and more, both in their work and private lives.
It seems that the advent of new technology will change the way salespeople do business. Thank you very much for your time today!
HENNGE is always looking for new members who are willing to change and take on new challenges. Please click here for more information about the positions we are currently recruiting for.
Hello, nice to meet you today!
Yamashita-san, you joined HENNGE in April 2019, right? What kind of work did you do before that?