Global building materials company standardizes their international distributor locator for sales growth

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About Sika

Industry

Building Materials Supplier

Headquarters

Baar, Switzerland

47k

Searches per month

48

Countries

25k

Locations

With Bullseye’s integrated locator solution, Sika Group was able to deliver a unified global locator experience for their customers.

The Problem

The Sika Group was looking for a new generation of international distributor and sales rep locators. Sika manufactures specialty chemical products for industrial and construction markets, with some products being sold at retail at home improvement centers like Home Depot. A global enterprise with subsidiaries in 101 countries, Sika generated over $7 billion in sales in 2018.

Sika’s original locator software was outdated and not entirely equipped to customize location data for U.S. customers. Customers expected to find products and sales reps easily, but the sales rep locator’s limitations were a constant source of frustration.

The system’s time-consuming, manual update process did not reflect the company’s aim to enhance convenient handling and user-friendliness.

In order to meet their goals for a customer centric experience and an excellent customer service, Sika needed a flexible, state-of-the art and easy-to-use international distributor locator software that would satisfy the unique search requirements of each country, and integrate seamlessly with third-party platforms like Salesforce.

The Solution

To find the right solution, Sika looked into a multitude of distributor and sales rep locator solutions. While many companies claimed to satisfy customer search needs for each country, none of the candidates provided the depth of features and expertise required to meet the needs of a true global enterprise. When Sika reached out to Bullseye, the company finally met its match.

“We reviewed other distributor and sales rep locator systems and found Bullseye to be the most user-friendly, and it had the customization features we needed,” said Sika USA’s Director Digital of Marketing Brian Fernald, “The deciding factor was that it met all of our needs. We had a set of requirements to meet and we worked with Bullseye to get solutions that worked for finding salespeople in territories and distributors we sell to.”

Given positive initial results, Sika has since engaged Bullseye to deploy our customized solutions for Sika subsidiaries worldwide. Our international distributor locator software is already embedded in 30 different country-specific websites, with each locator delivered in the country’s own language or languages and geographic address descriptors (e.g. state, zip code, mile). While some locators find the nearest location by distance, other Sika subsidiaries employ territory-based sales reps. To meet their needs, our Bullseye Territory Module makes it easy for customers to find the rep that covers their specific geographic area and business segment.

“We reviewed other distributor and sales rep locator systems and found Bullseye to be the most user-friendly, and it had the customization features we needed.”

Brian Fernald

Marketing Director, SIKA USA

The Result

Bullseye’s international distributor locator software has received positive feedback from Sika personnel across the U.S., Germany, Brazil and Canada.

Sika’s Brian Fernald said, “In the US we are very happy with the Bullseye locator software. Very little additional training was needed to use the tool and it is flexible with multiple applications and is working well. Globally, we are very happy with the tool.”

Catherine Yousfi-Jones, Internet Consultant at Sika Informationssysteme AG agreed, “We have had a very enthusiastic response from all our countries implemented so far, and many more are eager to get started.”

Key Benefits

Enhanced Performance

With Bullseye’s international distributor and sales rep locator platform in place, data loads very quickly and the system has also been reliable and not broken down.

Improved Data Accuracy

Since the Bullseye system is easy to use, data is being updated more frequently and customers and consumers are receiving accurate, up-to-date data during their search.

We’re also integrating Sika’s distributor and sales rep locator with internal and third party platforms like Salesforce, to ensure that changes in personnel, territories and stores are collected and entered quickly and efficiently.

A Better User Experience

Sika’s distributor and sales rep locator system is now in alignment with their corporate strategy of providing unsurpassed customer service. With the launch of Sika’s new website, there will be a locator link to individual product pages for increased access and visibility.

Powerful Marketing Tools

We will be teaching Sika marketing teams on setting goals for lead generation, how to measure performance and ROI, and using our custom, easy-to read-reports.

Our upcoming Salesforce integration will also make it easier for Sika’s marketing personnel to capture and convert leads.