Salesforce Helps Canon Marketing Japan Integrate Data and Better Manage Opportunities

"With Salesforce, we’ve been able to streamline our activities by improving communication speed and quality among our team. By sharing our data, we’ve been able to significantly improve our opportunity management and deal closure rates. I expect great and interesting things for the future."


Challenge
  • Canon Marketing Japan Incorporated (Canon MJ), a core business of the Global Canon Group providing business solutions, consumer and industrial equipment, required a new, centralized CRM solution to help it better manage opportunities.
  • The company wanted to reorganize its customer response processes; Canon needed to integrate CRM with data on 36 million customers so information could be shared among multiple groups.
  • Flexibility was key. Canon also desired a solution that could easily be adapted to fit the needs of different business groups and to address rapidly changing business requirements.
  • The company required a solution that could be deployed and maintained with minimal IT resource requirements.

Solution
  • After it considered building its own application and purchasing an on-premise solution, Canon decided to implement Salesforce instead.
  • The company selected Salesforce Enterprise Edition for its software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model, ability to integrate with legacy systems, and reputation for reliable service delivery. Managers also appreciated Salesforce’s flexibility and easy customization, and that the application could be extended to address business needs beyond CRM.
  • Canon integrated Salesforce with Oracle E-Business Suite to share data such as customer information, maintenance agreements, sales results, and authorized client terminals. Opportunity data is transferred from Salesforce to Oracle to facilitate the ordering process.
  • A proprietary tool developed using the Force.com Web Services API links more than 36 million accounts to Salesforce.
  • Custom interfaces enable different groups to access shared data through interfaces that best suit their needs. Users can easily make adjustments without tapping IT resources.
  • Salesforce Mobile lets reps view and edit key Salesforce records from mobile devices.
  • The company is currently trialing reporting and scheduling functions. Canon managers plan to roll out Salesforce Marketing, additional integration of activities with sales opportunities, and added reporting functionality in the future.

Results
  • Integrating customer information and CRM provides 360 degree customer views for more effective communications and better business planning.
  • Detailed management of sales opportunities increases the number of quality sales opportunities and improves contract closure rate and group contribution.
  • Easily customizable CRM interfaces drive high adoption rates without significant IT resource requirements. 
  • Mobile access to CRM has improved data collection and significantly reduced overtime hours.
 
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