Rethinking traditional sales tactics

From day one, Crane Worldwide set out to challenge the conventions that guided the global supply chain services industry. In particular, the founders felt that the industry at large had been too conservative in its application of technology. Sensing an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage, they developed a company-wide philosophy aimed at adopting new technologies.

With this ethos as a guide, the sales team looked for  new solutions to help shorten the sales cycle, which often lasted months or years due to the size and complexity of projects. The team increasingly found traditional sales tactics – like cold calling and knocking on doors – to be too time-intensive and ineffective. “When I would go door-to-door, there were almost always gatekeepers who would restrict access to executives,” says Lauren Wood, Global Account Executive.

Crane Worldwide also wanted a solution that could help them find multiple avenues into each target account. “There’s normally five to seven people in our client accounts who are responsible for making a decision,” says Tim Zubradt, Chief Sales Officer. “So, our challenge was to find and connect with the entire team of stakeholders within each organization.”

Crane Worldwide found the solution to these challenges with LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Finding leads faster, without leaving the office

The sales team realized immediate efficiency gains  after adding Sales Navigator to their existing processes. By populating the platform with a list of importers and exporters compiled from industry reports, the team quickly found a wealth of new leads based on specific target roles. As a result, the team saved weeks of prospecting legwork. “Instead of all that door-to-door, I can now multitask,” says Wood, “making calls while I’m sitting in front of my computer, generating leads, researching companies, and sending InMails.”

And once the sales team discovers a new lead, they use Sales Navigator to determine the quality of the lead – saving them time by avoiding prospects who lack the authority to make or influence a deal. “Some of the folks I connect with report to other people they don’t tell you about,” says Ken Davis, Sales Manager. “Sales Navigator cuts through a lot of the pain by helping us uncover that information sooner.”

Connecting with multiple decision-makers to win – and keep – accounts

The Crane Worldwide team also uses Sales Navigator to establish multiple threads within an organization, leveraging new leads and mutual connections to build a stronger network with a wider variety of decision-makers, resulting  in stronger business relationships. 

Zubradt says that, by connecting with multiple team members at an organization, he managed to maintain an account even after their primary contact left the company. “I went on Sales Navigator and found five other people to connect with, two of whom I was connected to through friends. By leveraging all of those connections, we held onto the business and continued to drive things forward with the account.”

Value that everyone can see

With the help of Sales Navigator, Zubradt says that Crane Worldwide is now seeing a reduction of three to six months in their average sales cycle. “Everyone sees value in Sales Navigator,” says Zubradt. 

Sales Navigator has become so important to the Crane Worldwide team, in fact, that it’s now a part of the way they evaluate sales reps. “There are five criteria we use with our salespeople in their quarterly reviews – new accounts, active accounts, etc.,” says Zubradt. “But one of those five is their Social Selling Index (SSI) score from Sales Navigator, and that’s because it encourages reps to boost their skills, not just their numbers.” By regularly checking their SSI scores and practicing the sales behaviors that will increase them, everyone on the team is improving their skill set and the way they drive business.

When asked what he’d tell others who are thinking about adopting Sales Navigator, Zubradt jokingly says, “Well, if they’re a competitor, I don’t want them to have it.” Considering the competitive advantages that Crane Worldwide has created with the platform, that’s a valid statement to make.

 

About Crane Worldwide

Crane Worldwide Logistics is a provider of global supply chain services that help businesses transport and warehouse goods and assets anywhere in the world. In just nine short years of operation, Crane Worldwide has become a premier player in the global logistics industry with 115 locations in 26 countries.