More Inspiration
Knowledge and customer cases
Oosterberg: "Improving customer relationships with digital sales"
Professionalizing Digital Sales
A few years ago, Oosterberg implemented a new CRM system in collaboration with HSO with the goal of centralizing customer contact, management, and increasing sales. Now that it has been successfully rolled out, the desire to grow is still strong. The next step is to professionalize digital sales.
René Schoeman, Business System Analyst at Oosterberg, has been closely involved in the process from the beginning. Together with René, Jeroen Nijhuis, E-business manager at the electrical wholesale company, is further implementing digital sales. Both share insights about the journey towards digital sales.
CRM system implementation
First, let's take a look back. How does René view the implementation of the CRM system? "All the information streams coming from customers were fragmented," he says. "Some things were found in Excel, while others were still on paper. With HSO, we centralized customer data in Microsoft Dynamics, enabling account managers to have online and centralized visibility of everything."
"This project took shape quickly and was set up within a year," he explains. "The process, the entire migration, went smoothly." René attributes this to mutual trust. "We are real go-getters, and we see the same in HSO. Their ideas align with our perspective, and there is a good rapport with the team."
Next step: digital sales
After the CRM system was operational, Oosterberg optimized the system and processes, and digital sales started playing an increasingly important role in the company. They provide information through dashboards, refine processes, and further develop complaint reporting. Microsoft Dynamics remains at the core of these digitalization efforts.
"HSO helps us better serve our customers."
"In the future, we want even closer integration with the webshop, where our customers' repairs and complaints are collected and linked to our CRM. This way, we continue to build data that allows us to better serve the customer."
René Schoeman | Business System Analyst at Oosterberg
Improved channel strategy
An example of this is optimizing the channel strategy. "If we know what a customer is doing on the website, we know what they are looking for and what their needs are," explains Jeroen. "This information is linked to customer data in the CRM system, so we also know when the customer last contacted us and what their query was. With this information, our account manager can assist the customer even better, on a more personal level, and provide targeted service."
"For example, the system, together with our ERP system, identifies customers who have been buying less from us than before. The CRM system sends an email to the account manager and creates a task to contact that customer. We extract interesting information from those conversations. For example, have they switched to a competitor? And why?"
Personalized and relevant
In the future, Oosterberg aims to be even more personalized and relevant. As the optimization of the webshop nears completion, the focus shifts to target groups eagerly awaiting this service. According to Jeroen, there are exciting plans in that regard: "It always comes down to better serving our customers. What can we do to make their search easier? Installers, for example, are incredibly busy.
"How efficient would it be if they could order their materials through WhatsApp or voice automation? We configure it in such a way that they only see the offerings that are specific to their field, project, or based on their order history. Industrial switches, for example, instead of regular switches. With just a few clicks, they can place their order, and we deliver it to the desired location."
Making more informed choices
"We don't want more customers; we want the right ones. Who is important to us, and who do we need to approach personally? Are they customers who purchase various product groups from us or customers who purchase slightly less but return daily? The answers guide our account managers on which customers to visit in person to strengthen the customer relationship. With digital sales, our account managers make more informed choices and use their time smarter and more effectively."
Collaboration with HSO
The fact that Oosterberg sees HSO as an important Dutch player in Microsoft products is one of the reasons to continue the collaboration. Jeroen says, "Thanks to the close lines of communication, HSO is easily accessible. They also tell it like it is and provide honest advice. We can do a lot ourselves, but we also face challenges where HSO helps us further."
Curious to see what we can do for you?
Contact us