A consultant is a person who provides expert advice professionally, and in the world of SaaS and ISVs they are people who help businesses implement new technology in the most efficient and effective manner. Cort Kinker is a consultant with a specific passion in life: offering his 27 years of experience in the wine and spirits industry to help small drinks brands reach their ultimate potential.
That’s why Gallo trained and Pernod Ricard refined Cort founded Realize Drinks Supplier Advisory. Realize specializes in applying appropriate technologies that are both affordable and create competitive advantages for alcoholic beverage brands and drinks companies. Kinker helps beverage companies implement cloud-based apps such as Salesforce, Zendesk, and more in order to maximize sales and reach.
What Technology Means for the Beverage Industry
Beverage companies generally have several field representatives or sales reps who need to report back to headquarters in different regions – from expense accounts to keeping track of leads, beverage companies can greatly benefit from cloud apps that make these tasks a breeze.
Cort helps companies implement Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce to track leads and clients and accounting apps like Quickbooks to keep the books in order. Using these cloud apps mobilizes the storage of information – something that’s very important for beverage reps who are constantly on the go. This also helps the manager or owner of the beverage company keep track of their individual reps and their progress.
However, Realize’s clients were having trouble getting field sales data from its central CRM platform to its accounting platform in a timely, accurate manner. Salesforce visibility into Inventories and Outstanding balances and credit limits were also limited. That’s where Workato comes in for Cort and his clients.
“I’m not a programmer, nor a super technical person,” Cort says. “Workato gives me the ability to make things happen inside apps the way my clients need them to work.”
With Workato, his clients can now link CRM, accounting, expense and service support apps, to gain a holistic view on customers’ sales and service data. Workato recipes allow Cort’s clients to enjoy a seamless service experience as soon as an opportunity is marked as “won.” Sales reps in the field are able to leverage their mobile devices, like iPhones and iPads, to send market feedback to headquarters in no time through their apps. They now have more time to do what they love: meet new customers and close new deals.
Sales Reps Can Say Goodbye to Manual Data Entry
Another advantage of Workato’s integration is the elimination of manual data entry. A common challenge Cort’s clients face is organizing numerous sales opportunities and leads in an efficient way. Manual workflows can take too much time, and it’s the part of the job sales reps enjoy the least. Realize advises clients on how to simplify the process using cloud and mobile apps to gather data faster, save time, and improve efficiency.
“Sales reps hate manually re-entering data into different systems,” says Cort. “Eliminating this is a huge opportunity to get into the field more, close deals, and get more customers.” And happier reps means more sales!
Growing Beverage Brands With Workato
Thanks to Workato, Cort has been able to help drink brands grow and go-to-market more efficiently. No more manually updating of CRM records. No more waiting for field data back at the headquarters. Plus the easy on the go access to databases for both the manager and the rep makes everyone’s job easier. Cort reports that one of his clients freed up 20% more field time for a team of sales reps driving an estimated 20X ROI of Workato costs.
