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Sales & Marketing Portal helps Green Mountain Coffee Roasters keep up with booming business

Situation

Business is booming for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) and, as a result, doing things as they have always been done was no longer working – especially for the sales force. As revenues grew and GMCR broadened its reach into new market segments and geographic areas, it was time to bring order to sales processes – for the sake of brand consistency, efficiency, responsiveness to customers, and to support continued growth.

Historically, sales managers relied on administrators at the corporate office, paper-based collateral/pricing sheets/etc., and each other for information. This meant that field sales often had out-of-date, incomplete, or inaccurate information. Sales managers were dependent upon the assistance of the corporate creative team for presentation graphics and design. Brand standards were unclear and easy-to-use presentation templates were unavailable. As a result, selling-in products and promotions was difficult and time-consuming. And knowing where they stood against the sales plan at any given time was challenging to assess.

Understanding the inherent productivity gains offered by a self-serve environment – and understanding the rich capabilities of SharePoint Portal Server - C2 worked with GMCR Sales and Marketing departments to analyze the business processes involved in supporting the field sales organization. Analysis provided a clear vision for how information should flow between the field and corporate, as well as defined processes and ownership for keeping information up-to-date on an ongoing basis. C2 then designed a user-centric sales portal architecture, using the SharePoint Portal platform, to support necessary document management and information sharing. By design, the sales portal offers a combination of high-value resources and information to the field sales organization via the web – for anywhere, anytime access.

Results

Marketing now has a mechanism for promoting corporate marketing messages and branding standards while field sales can now confidently approach customers and prospects knowing that they have accurate, compelling, and brand-consistent sales and marketing materials. Performance metrics are also available via the portal – allowing the sales force to monitor and track their progress. Links from the sales portal to the lead management and forecasting modules of the PeopleSoft system facilitate information from the field – improving GMCR data intelligence and integrity. Empowered with the tools to do their job effectively and efficiently, GMCR’s sales force is able to respond to their ever-growing customer base resulting in a higher level of sales success for GMCR.

For more information, refer to the recent article in the Redmond Developer News, "Green Mountain Gets the [Share]Point."


	There's a deeper appreciation of the metrics behind the business. The nomenclature is changing. People are beginning to talk a bit more professionally about their brand and their metrics. You don't get that from training.
	Jim Travis, Director of Sales & Marketing, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters