As an Australian technology consultancy, it’s pretty rare for us to work with clients in other countries. So when we had an opportunity to work with Baumit in France on their Salesforce implementation, naturally we said “oui”!
The brief
As a fairly new entrant to the French market (since 2014), leading European building materials brand Baumit wanted to be known for being timely, proactive, collaborative and switched on when dealing with customers. As a new player, it needed to be lean in its go-to-market but still have the best tools to set their sales and delivery teams up for success.
When Baumit approached Carnac Group, they were looking for a Salesforce consultant to help them achieve their vision for customer engagement. Critical to success was involving their own people in the project to ensure the final solution was tailored to their own needs and experiences. They particularly wanted to increase their effectiveness over a long sales cycle involving a myriad of interactions with prospects, customers and project participants up and down the supply chain. An average Baumit pursuit lasts more than 12 months. It can also involve relationships with dozens of individuals. Missing the moment or not understanding where different suppliers fit into a project means Baumit would most likely miss out on a job… They also needed an integration between Salesforce and Micrsoft Dynamics to avoid duplication of effort and data.
Our approach
Baumit had a clear vision, but they weren’t sure about what exactly they needed from Salesforce to achieve it. Our consultant had a dynamic, flexible approach to help Baumit explore Salesforce as their own requirements took shape. This included spending two weeks on site to conduct daily user testing and configuration based on feedback. Baumit gave input each morning, with our consultant making changes in the afternoon. Our consultant then demonstrated these changes the following morning, allowing Baumit to see the impact of their changes within 24 hours. This collaborative process was repeated every day, ensuring Baumit had their Salesforce fully configured to their business by the end of the two weeks. Integrations were then completed off-site. This helped to ensure face-to-face time with Baumit focused on understanding needs and refining requirements to deliver their tailored Salesforce platform.
What
Salesforce implementation
Key requirements
- Pipeline management with an integration to Contact Business
- Meeting planning and recording
- Integration with Outlook and Microsoft Dynamics AX using Rapidi
Timeframe
Dec 2015 – Mar 2016
Why Carnac?
“We were impressed by Carnac Group’s commitment to understanding our business and creating a Salesforce platform which works for us. You can’t fake that level of interest. We also liked how they were prepared to spend two weeks on site to iterate our Salesforce solution with us.”
Nicolas Motte, CEO Baumit France.
The Result
More than six months since implementing Salesforce, Baumit has vastly improved how they engage with prospects and clients.
“For me it’s quite simple. We spend less time overall on each pursuit, but we are more thorough and our conversion rate is getting better and better.”
Nicolas Motte, CEO Baumit France.
Most valuable for Baumit
- Pipeline management. Shows work secured and work in pursuit. This helps the Baumit team be more thorough in running to ground every opportunity.
- Contract management. Gives a richer, more accurate picture of the market players: who is involved in what project, the stage of the project and when Baumit needs to act.
Of course, this is only possible because Baumit’s people are committed to capturing and sharing relevant information on Salesforce. But for them it’s a no-brainer. Using Salesforce makes their jobs easier and increases their chance of success.
Did you know we are Salesforce experts in building & construction?
Uniqueness of the project
The steps in Baumit’s sales cycle are no different from any other business. But the duration of the cycle and the number of interactions with prospects, customers and project participants up and down the supply chain mean their pursuits are highly targeted, complicated and expensive. Getting a tool like Salesforce to reflect this complexity and make it quite simple, user-friendly and valuable for Baumit’s people was challenging and extremely rewarding to realise. Also, it’s not often we get to spend two weeks with our clients in France!
“Carnac Group were spot on for us. They delivered a technical solution which matches our commercial requirements exactly. For technical experts, they were very business-oriented. We couldn’t be happier with the result.”
Nicolas Motte, CEO Baumit
Head-quartered in Austria, Baumit is one of Europe’s most successful building materials brands for commercial and domestic building projects. Their vision is to enhance people’s connections to their homes and commercial spaces through state-of-the-art building components prioritising design aesthetics, energy-efficiency and safe, reliable materials.
