With smart, scalable solutions, itsme ensures satisfied customers and doubles turnover

itsme (industrial technology and supply for mechanical and electrical) aims to serve eighty thousand contacts at 10,000 customers even better and more personally. The technical distributor achieves this ambition by gaining more control over the needs of buyers. itsme also aims to provide each contact person with a personalized and streamlined online experience. Discover how the digital transformation of itsme leads to satisfied customers and revenue growth.

Family business itsme delivers components and systems in drive technology, control technology, switchgear, lighting, and other necessities for the industry, machine construction, module construction, and industrial installers. Business customers in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Romania, and Spain can find more than a million products from more than a thousand brands on itsme's five web platforms. In addition to a vast array of products, the company also offers services such as training, consultancy, and a technical support desk where professionals can get assistance with questions about industrial automation. A follow-up conversation with Henk Oude Brunink, director of itsme, after our initial conversation in 2016 about his vision and choices.

Annually 200,000 different products

On an annual basis, the technical distributor sells over 200,000 different products. "We sell a lot of different products, not often," says Henk Oude Brunink, director of itsme. Oude Brunink has been working for itsme and its predecessors since 1992. In addition to his work for itsme, he is chairman of the International Distributors of Electrical Equipment (IDEE) and will become the next president of the European Union of Electrical Wholesalers (EUEW). He has a sharp view of the industry's challenges and those of his own company.

"Of all the products we sell in a year, half of them are sold only once that year. What we sell changes constantly because technological developments are moving so fast. For these reasons, we want to understand our customers as well as possible. Only when we know their circumstances and truly understand what our buyers need can we proactively help them succeed by providing them with the best advice and the right products."

"Our wish list is fueled by the service our employees traditionally provide, our traditional values"

Henk Oude Brunink, Director at itsme

Responding to individual wishes

Building such a strong customer relationship and a good customer view is easier said than done. itsme serves 10,000 Business-to-Business customers - often in multi-site and multi-level sales - in five countries with a total of 80,000 contacts. The type of customers and their various ordering methods varies greatly. Some customers prefer to order by fax while others use advanced EDI integrations. itsme works for small family businesses and large multinationals that demand the highest possible uptime from their suppliers, and everything in between. Additionally, itsme aims to proactively address the specific, individual wishes of individual contacts. Oude Brunink: "That's challenging as well. Because an employee expects something different from you than a manager or a director. And a work planner has different needs than the technical department or an engineer."

To smoothly address these challenges and proactively contribute to the success of customers, itsme strongly emphasizes digitalization and automation. Internally, this program was named OmniFuture. The distinctive customer knowledge and customer-focused service had to be supported and scaled. "Our wish list is fueled by the service our employees traditionally provide, our traditional values, so to speak," says Oude Brunink. "But also by the expectations we have about what our customers like and what they increasingly expect from us."

Getting to know customers with SAP Sales and Service Cloud

An important step in the digital improvement process is the implementation of SAP Sales and Service Cloud by Acorel. Thanks to this solution, itsme has an advanced CRM solution. Employees have real-time access to current and extensive customer information and status updates on any device and at any location. They can also manage appointments, capture opportunities, and manage the follow-up of sales opportunities with the solution. Every customer inquiry, through any channel, is directed to the inside or outside sales team, which immediately takes action. SAP Sales and Service Cloud also seamlessly integrates with SAP ECC, the ERP solution used by itsme for order, delivery, and invoicing management. Additionally, itsme actively utilizes SAP Marketing Cloud. Customer profiling will also be added in the future. Oude Brunink: "With the capabilities of SAP Sales and Service Cloud and SAP Marketing Cloud, we can continue for many years to come."

"Customers can set up their own warehouse with us. They can link their own item numbers to our products."

Henk Oude Brunink, Director at itsme

Streamlined customer experience with SAP Commerce

The CRM system went live in 2016. After that, itsme focused on the next step. In close collaboration with Acorel, itsme launched an advanced commerce platform that allows customers to order services in addition to products. "We serve five countries via five commerce systems, each linked to CRM and the country's ERP system. The platform contains more than a million products. On average, a product has about thirty characteristics. These characteristics help us provide our customers with the best possible product advice. The commerce environment also acts as the corporate website of the various itsme companies in the different countries. The site and shop are seamlessly integrated into one web platform."

Smart integration with SAP ECC

To better address specific customer needs, itsme added the necessary functionality to the SAP commerce environment to create a unique itsme commerce platform. This included several smart integrations with the ERP systems. Oude Brunink: "Customers can set up their own warehouse with us. They can link their own item numbers to our products. They can also set up other things themselves, such as their own catalogs, budgets, and order lists with their own order quantities. Also, our customers can monitor their orders, which is extremely important for the manufacturing industry. It is even possible to download related documents per order or per delivery. Think, for example, of the required documentation for the transport of hazardous materials. And we continue to listen and develop to meet the expectations our customers have of us."

"For our customers and employees, our digital capabilities provide a reliable, accessible, and stable foundation, even in times of COVID-19"

Henk Oude Brunink, Director at itsme

Double the turnover

Oude Brunink appreciates the open and honest collaboration with Acorel. "We are not the easiest customer. Sometimes we can be a bit stubborn. Moreover, we want to understand and do a lot ourselves. That can take some getting used to. Acorel handled that well." Acorel was also there for itsme during tense moments. "One of our important requirements was that after a possible calamity, we should be able to offer all our items, including characteristics, on our web platforms within 48 hours. When that initially seemed impossible, Acorel extensively examined, analyzed, and helped, even on weekends and even at night. Together, we communicated a lot with SAP." Eventually, itsme and Acorel managed to identify and solve the problem.

The digital transformation

itsme is still in the midst of its digital transformation. More and more customers are experiencing the benefits. The staff is gradually becoming more enthusiastic about the new collaboration opportunities with customers. The new, fully customer-centric approach also offers itsme various opportunities to deepen and broaden its range of services. This could even go as far as offering innovative services around wear detection based on sensor data. A bright future is on the horizon for itsme. Oude Brunink: "For our customers and our employees, our digital capabilities provide a reliable, accessible, and stable foundation, even in times of COVID-19. Among other reasons, in Belgium, the revenue in August 2020 was even 20 percent higher than in August 2019. In the coming years, we aim to grow from approximately 240 to at least 400 million euros in turnover. With our people, our competencies, our knowledge of mechanical and electrical processes, and our scalable tools, we aim to achieve more revenue by selling and supporting individually and personalized within the industry and machine construction. That is our goal for the Netherlands and our other countries."

Acorel and itsme make a good match

"itsme has gone through an impressive development in recent years," says Taco Schallenberg, director of Acorel. "It's great that we can play a role in the digital transformation of itsme and the growing customer experience that is a direct result of that. The way itsme uses our knowledge and expertise in customer experience perfectly aligns with our ambition to help our customers improve customer loyalty and deepen customer relationships."