Animal pharmaceutical company sales reps use advanced multimedia presentations for enriched productivity in sales

About Merial

Merial is a world-leading pharmaceutical company that provides cutting-edge pharmaceutical products and vaccines for pets, production animals, horses, and even wildlife.

It is a Sanofi company with a presence in more than 150 countries. With over 6,900 employees, 13 R&D Sites, and 15 Manufacturing sites worldwide, Merial generates over €2.5 billion in annual sales. Merial, Inc. in the USA generates over 40% of Merial’s global sales.

Merial Business Challenge

Many factors come into play when prioritizing what is necessary in a mobile CRM solution. The obvious one is mobility – true mobility with equally reliable online and offline modes. For others, it may be the customization capabilities of the app, a user-friendly design, and a constant inflow of updates. For some it might be the pliability among many mobile devices and back-end systems, and even GPS usability.

For Merial, it was all of the above. Back in 2011, when Resco and Merial, Inc. first began working together, there were not many mobile CRM solutions to choose from on the market. Those that did later surface proved to be challenging to work with and implement and had low customizability. With limited abilities in form creation, their dedicated field sales representatives needed something more robust to work with. The issue of security and safety was also another requirement that needed to be met.

In the field

In the field, especially with our offices extending worldwide, in some areas, carrying around a laptop to meetings and traveling with one is not very safe for our representatives in the field. However, being able to carry a smartphone in their pockets proved to be safe, efficient, and highly productive. stated Matt Johnson, Head of CRM development – Merial.

In order to make proper documentation of everything, they needed to make customizations within the app. However, they also needed to create eloquent presentations, have interactive forms, use multimedia, place orders and calls, GPS tracking & navigation. All the while offering true mobility with virtually any mobile device while meeting their forthcoming clients.

We began and still use classical features of other CRM platforms. Resco Field Sales+, however, showed that they could develop those features and be mobile. Provide an easier yet, fully advanced way of viewing account details, entering calls & using mapping functions. We really like the mapping functions; we can see where our customers are in relation to us. Then, we later discovered the full potential of Resco Field Sales+ with their low-code Woodford customization tool. Soon after that, we began to customize to great lengths. Which was key for us and our sales representatives to be fully-equipped in the field. explained Matt Johnson, Head of CRM Development

 The solution

Merial, teaming up with Resco, later provided access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the field for several hundred users across several countries. This was a fully customized solution that was fast, offline-enabled, secure, easy to access and monitor, and required minimal training.

Merial has, since then, been customizing its app using the no-code tool, Woodford and Html 5 custom pages. Entry of data is quick, with just a few taps, is highly interactive, and offers managers a way to monitor the sales team, out in the field. It started out as a simple implementation of a screen from the Microsoft CRM web tool, that was awkward and off in usage.

We then extended it with Woodford and were able to create a tool that was both efficient and reliable in the field. But also superior to us in terms of monitoring. clarified Matt Johnson, Head of CRM Development

Team Data Processing

Sales management requires ample amounts of data to process and analyze information about how the sales team operates in the field.

As a global need, we wanted to be able to download data with respect to the data sync – as multimedia player tied in the CRM, or a PDF, and even video. We wanted to see what content was being presented and the frequency of content being presented to prospective clients. Data was recorded and we analyzed. We saw what was most valuable and working in the field in terms of conversion. described Matt Johnson, Head of CRM Development

A mobile solution for both sales reps and management, globally, met Merial’s many requirements for security. Customizability, maturity, friendly UI, regular updates and minimal training – were all necessary. This field service-vet sales use case scenario, was one where two sides work in synergy with the right solution.

After seeing what was on the market, and evaluating Resco’s Field Sales+ solution, it was clear that there was no competition. Resco mobile sales CRM is fast, secure, and operates on all OS systems. said Matt

Benefits

More Time Dedicated to Customers — Increased quality in data entry

Merial’s main goal was to create a safer and more productive working environment all around. One with complete efficiency for sales reps enabling thorough reports and client relationship information.

We wanted to increase our sales representatives’ productivity and make their lives easier. With Resco mobile CRM for sales (Field Sales+), the time it takes to enter sales call details has been reduced significantly vs. entering the same data through the PC. This gives our reps more time to dedicate to serving customers. Matt explained

User Experience & Support

The User Experience with Resco Field Sales+ has proven to be a joy and ease to work with. Having a completely unified look on all platforms is key. Everything harnessed on one page without having to open and exit out of multiple windows, truly provides a fluidity with working in CRM.

I don’t know another approach that’s as quick and easy to deploy like Resco Field Sales+. The speed in which you can personalize the solution, the fact that it’s cross-platform right out-of-the-box is great. Matt pointed out

What Merial also found very useful to their Managers in utilizing Resco Field Service+ in the field, was Mobile Device Management.

With the Resco Field Sales+, I can actually see who updated their smartphone, the latest updated version, latest device upgrade, and even when’s their time of sync. With other platforms I can’t see this information. It’s in their back-end, which is hidden. Matt simplified

Since adopting Resco’s mobile sales CRM, Merial sales reps use the app exclusively and are in the works to expand to other locations worldwide. Even the use of the Woodford Customization Tool. However, there are many reasons for an easy user adoption. Having a great support system is always a massive plus.

The team loves using the app. Any time we have any issues, the Resco Support Team is always there to help. But I mean, in depth help – it’s nice that we can talk to first-line support. But to even go as far as developers, it’s really a personal touch you have. With other providers, they seem 100 layers away, but with Resco, it feels like a partnership. Matt clarified