Customer case
Silon: How Salesforce helped to generate new business opportunities and organize internal data
It was their first product to literally conquer the whole world. It was called Silon and they were making women’s stockings. It has been 70 years since a Czech scientist, a professor Otto Wichterle, established the company and the Czech tradition and family legacy is still evident in the organization. Due to the subsequent expansion abroad and the construction of new factories and representations, their communication and business needs have increased signifi cantly. They began to realize that classic sales and storing data on local computers or other devices is not enough for the pace at which they grew.
Needs that led to Salesforce:
- Silosed data, impossible to see the whole picture and control it
- Lack of transparency on business activities of sales representatives
- Need to set up a system cooperation for business teams in different countries
How did Nextview solve this?
It was important to thoroughly map all the internal processes and then carefully implement them in Salesforce. Silon as a production company has different procedures. Great emphasis was placed on certain specific field. In order to get the best advice, we needed to go in depth and understand how Silon works.
“Because we have representatives outside The Czech Republic, we needed to have a transparent system that would make their work unified and
simplified. It was important for us to specify the sales cycle and see new opportunities clearly.”
- Pavel Vítek - Head of IT Silon
The cooperation with the project team helped us significantly. They even communicated several times a day. This approach and continuous cooperation then contributed to mutual understanding and most importantly satisfaction with the final product.
“Thanks to close cooperation, including several personal meetings, it was possible to achieve satisfaction on Silon’s side. Further development of Salesforce into mapping projects in the R&D department being the best evidence for it.”
- Zdeněk Jančík - Consultant Nextview
To address the original requirements, further:
- Data analysis and reporting
- Use Salesforce as an environment for sharing knowledge and information
- Evaluation of business opportunities
Evaluation
Silon saw the great advantage of a flexible, variable and custom technology. Finding a partner who would be able to translate their needs into one software solutions, train users and translate their internal culture into a new system was of key importance to them. The visual aspect, user friendly interface, as well as a fully dedicated Nextview consultant also played a role in the decision making process of implementing Salesforce.
- 6 months implementation
- Comprehensive preview of sales in all countries, where Silon operates
- Implementation successfully handled with 1 allocated Nextview consultant
About Silon
The history of this Czech family business began in 1950 with the production of the infinite polyamide fiber. Today, SILON, with a turnover of 160 million euros, develops and manufactures plastic compounds used in construction, healthcare or the automotive industry. The company operates worldwide with its factories in the Czech Republic, Germany and the USA has a production capacity of over 100,000 tons of material.
“You need to know that big changes don’t happen overnight. Another important aspect is to connect with your network and to understand that new technologies need to be enforced and promoted internally.”
- Pavel Vítek - Head of IT Silon