Nichols Foods is an independent manufacturer and distributor of vending supplies with an annual turnover of £40 million. Established in 1981, the company supplies vending products to 750 customers in three key industries - catering, retail and vending operators. Its customer base, which places approximately 2,000 orders per month, comprises schools, health clubs, and retail outlets.

Increasingly Nichols Foods has found itself operating in a shrinking market. Contracts to supply vending products to customers such as schools and health clubs were expected to fall from 330 to 180 as companies began to merge. As a result, Nichols Foods needed to find a way to increase sales, expand its customer base and improve customer loyalty.

Catering supplies was identified as a key area for potential growth. A high proportion of customers were buying products from several different suppliers, taking potential business away from Nichols Food. Link sales were being missed due to a lack of sales information - for example bulk sales of coffee were being sold without sales of whitener or sugar. Supplies to supermarkets and retail outlets were also identified as a main area for potential growth with a view to increasing the sale of new product brands. In order to reach a growth target of 20 percent for the financial year and address the problems of a falling customer base in this highly competitive sector the company turned to VECTA sales intelligence.

VECTA makes sales executives more productive by giving them fast access to the information they need to prepare properly and appropriately for sales calls and meetings. The sales intelligence solution analyses customer history and buying patterns helping sales representatives to identify sales opportunities and gaps in purchasing. By profiling customer types, sales people can quickly identify gaps in the overall product mix, alerting them to immediate sales opportunities. VECTA enables the sales team at Nichols Foods to create objectives for every sales call made enabling them to target customers more effectively.

By presenting historical customer sales data in a simple, professional format, VECTA is able to help Nichols Foods' sales force maximise its account management and accurately predict its customers' needs. The ability to quickly identify gaps in purchasing patterns means that the company can now target customers more effectively, maximising growth potential and increasing profitability.

Nichols Foods also had a requirement to closely monitor stock levels and deliveries to ensure accurate deliveries were made on time, especially to small companies with minimum stock holding levels.

VECTA provides Nichols Foods with an accurate stock-keeping system to ensure food deliveries are correct and delivered in a timely fashion. This helps to encourage customer loyalty. Monitoring stock closely also helps Nichols Foods keep the availability of its products high so it can give its customers what they want, when they want it.

VECTA has been integral to the success of Nichols Foods. Identifying gaps in purchasing and using this information to maximise the growth potential of each business area has set the company well on its way to achieving its ambitious target of 20 percent growth in the financial year. Customer service has also improved dramatically. Thanks to VECTA sales intelligence 99.2 percent of all deliveries are now made on time. All this has allowed Nichols Foods to save time, remain competitive and maximise the profitability of the company.

"Nichols Foods have been using VECTA for over 5 years within the sales and marketing department, it enables the sales teams to identify order patterns and therefore easily identify any gaps in ordering."

Michaela Brown
Sales Operations Manager
Nichols Foods