MSC is a $3.7 billion industrial MRO distributor with 5,000 employees. A large share of its customer relationships runs through quick calls and emails: an order placed, a question answered, a customer service rep on the other end of the line.
At a glance
- Industry
- Industrial MRO
- Employees
- 5,000
- Revenue
- $3.7B
- Proton products
- CRM
Leadership looked at that volume and saw an opportunity. Every one of those interactions was a chance to recommend something the customer actually needed — and the chance kept going by. MSC wanted a call center that turned a profit, and CSRs who make orders instead of taking them.
The challenge: reps who could only take the order
MSC's customer service representatives were working diligently through every interaction. What they weren't doing was selling — beyond the promotional items they'd been handed to mention.
“100% reactive with the exception of pitching some promotional items.”
Kim Shacklett · Senior Vice President of Sales & Customer Success, MSCMSC had bought a sales intelligence system to close that gap, and it wasn't providing the results the company wanted. The goal Shacklett described was bigger than a better promo list: “seamless, personalized experiences for our customers.” That meant giving reps something specific to say to the customer actually in front of them.
Why Proton: who to talk to, and what to sell them
MSC switched to Proton, an AI-powered sales platform built specifically for distributors. Proton's Sales AI gives reps the two things a good recommendation needs — who to talk to, and what to sell them — by surfacing due-to-reorder recommendations, wallet share gaps, and new item recommendations, account by account.
That changes what a rep can do inside a short interaction. Instead of reaching for the promotional item of the month, they can name something this customer is due to reorder, or a category this customer is buying somewhere else.
Before
With Proton
The pitch
BeforeThe same promotional items, repeated with every customer.
With ProtonDue-to-reorder items, wallet share gaps, and new products, picked per account.
The rep's job
Before100% reactive — taking the order the customer called in to place.
With ProtonConsultative — making the order, with a recommendation attached.
Product knowledge
BeforeToo many products for any one rep to keep track of.
With ProtonThe relevant few on screen, during the call or the email reply.
The results: 20x the upsell and cross-sell revenue
MSC's customer service team adopted Proton, and reps started making more personalized and strategic recommendations during customer interactions. What that produced:
20x the upsell and cross-sell revenue
Since switching from its legacy sales intelligence platform to Proton, MSC has seen 20x the upsell and cross-sell revenue. The platform it replaced never delivered the results MSC was after.
A 13% conversion rate on recommendations
On average, MSC converts 13% of the recommendations Proton suggests, with reps generating approximately $15K in upsell and cross-sell revenue per year.
Reps who can sell without memorizing the catalog
“I was never successful getting sales before we started using Proton,” one MSC customer service rep said.
“There are too many products for me to keep track of, and repeating the same promo items over and over with every customer isn't effective. With Proton, it's so easy to [up]sell because it gives me exactly what I need!”
The bottom line: a profit center, not a call center
MSC set out to turn its call center into a profit center, and got there by giving reps something worth recommending. Proton now adds value in the interactions MSC has the most of — the quick call, the quick email.
Customers come out ahead too: personalized value and a better experience, instead of the same promotional item every other customer is hearing about.
