Twice as much SME potential in sight

No CRM, no systematic prospecting

In 2017 Adven’s sales team was at a turning point. A new strategy shifted focus to larger projects, which are rather limited in Finland, and the team needed both a suitable CRM system and a service that could provide up to date business information. As Juha Elo puts it: “Despite our professional sales team, there was a lack of systematics in making sales. We did not have a CRM in place. Hence, salespeople and account managers had to maintain separate prospect and customer lists when forming a holistic view of the sales pipeline was time-consuming or almost impossible.” Prospecting was not structured, and the team spent much time looking for potential customers. “It was challenging to get information about projects that open up sales opportunities for us, especially in the SME sector, because SMEs do not have the same reporting obligations as large companies do,” Elo continues.

With the help of Vainu, we can quickly find all the information needed for the first customer encounter.

Segments monitored, changes flagged

Vainu integrates with Adven’s Dynamics CRM, which meant that maintaining a reliable database would require less manual work. The team brought its customer lists, its top 100 prospects and its Hold-list, companies where the need had already been identified and discussions about cooperation had taken place but the time was not yet ripe, to Vainu to systematically follow these segments and be notified about all relevant changes within them. With the help of Vainu’s signals, the team gets notified about environmental permits and new projects, which, with the changes in production, often open up investment needs. For Adven, monitoring personnel changes among their core customer segments is also crucial. “In the chemical industry, for example, we have been able to use Vainu’s signals to identify which players in this segment are relevant to us,” Elo explains. With up to date company information, the team’s understanding of the SME segment’s market potential brightened: there was now twice as much potential. Up to date financial information at hand also makes qualification quicker. “Above all, Vainu has simplified the way we do sales. For instance, when we have up-to-date financial information always at hand, we can immediately get an idea of whether it is worth proceeding conversations with that specific company,” says Elo. With Vainu’s reports every team member knows the situation in their segment, and there is an apparent reason for every customer contact, which Elo says has brought the team more confidence and shows up as a better customer experience.

In addition to prospecting new companies, we have up to 100 customers where something happens all the time. We are systematically looking for new projects to invest in. Through Vainu, we can always keep abreast of any changes happening in our clients, and we know which projects we should be working toward.

Juha Elo, Director, New Industrial Sales at Adven