Wrigley Sales Reps Pitch In Real TimeWrigley Sales Reps Pitch In Real Time

Executives at Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. decided it was time to toss aside postage stamps and voice-mail messages--the typical way its 400 sales representatives communicated with each other--and instead collaborate on sales pitches in real time.

Last week, the Chicago chewing-gum company unveiled a Web site to do just that. By integrating an SAP sales portal application with Participate Systems Inc.'s Participate Enterprise 2 application services, Wrigley's sales representatives can collaborate on sales projects, cull customer or marketing data, and receive detailed product information in real time that can be accessed via a Java-based API. In addition, the Wrigley Sales Web Center gives them access to competitive data and training modules.

The Participate services include an asynchronous discussion forum that one or more experts can host. Wrigley sales managers can conduct meetings or offer expert advice via the Expert Events service. Community Administration provides administrative tools that let managers orchestrate daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.

Participate's Knowledge Bank lets Wrigley sales professionals ask company experts questions. Answers are then stored in a knowledge bank, which is searchable with the vendor's natural-language technology.

"We needed to be quick and responsive to our customers and be proactive and ahead of any issues that might arise," says Ralph Scozzafava, VP of U.S. sales and customer marketing for Wrigley. "The only way we'd be able to do that is if we could communicate the issues and opportunities faster."

Wrigley will save postage costs and overnight delivery fees to deliver new sales presentations or product data. In addition, sales representatives can create custom presentations that incorporate product data and competitive information, giving them more robust sales tools.

Scozzafava admits that there's a learning curve involved with the new technology and widespread adoption will take time. But managers receive reports about the number of hours employees use the site, and they offer additional training for those who underutilize it.

Pricing for Participate's software starts at $300,000. Wrigley officials wouldn't say how much the company spent on the Web-site services project.