Workflow management software enabling a 600 person service team to grow sales by 300%
“Help! We think we need a database!” That was essentially what we heard from the folks at First Crush Tastings, who stage in-store demos for food and beverage companies. First Crush’s demos are staffed by independent contractors. When they came to us looking for contractor management solutions, the company was experiencing serious growth. As they expanded to more stores, it became harder to find contractors. Every new job meant a lot of back-and-forth phone calling and emailing to schedule.
And just because someone was available didn’t necessarily mean they were right for that assignment. But the company really had no way of knowing that because it didn’t have the data to evaluate contractors. So staffing decisions had to be made based on the quantity of people available, rather than the quality.
First Crush managed contractor information in Microsoft Excel. They knew they had outgrown it and assumed a more robust database was the answer. Working with us in the discovery process, a different perspective emerged. Together, we identified the real challenge as one of inefficient communication and insufficient data. And the custom web app we developed to address that challenge has transformed the business.
PROJECT GOAL:
Power growth with automated job scheduling and data collection for this point of purchasing marketing company.
TECHNOLOGY:
Web App Development / Custom Software Development
Breaking the administrative bottleneck with the right contractor management solutions
Secure Job Postings
To find jobs, contractors get email notifications and browse the site to apply for the jobs that fit their schedule
Data Collection
After a demo, contractors enter the results online, including samples distributed, sales made, and many more data points
Optimized Hiring
Contractors compete for available jobs and First Crush can choose fewer, more qualified contractors to staff more jobs, based on data from previous demos
“I came to Praxent with a concept of what we needed, but they helped me to envision a much bigger, more strategic opportunity.”
Daniel Hernandez / CEO / First Crush Tastings
New data has enabled First Crush to differentiate their service from a growing number of competitors
The workflow management software we created not only solved First Crush Tastings’ administrative problems, it created a new source of value. The wealth of new data they could now access revealed unexpected ways to maximize the sales generated by in-store demos. Some of these were as simple as choosing the right day of the week to have a demo at a particular store. The data also validated the dramatic sales increases these small changes made.
National suppliers are now coming to First Crush to gather market insights to inform product branding. First Crush Tastings went from just another industry player to a proven game changer. The results were so dramatic that marketing the technology that makes it possible is now a major new focus of their business.
Technology: The tipping point
Through a partnership of trust and honest collaboration, First Crush Tastings received contractor management solutions that delivered way more than they ever expected:
Total automation of staffing and customer accountability processes
Increased capacity to run more demos with fewer, top-performing contractors, building relationships with customers and contractors.
Data gathering, management, and at-a-glance visualization that demonstrates the effectiveness of customer demo campaigns and yields higher sales
A marketable service model that can be sold to similar businesses in other sales territories
“As a result, we have grown sales by 300% with minimal hiring and the technology they built enabled that. Not only has the technology worked, but working with Praxent has been great. I consider them to be an extension of my team. They are transparent, dependable and always responsive to our needs.”
