Challenge
Brewery contracts between manufacturers and the hospitality sector are too complex and a time-consuming process for the field sales team
Solution
proCONTRACTS
proCONTRACTS | Beverage
Result
Brewery contracts between manufacturers and the hospitality sector are often too complex and time-consuming for the field sales team. With proCONTRACTS, the process is streamlined and simplified into just three steps, delivering significant time savings.
CASE
Heineken Germany is one of the world's largest beer producers and brewer operates in 190 countries. Its portfolio now also includes other international premium beer and cider brands. The brewery has been in operation for 150 years and remains independent and family-owned.
Saved at the last minute. Anyone who travels to Asia, Africa or Latin America, for example, knows what it‘s like when, among all the unfamiliar beer brands, a familiar name appears: Heineken®. The great strength is the power of the Heineken® brand. And it is the partner of choice for many restaurateurs – aiming to offer a premium beer in their portfolio. The brewery group also takes care of its partners – it continues to drive the market consistently with innovative systems and products.
Heineken® has experienced rapid growth in recent years, and demand has increased significantly. The brewer needed to reflect this in its own structures leading to an elevation of targets for its sales force. These objectives, however, posed challenges that weren’t easily attainable. After all, the sales force had to deal with a time-consuming process. Beverage supply agreements – or simply put, brewery contracts – between a manufacturer and the restaurant business are complex: At Heineken®, they contain as many as 15 different combinations of contractual obligations covering a wide range of aspects. From setting up the interior and equipment provision to the procurement of the company’s beverage brands. Another issue was that the contract data was captured using an Excel file, which was then converted to a PDF file during the contract finalization phase – a rather complicated process.
The complex process applied to both contract negotiatons with new customers (see next page) and review of existing contracts. Regular contract assessments were necessary during customer meetings: Are the terms upheld? Are additions or modifications needed? Do they need to be renewed? Prior to these meetings employees would retrieve the contract and calculate the depreciation amounts for each individual element (dispensing equipment, WKZ, etc.) in order to incorporate them into the contract as an inventory investment. This was then double-checked by the regional sales managers.
»A very complicated process for a very simple matter.« says Philip Stern, Regional Sales Manager bei Heineken®.
As a result, a new contract management tool was needed, one that significantly streamlines the process and handling of documents. This would allow the sales force to meet its elevated sales goals more quickly.
The digitalization specialist CRMFIRST has developed a specific extension for their proCONTRACTS contract management solution. The add-on „Beverage“ is tailored to the needs of the food and beverage industry and includes a mobile app that allows field staff to work on contracts on site and simplifies document management. All information, such as additional agreements, is available to all parties in real time through integration with the CRM system. Through a simple mechanism, field staff can take the cost of the invest (COI) into account and use it to calculate the level of approval (see box). The new solution maps the entire process in a single system: It enhances the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and operates on a modular basis, enabling the creation of a customized corporate solution. proCONTRACTS by CRMFIRST as contract management tool THE SOLUTION: Easy to use For brewery
»I open proCONTRACTS, see everything I
need, sign and click submit – and that‘s it.
There are no more emails, no more artificial folder structures
and no more local storage of documents. Everything is in one
database. In addition, all processes – including communication
– are automated.«
Philip Stern
Regional Sales Manager bei Heineken®
For brewery contracts, there is a simple logic: the more the brewery needs to invest per HL (hectoliter), the higher the approval level required. When dealing with a high cost of invest (COI), senior executives must approve the contracts. This also correlates with the calculated beverage volume, i.e. the expected sales. Using a simple slider, employees can adjust the load per HL in the calculation and thus determine the approval level in the application in advance.
»We intend to implement additional contract types alongside the beer supply contract using proCONTRACTS. The next step will also involve automated invoicing and contract
termination through this application. Looking further into the future, we envision even greater potential in the End-to-End process with our contract partners.«
Sven Heerda
Sales Support Manager bei Heineken®
In the four months since go-live, approx. 800 contracts have already been entered and processed using proCONTRACTS – with a growing trend.
Using the new tool field reps save an average of 15 minutes per contract, while regional sales managers require approx. 10 minutes less for review and approval: that adds up to a total of 25 minutes per contract. Extrapolated to 50 contracts, this translates to nearly 20 hours of po - EVERY WEEK! tential savings, equivalent to 2.5 workdays.
For breweries, the contract management tool proCONTRACTS | Beverage by CRMFIRST holds great potential, especially in terms of competition. The comprehensive integration within one tool significantly streamlines the handling and allows for scalability in line with higher targets. In addition, Heineken® is aligning itself with future generations who are accustomed to manage processes through tools and applications. »We consider the standardized digital contract creation process directly on site with the customer is trendsetting«, says Sven Heerda.
