Success Story: Zehnder's experience with SAP & SYBIT

Initial situation

From a one-man business to an international group of companies. Zehnder conquered Switzerland in the 1920s with the “Zehnderli” small motorcycle. The company achieved its international breakthrough in 1930 with the development of the first tubular steel radiator in Europe, which remains Zehnder's best-known product to this day. The company's history is characterized by inventiveness, entrepreneurship and customer orientation. In 1979, the company made its way back into the hearts of the Swiss by launching the first bathroom radiator, which is still a successful product today.

Objective

An example of the challenges at the time: The field sales force was very dependent on the back office, which managed most of the customer information. A feat of strength when you consider that a regional sales representative at Zehnder looks after between 100 and 400 customers and that several hundred sales representatives work for Zehnder Group in Europe alone. The regular internal consultations and shadowy worlds of paperwork were becoming unbearable time wasters and the valuable time spent on site with customers was being jeopardized more and more.

Setting the right priorities

The goal in sales was clear: to reduce the administrative workload and gain more time for quotations and customer visits. In addition, the all-important 360-degree view of the customer needed to be guaranteed and quickly accessible to all internal stakeholders. “We wanted to increase the quality of sales and strengthen the skills of our sales staff,” says Sven von Allmen. The objectives for the service processes were similar.

Strengthened teamwork

Service and sales go hand in hand when it comes to customer care, customer loyalty and after-sales. The service technicians provide important customer data that can lead to additional sales in the sales area. Until recently, however, service reports were written on paper by hand by the technicians, scanned and filed differently depending on the location. “A lot of valuable data didn't find its way to the sales department before,” says Sven von Allmen. That was about to change.