McCormick Canada and Filbitron Systems Group Get “S.M.A.R.T.”

The Background: The Need to Improve Sales Force Communication

McCormick Canada based in London Ontario is the largest Spice, Dry Sauce & Seasoning, Extract, and Specialty foods company in Canada. The roots of the company go back as far as 1883 when Forest City Spice Mills was born.

McCormick Canada has a direct sales force that operates out of Ontario and Alberta. Previously, sales force communications were sent to each sales rep manually via regular or fax mail boxes. These communications involved tasks which were completed and faxed back to the head office.

This manual process potentially compromised the integrity of the information being collected and was time consuming.

The Challenge: Improve the Productivity, Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Sales Force

The McCormick Canada Sales Force has always completed field level intelligence reports manually. This has not been the most efficient way of reporting since the process can take a month or more to collect, analyze and disseminate the information.

In order to automate McCormick’s sales processes, computer hardware and software was introduced to the field sales force. The new hardware/software introduction needed to allow the sales force to have the ability to create and receive emails, track distribution (weekly on new products), record merchandising activities, access and show latest consumer and media information as well as access to planograms and pre-packs.

The Solution: McCormick Canada and Filbitron McS.M.A.R.T.

Developed using Filbitron’s WriteTRAC II software platform, the McCormick Canada McS.M.A.R.T. software enables their sales force to become fully automated. The acronym McS.M.A.R.T. spells out McCormick Sales Merchandising and Retail Technology. McS.M.A.R.T. ,running on the Fujitsu TabletPC,  allows for an easy flow of information out to the field sales force as well as an easy flow of information from the field sales force back to head office in an ‘as required’, daily basis. McS.M.A.R.T. gives the sales force access to the intelligence “storecard” which provides total visibility and performance to sales goals and objectives. The software also provides access to colour images of new product listings, displays and planograms.

The Tablet PC form factor allows the user to take advantage of the handwriting facility for easy note taking while the Sales Representative is in the aisle of the store.

Filbitron as a total systems integrator, provided the software/hardware and the training to implement McCormick Canada’s McS.M.A.R.T. system.

Real Results: Sales Force Automation Success

The implementation of the McS.M.A.R.T. system resulted in faster communication turnaround time. Colleen Douglas, Sales Planning Manager says “Our new WriteTRAC II System from Filbitron has really eliminated extra paperwork, improved the efficiency of our sales calls and reduced errors. Sales and Marketing Management now get their information in a much timelier manner”. Mary Carter, Manager of Applications and Operations, relates the feedback from the field “McSMART is awesome”.

Bottom line, McCormick Canada’s field sales force has improved their productivity, efficiency and effectiveness by moving to this automated system.