Colgate-Palmolive is a company with a truly global reach, operating in more than 200 countries. Many of its products are brands that are known the world over. The company’s headquarters is located in the United States, where Colgate – Palmolive Poland reports its business activities. In order to facilitate this process, and at the same time increase sales effectiveness, Colgate established cooperation with Comarch.
Colgate-Palmolive belongs to the FMCG industry, where a quick response to constantly changing market needs is a priority.
A constant flow of current market information is essential for manufacturers to take appropriate action on time. Before the implementation of the Comarch Mobile Sales Force Apps, Colgate-Palmolive used a different mobile system, but due to its deficiencies in key functional areas, the company decided to change their SFA solution supplier. Prior to the implementation of Comarch Mobile Sales Force, sales representatives were connected with only one warehouse, to which they sent orders based on the available inventory.
The Comarch Mobile Sales Force and Comarch Online Distribution Project in Colgate-Palmolive began in 2007. Since then, implementations have been carried out in more than 60 locations that belong to almost 30 distributors. Dedicated reports were created for Colgate-Palmolive to enable the maximum optimization of the generated data. Initially, the project operated on a separate database but in 2010 it was attached to a common database (Central Data Repository) which included data from most of the projects using the Comarch Online Distribution solution.
The capability to place orders by sales representatives at various warehouses, as well as working on stock levels were the main factors in ensuring the successful implementation of Comarch’s integrated solutions at Colgate-Palmolive. Since then, Colgate-Palmolive pre – sellers have not been tied to only one particular supplier and have been able to choose the most attractive offers for customers, and thus facilitate sales growth.
Other benefits indicated by Colgate-Palmolive and related to the implementation of Comarch Online Distribution and Comarch Mobile Sales Force include:
The implementation of Comarch Online Distribution and Comarch Mobile Sales Force was completed successfully. Close integration with Colgate-Palmolive distributors and the implementation of the Comarch Mobile Sales Force system has ended the commercially inefficient situation where sales representative could only make use of one warehouse. Customer service levels increased as a result – sales representatives can now offer better products to customers, on better commercial terms, thanks to access to data from different, connected warehouses. The electronic transfer of delivery orders has significantly accelerated their flow and influenced the supply chain optimization through more efficient order selection by warehouses.
In addition, each sent document leaves a trace in the system, so errors in copying faxed orders (by sales representatives or billing clerks) and missed contracts (elimination of missed sales) were eliminated. The timeliness of reporting is monitored on an ongoing basis, so any deficiencies are registered and solved in accordance with project procedures. In addition, all documents are checked for both the correct structure and content (compliance with ColgatePalmolive system data). On the basis of data from Comarch Online Distribution, Colgate-Palmolive reports the results of its activities to the Central Office in the United States. This data is also used by Colgate-Palmolive to settle with warehouses connected to the project and Colgate’s sales representatives, to assess goals and to grant bonuses within various competitions.
Modern platform for communication and data interchange between producers and distributors.
Excellent and reliable app for sales representatives.
The implementation of Comarch Comarch Mobile Sales Force in Colgate-Palmolive Poland was a huge step forward with regards to the quality of placed orders compared to how it was done prior to the implementation. It allowed us to commercially “isolate” sales representatives from warehouses so that our representatives could provide customers with a wider range of distributors, products and a better offer."
Damina Skrzyniarz
Sales Aministration Specialist