Partnerships with Roll-Lift visible with SAP Sales Cloud

Thanks to SAP Sales Cloud, RollDock and sister company Roll-Lift find it much easier to give customers the right attention at the right time. And to identify sales trends to strategically respond. “You should see RollDock Shipping as a courier,” says Paul Könst, CEO of RollDock. “We transport packages by sea from A to B. Only the packages we transport are just a bit larger.” That's an understatement. With a fleet of seven ships – five multifunctional semi-submersible heavy lift vessels and two module carriers – RollDock transports objects up to 10,000 tons to locations around the world.

RollDock's ‘packages’ range from huge parts for petrochemical installations to frigates and submarines. Könst says, “People often think very complexly about our projects. Transport is one thing, but the risk often lies in loading and unloading. With our experience and expertise in engineering with over 20 in-house engineers, RollDock is able to safely and efficiently load, unload, and transport all types of cargo on and off board.”

“Acorel was able to integrate SAP Sales Cloud correctly with ShipNet.”

Paul Könst, CEO at RollDock

Commercial Challenges

Although RollDock is one of the few companies that offer transport services by land and sea, the company still faces interesting commercial challenges. “We work for major players who, for example, want to build a petrochemical plant and engage four companies for engineering, procurement, and construction. These EPC companies in turn engage subcontractors, who in turn work with many sub-suppliers. Sometimes you have to make offers to multiple parties within the same project. That makes it very complex.” Additionally, the situation in the maritime sector is not very promising due to the low oil price. “Our people must be able to accurately assess what is happening in the market, what opportunities are available, which projects have received financial approval, and what the best pricing strategy is.”

“Our intention was not to set up a complex system,” states Paul Könst. “For us, it is important to share our customer data internally. To then provide the customer, based on all the knowledge in the system, with the right attention at the right time. SAP Sales Cloud helps us with this, so we can act more targeted.”

Paul Könst, CEO at RollDock

Making Knowledge Explicit

All the knowledge needed for a successful commercial process was until recently mainly in the heads of RollDock's salespeople. “The shipping market can be characterized as traditional,” explains Könst. “Each sales manager had their own way of managing customers. This makes your company inflexible and vulnerable. Moreover, we had little insight. For example, we did not see well enough why we had won or lost certain projects. To survive, we had to change and make smarter use of the vast amounts of data we collect. That's why we were looking for a CRM system that could make our tacit, unconscious knowledge explicit.”

SAP Sales Cloud

After a careful comparative study of seven CRM providers, Könst and his colleagues chose SAP Sales Cloud in combination with Acorel's expertise. SAP Sales Cloud offers advanced CRM functionality within a user-friendly online environment. RollDock's people can access the information and knowledge they need to do their job from anywhere in the world.

Könst says, “We chose Acorel, among other things, because they were the only ones able to integrate a CRM package correctly with ShipNet.” The information in ShipNet is at the heart of RollDock's operation. RollDock uses this maritime, on-premise ERP suite, among other things, for making complex price calculations. Acorel took a total of three months to implement and integrate the cloud package. “As far as I'm concerned, Acorel has shown that they are on top of their business,” says Könst.

“For us, it is important to share our customer data internally.”

Paul Könst, CEO at RollDock

The Right Attention at the Right Time

“Our salespeople will benefit greatly from SAP Sales Cloud,” Könst expects. “Our intention was not to set up a complex system. For us, it is essential to be able to share our customer data internally. To then, based on all the knowledge in the system, provide the right attention at the right time. SAP Sales Cloud helps us with this, so we can act more targeted.”

Connections Become Visible

Also, sister company Roll-Lift, a globally active expert in heavy lifting, benefits from all the knowledge in the system. “In SAP Sales Cloud, you can make connections without actively searching for them. This allows us to sometimes see smart opportunities for collaboration between Roll-Lift and RollDock that our client had not yet considered. It now becomes much easier to work together and benefit from each other's knowledge worldwide.”

In addition, Könst appreciates being able to see exactly how well RollDock's sales strategy is working. “If we see that we lost a job to the same party five times, we may need to do something about our strategy. Or we need to have a conversation. In the past, it took me a day and a half to two days to obtain such insights. Now it's just a matter of pressing a button.”