ORS Nasco is a value-added wholesale distributor serving the industrial market, with 300+ employees and a catalog deep enough that knowing it is most of the job. Its sellers field the same question all day: do you carry this — and if you don't, what will work instead?
At a glance
- Industry
- Industrial
- Employees
- 300+
- Website
- orsnasco.com
- Proton products
- CRM
In 2022, the company had a CRM. What it didn't have was sellers who wanted to open it.
The backstory: a CRM that was underperforming
The problem was common and frustrating in equal measure. The system was in place, the licenses were paid for, and the sales team still went elsewhere for answers.
“We were using [a mainstream CRM] but weren't seeing the adoption we wanted. The user interface was not intuitive, and reps still had to log into different systems to get the info they needed.”
Tim Babco · CIO, ORS NascoSo ORS Nasco went looking for a replacement: something with more contemporary features such as embedded AI, something that could make its customer data useful and put real weight behind cross-sell and upsell — all without the trouble of logging into multiple systems.
The goal: one record for customers, products, and sales data
The mission was a unified system that could do five things.
Put answers within reach. Serve as a complete record for customers, prospects, products, and sales data, so reps find what's relevant fast.
Help the team sell more. Give sales reps a better understanding of customers and their needs.
Grow the order. Increase average order size and quote conversion rates.
Show leadership the process. Advanced data and analytics, for informed decision-making instead of instinct.
Open up the catalog. Suggest add-ons, substitutes, and related products, educating reps and customers about the entire product catalog — including directly through the ecommerce plug-in.
Why Proton: a CRM made for the way the industry operates
ORS Nasco is a value-added wholesale distributor, and it wanted software that understood what that means: a lot of SKUs, and customers who call to ask whether a product is on the shelf. Proton fit those unique needs and challenges rather than a generic sales motion.
“It's important to have a CRM that's made for the way our industry operates. Our sellers have to be able to plan intelligently and provide fast and meaningful answers and service to our customers.”
Tim Babco · CIO, ORS NascoThe rollout: live in 12 to 14 weeks
Within three months, ORS Nasco was up and running with Proton. Babco, who has sat through enough implementations to know how differently they can go, drew the comparison himself.
“A CRM implementation can be as complex and risky as an ERP implementation if you're working with a mainstream CRM product whose setups can get complicated and lengthy. With Proton, it took us about 12 to 14 weeks to go live. The experience was well-organized and straightforward.”
Tim Babco · CIO, ORS NascoIt wasn't effortless. “We had to clean up some of our data in the process, but the implementation and integration into our other systems was fairly seamless,” Babco said.
Before
With Proton
Finding answers
BeforeReps had to log into different systems to get the info they needed.
With ProtonOne record for customers, prospects, products, and sales data.
Adoption
BeforeAn interface that wasn't intuitive, and adoption that never arrived.
With Proton84% of monthly users in Proton daily, and 65k+ call notes created.
Sales visibility
BeforeNo clear insight in a single place into calls made, time from opportunity to close, or how fast a lead became a customer.
With ProtonLeadership tracks all three in Proton.
The results: visibility, faster answers, and a catalog reps can see
Proton became the single place ORS Nasco's sellers and leaders go for customer, product, and sales data. Four things changed.
Leadership can see the sales process
“Are our sellers making their calls? What is the average time it takes from an opportunity to close? If we get a new lead, how quickly do we bring them on as a new customer? Those are all things our leadership team relies on Proton to help track,” Babco said. “We didn't have clear insight into that in a single place previously.”
Reps think about products, not just accounts
Proton's AI recommendations changed how sellers prepare for a conversation. “I like how product-centric Proton is because we offer a lot of SKUs,” Babco said.
“Before Proton, I hadn't worked with a CRM that could provide information on services or products in such a way that makes you think, ‘Is this relevant for the customer? Should I mention this? Has the customer asked about this before? Have other similar customers asked about or purchased this before?' Proton delivers data to our sellers quickly and efficiently.”
An answer when the product isn’t in stock
“Often, our customers are calling to ask: do you have these products?” Babco explained. “If we don't have the product in stock, our sellers use Proton to suggest an alternative to get the customer what they need sooner. That brings a lot of value.”
Adoption that stuck
The usage numbers tell the story the old CRM couldn't: 84% of monthly users are in Proton daily, 65k+ call notes have been created, and 1.1k+ leads have been worked. “Our sellers are staying active and engaged with Proton, using it on a daily basis,” Babco said.
The bottom line: software is only as good as the people using it
Choosing the right CRM mattered. So did the people who made it stick. Babco has been one of the guiding forces behind Proton at ORS Nasco, working with the sales team to make sure every sales-oriented associate adopts it and uses it effectively.
That commitment runs through sales leadership, too: the Inside Sales Director and the Outside Business Development Director build Proton into their sales meetings, account planning, and more. The tool earns its keep because the team asks it to.
