Black string lights hanging from the ceiling

A Major Lighting Firm Unites its Sales and Service Teams with Sales Cloud

Client Success Snapshot

Client Profile:

  • Overview: A major provider of lighting solutions in North America
  • Industry: Manufacturing (Lighting)
  • Team Size: N/A
  • Annual Revenue: N/A
  • Headquarters: NY, USA
  • Markets: North America

The Challenge

In the fall of 2021, a major lighting agency in North America approached Gerent after its low-tech digital framework faltered under the weight of increasingly complex processes. The client’s cobbled-together framework of Excel spreadsheets and tools simply wasn’t up to the task of supporting their expanding operations. 

Moreover, because its team lacked a single source of truth, employees were often left scrambling for up-to-date consumer information. Communication among team members was often subject to miscommunication, missed opportunities, and service challenges.

Gerent’s Approach

The company needed a centralized sales hub to manage its sales-to-service pipeline. Gerent proposed a straightforward solution: implementing Salesforce Sales Cloud via Quick Start. Within just four weeks, our client gained access to a centralized hub for consumer information and the means to automate manual sales tasks.

Key Outcomes

Today, the company can effortlessly convey information across departments without risking miscommunication or data loss. This capability has led to greater operational efficiency, improved customer service, and better reporting. Our client still has room to grow — but with Sales Cloud, they know that they have the framework necessary to support their expansion.

Client Success Story

Up to a certain point, complexity is manageable. Teams can compensate for operational complications by keeping careful notes and shouldering extra administrative work. However, this approach delivers declining returns. When a business’s processes become too complex, its employees can lose track of crucial details, lack efficiency, and burn out. 

For our client, a major lighting solutions agency in North America, this operational struggle had become all too familiar. Struggling to adapt old, inefficient processes to expanding business, they needed a new framework to meet the demand associated with their growth.


A siloed sales-to-service process complicates interdepartmental communication

For years, the lighting agency had relied on Excel spreadsheets and a few other organizational tools to organize its operations. This strategy worked well enough when the company was small — but couldn’t keep pace as its consumer base grew. 

Our client functions as a B2B middleman in the lighting industry; it sources sales opportunities from a roster of manufacturers that correlate to jobs for specific customers. After closing a deal, representatives from sales would forward the contract to the service division to coordinate delivery and installation. 

Before partnering with Gerent, the client’s sales-to-service process was siloed and confusing. Because the team lacked a single hub for information and communication, those on both teams were often scrambling for up-to-date consumer information — it was all too easy to miss crucial details during departmental handoffs. 

To optimize their processes and construct a structure for future success, the organization’s leaders turned to Gerent, a Summit-level Salesforce implementation partner.


Sales Cloud facilitates a smooth sales-to-service handoff

After forging an initial connection with the lighting agency, Gerent’s team scheduled a brief check-in to discuss the client’s goals, pain points, and ideal outcomes. Ultimately, the client wanted a digital platform to facilitate a cohesive sales-to-service process without subjecting its team members — or clients — to confusing silos or outdated customer information.

Gerent proposed a straightforward solution: Salesforce Sales Cloud. 

As its name suggests, Sales Cloud is a cloud-based application that optimizes sales-related processes. It provides a centralized hub for all consumer information and automates sales reps’ daily manual tasks. 

“Our client valued Sales Cloud because it would help their team keep better track of their in-progress deals and ongoing projects,” Michael Arbogast, the client’s dedicated Salesforce solution consultant, explained in an interview. “Once a rep closes a sale, they can create a project and automatically assign a service-side project manager to oversee it.”

Sales Cloud neatly eliminated our client’s biggest problem: interdepartmental miscommunication. With a shared source of customer truth readily at hand, representatives in sales and service alike would be able to consistently access current information and never risk losing crucial details in departmental handoffs. 

Many Sales Cloud tools played an integral part in facilitating communication between teams and making information readily accessible. These include: 

  • Chattera collaboration app that empowers team members to collaborate within the Salesforce system in real-time. 
  • Salesforce Mobilean enterprise-class app that gives employees away from the office instant mobile access to crucial CRM data. This capability was precious for service team members, who frequently needed to leave the office to fulfill installation orders.  

Lastly, Gerent integrated the lighting agency’s existing ERP, Oasis, with Salesforce. For now, this integration allows the client to transfer data from Oasis into Salesforce manually — however, the client could opt to make such transfers automatic in the future.

Gerent delivers comprehensive functionality within a two-month turnaround 

Given the client’s interest in a speedy implementation, Gerent opted for an accelerated Quick Start approach. This expedited schedule ensured that our client could establish a centralized hub within four weeks. With Sales Cloud, the company can convey information across departments without risking miscommunication or data loss. This capability has led to more operational efficiency, improved customer service, and better reporting. 

Today, our client still has room to grow. With Sales Cloud, our client has the freedom to do so efficiently, preserving the quality of their service and allowing their team to work better than ever. 

Are you wondering how your organization could benefit from a Salesforce transformation? Contact Gerent today for a personalized consultation!


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