Fibers Sales Portal

A ColinKurtis Case Study

Fibersol® is a soluble dietary fiber ingredient that can be used in a variety of food and beverage applications and dietary supplements, making it easier than ever to give consumers the fiber they need while delivering the taste and quality they want. Fibersol is the joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Company, Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., and Matsutani America, Inc., which officially supports the worldwide sales and marketing of Fibersol.

WORKING BOTH WAYS

The very purpose of marketing is to support sales—but what happens when they truly work hand-in-hand throughout the entire product sales cycle? When ColinKurtis and Fibersol were making strategic plans for 2015, we decided to find out. We knew we wanted to create something genuinely valuable that would enable the sales team to really optimize marketing efforts. Why? We wanted to find a way to more tightly align sales and marketing, to better support the sales team, and to take advantage of marketing efforts already in the works. Our inspiration was a ‘virtual weekly sales meeting’, a spot where prospects, new trends, etc. could be shared. The result: a password protected sales portal tied to the marketing calendar and taking advantage of new features of their website Fiber Follows Function to provide information and useful tools.

DOING DOUBLE DUTY

Together, we set about creating the portal—assembling information and organizing content based on different types of information, including Fast Facts for info on the go, with more detailed resources based on research oriented and technical information.

Entries are tagged by: job function, content type, application, features and benefits, trends and marketing efforts. All of the resources are available to be copied and pasted into an email or a presentation, so the sales force can have exactly what they need when they need it. The portal also serves as the resource library for basic reference material, including sell sheets, and trend information and reference materials from credible 3rd party sources. To further support the sales team, regular emails are sent with messages about the month’s theme, current ad campaigns, and suggestions for sales topics.

So, how does the sales team like the portal? They love it! With loads of resources at their fingertips, and every one on the same page, they can focus on what’s truly important: their customers.