CMS Computers distributes computer components and whole systems to IT resellers and system builders. The company has up to 2,000 products lines and 12 telesales staff. The IT distribution channel is highly competitive and margins are constantly under pressure. The rapid rate at which IT requirements change means that some products have a very short shelf life, making for a demanding sales environment. To help meet the challenges head-on CMS invested in VECTA Sales Intelligence and has been using the software since April 2004.

"The main reason for investing in VECTA was to increase visibility of the account base," says Ian Fraser, managing director of CMS Computers. "We needed to identify new sales opportunities, make better use of our sales people's time, and understand our customers' buying habits in more detail. All the information we needed existed within the database but before VECTA we had no easy way of getting at it."

This lack of up-to-date Sales Intelligence can breed a reactive sales culture, although VECTA has helped CMS overcome this, as Fraser explains: "We found that implementing VECTA Sales Intelligence has allowed the sales teams to be more proactive throughout their working day, chasing new business rather than waiting for it."

There was also a need for CMS to improve customer retention. "We could see that VECTA would provide us with a way of improving customer retention by catching customer drift," says Fraser.

Before VECTA the sales team at CMS relied on Microsoft Outlook. "Effectively they were diarising, which presented a number of issues the most serious being that any account history kept in Outlook would be harder to access if a member of the sales team left. We don't have that problem now that everyone is using VECTA," says Fraser. "They've reacted very well to the change. VECTA is what drives their sales day and as a result they have a more focused sales agenda and are much more proactive."

Since installing VECTA Sales Intelligence CMS has had a number of new sales staff join the team and Fraser comments that VECTA helps get new recruits up and running faster than would otherwise be possible: "It gives them much more visibility of an account history: the products that the customer tends to buy and has bought over the last few months. With VECTA new recruits can easily get a feel for an account."

According to Fraser the benefits of VECTA are being felt beyond the sales department. "The marketing manager uses VECTA to establish the sales on a particular product. Campaigns can be set up allowing sales representatives to link-sell or switch-sell to another product; this is another way that our sales team is achieving higher profitability per order."

Sales Intelligence is also proving useful in the purchasing department. "Purchasing as part of the sales channel relies on matching accurate sales data to anticipate demand," explains Fraser. "We are now starting to include our purchasing team on VECTA so that they can use Sales Intelligence to set sell prices and to determine the products that require additional focus."

At management level VECTA gives increased visibility over the sales team's working day helping to direct strategy accordingly. "With VECTA, we know exactly what the sales team need to be doing each day in order to sell more effectively," says Fraser. "That information is very empowering."

VECTA has had a very positive impact at CMS: "As a business we are more proactive and more agile, two very important attributes in the IT channel," concludes Fraser. "The Sales Intelligence we get out of VECTA ensures that the sales team is highly focused and has all the information it needs in order to sell more effectively."

"The Sales Intelligence we get out of VECTA ensures that the sales team is highly focused and has all the information it needs in order to sell more effectively."

Ian Fraser
Managing Director
CMS Computers