Harper Martin is a one-stop-shop for office supplies. The company distributes its product range via a network of national wholesalers and is also a member of Integra Office Solutions, the premier office products dealer group, which gives Harper Martin a nationwide capability to access stock.

"We target London and we aim for companies with a certain number of white-collar workers to enable us to work out potential spend," says sales director Alister Hall. "We have a broad target audience although we specifically specialise in some professions like accountancy, marketing and law."

Harper Martin has hundreds of active accounts at any one time and three sales executives who combine telesales with outbound sales calls, and are responsible for sales of over 30,000 product lines. The company has been a VECTA user for five years and Hall was instrumental in the decision to invest in VECTA sales intelligence.

"Before VECTA we relied on common sense and the system we use to input our orders but although our back office system does have extensive reporting capability neither of these approaches supported us in the act of selling," explains Hall. "We could see that VECTA was going to help us win and retain business by actually alerting us to who we should be talking to and when. VECTA bridges the gap between the thinking and the doing by showing you everything you need to know to go out and sell more."

Designed specially for sales professionals working in wholesale and distribution industries, VECTA sales intelligence takes existing information from back office and accounting systems and repurposes it into alerts, campaigns and enquires that actively keep sales professionals informed of sales opportunities or potential problems with drifting business. It ensures that sales reps are always informed and can predict what their customers need. In a commodity market where sales calls are often considered a nuisance it is vital that sales executives are armed with relevant information and properly prepared when talking to customers. "With core items like paper, pens and envelopes, that everyone uses, it's really important that sales don't fall off," says Hall. "VECTA alerts us to any potential problems enabling us to act accordingly."

The office supplies market has undergone dramatic change in recent years evidence by the consolidation of many manufacturers and distributors. The result is that Harper Martin finds itself going up against a number of global giants who dominate the distribution channel via retail stores, contract delivery, mail order catalogues and e-commerce. But there are still opportunities for the more dynamic mid-sized operators, particularly those with a strong focus on customer service.

"You win business on price but you retain it on service," says Hall. "VECTA enables us to approach our customers with relevant information about products they actually need. And you're not wasting time investigating or analysing data because VECTA tells you everything you need to know so in effect you're contacting more people with more timely information - which means you're going to sell more."

Another area where sales intelligence can prove valuable is in setting up campaigns, as Hall explains: "VECTA identifies all the people that don't buy a certain product range from us. It generates a list and then we can give them a call or book in a visit. We also use that information on the website. We set it up so that when those people log on, the products they are not buying from us come up and that often converts to a sale because the prompts are relevant, and it's easy and convenient."

VECTA sales intelligence forms the basis of Harper Martin's internal sales meetings and reporting structure as Hall explains: "We have the Alerts set to show who is up on sales and who is down. VECTA identifies individuals with gross profit below a certain percentage and enables us to drill down in order to highlight problem areas. It's a very powerful tool that allows us to adapt very quickly to change and direct sales strategy accordingly."

The sales team at Harper Martin finds VECTA easy to use and the software has been very well received. "We work in a busy environment and at one time were concerned that we would not have time to use a tool like VECTA, but proactive use of VECTA has actually freed up time and as a result the team is selling more," concludes Hall. "The team are performing better than ever and feel that VECTA really allows them to concentrate on the job they are paid to do. We are 29 percent up on the same period last year - and that's down to VECTA."

Alister Hall
Sales Director
Harper Martin