The Storm-Chasing Geologist Taking On Salesforce: Matthew Sniff Talks About Map My Customers.
For in-person (“outside”) sales agents, Map My Customers performs what the main CRMs do for sales managers, i.e., it caters to the same demographic that the dominant CRMs, such as Salesforce, cater to. The job of Map My Customers and the work of sales managers are just the beginning of what Matthew Sniff, CEO of Map My Customers, will be discussing with us in this conversation.
What issues are you attempting to resolve with Map My Customers?
On a high level, Map My Customers enables field sales teams to make better use of their time by utilizing data visualization–from more quickly identifying prospective customers to planning more efficient routes to automatically following up with each client at a time that is most convenient for them. Further down the road, it’s a sales-support tool that makes use of geographical and other data—in a way that puts an end to the days of sales reps needing to sort through vast quantities of information on their own (be it predictive analytics that informs FY planning, or keeping track of the nuances that make or break a one-on-one client relationship).
How did you come up with the idea for your company?
The last thing I wanted to do was get involved with another start-up. I was working as a geologist, a storm chaser, and a developer in Silicon Valley at the time of the incident. Aside from that, I had created a few weather apps that made it into the top 10 in their respective categories in the app store.
When I went to see my father, who worked as a flooring salesman, during a winter vacation, I noticed that he was spending a significant amount of time wading through Excel sheet data, seeking to identify new customers or reconnect with those who had not heard from him in a while. It was virtually impossible. I reasoned that there must be a CRM specifically designed for field sales representatives. However, this was not the case. When it came to helping my father, I followed the same process I had used to create my weather applications–I constructed an intuitive system for him to utilize. I uploaded it to the app store, and it grew in popularity as time went on. By the time we reached 50,000 users, I understood that, despite the presence of giants such as Salesforce or Oracle, the big players were ignoring the specific data requirements of sales agents.
Please tell us more about the features and integrations of your product.
Many more features exist (the devil, as they say, is in the details), but here are a few of the ones we’re particularly pleased of:
Sales representatives can evaluate current and potential sales possibilities with the use of powerful mapping tools provided by data visualization.
Lead generation makes it simple to add potential clients to a sales funnel, which helps to maintain a well-organized sales cycle.
By sending customized emails to consumers in a single click, email automation and insights save time and mental space for the user. Sales representatives can also track message opens in real-time and automate follow-ups for messages that have not been opened. There are a plethora of other data points associated with email (such as when they open it and how many times it has been viewed).
Routing optimization pins stops on a sales representative’s route to create the most effective schedule possible. Using this tool, it is simple to identify accounts nearby to fill gaps in a rep’s schedule (whether it is due to a cancellation or an unbooked time slot). It’s also simple to incorporate territory divisions to ensure that there is no overlap.
The grouping and targeting features inform users of which customers they should visit. Customers within 20 miles of Atlanta who sell product C and who I haven’t sold to in the last four months are examples of what a sales representative can seek. You’ll never have to ask yourself, “Who should I pay a visit to this week?”
Performance analytics charts provide information about the frequency and number of check-ins, reminders, closings, calls, and other actions that team members are taking on a given day.
What is the significance of a sales tool like Map My Customers in today’s digital environment, and how does it differ from previous generations?
Automation has reached saturation in the fields of marketing, advertising, and sales. Beginning an email with a recipient’s first name is no longer the most effective form of customization. The bottom line is that for someone to spend a big and consistent amount of money with a firm, they must first establish genuine, person-to-person relationships with those individuals. Outside sales are the only way to reach this goal. This is especially true in the industries that serve as our nation’s backbone, such as manufacturing. Consider the fields of healthcare and manufacturing, for example. The leadership is investing millions of dollars in equipment that will serve as the foundation of their businesses (and in the case of healthcare, will be the foundation of saving lives). That is not going to happen because the decision-makers in those businesses are not going to buy things with the click of a button. They will want to know who they are doing business with, feel confident that if there is an issue, they will be able to contact the appropriate person, and so on. To a certain extent, the technology works wonders–but with issues such as slow internet connections and bugs, I believe most people recognize that we aren’t “there yet” in terms of the idea that technology such as artificial intelligence and automation can completely replace people in high-stakes business transactions.
Please share your thoughts on how to improve your sales operations and how Map My Customers can be of assistance.
Working smarter, rather than harder, is our way of thinking. The fact that this is an abstract concept is transformed into something concrete, in my opinion, by our program. For example, an HVAC sales representative visiting New York City will look up locations where they can do cold calls. However, the city of New York has more inhabitants than entire countries! Map My Customers searches through a variety of data sources to identify possible customers. What sets us apart is that we will search for possible accounts that fit your present client list (medium-sized enterprises, for example) and will promptly generate updated contact information for such clients. There will be no more independent Internet research.
Another example is auto visits, which automatically check sales representatives into accounts when they visit, saving them the time and effort of having to log the data when their visit is over.
Tell us about your team and how they assist customers.
Between New York City and Raleigh, North Carolina, we have a team of 25 people. Several account managers are based in our New York City office to assist customers with the implementation, onboarding, and training of our software.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
To be honest, the ambition of any software entrepreneur is to build something good enough that it will be acquired by the Microsofts of the world, allowing them to spend their days by the beach with a tropical drink. That is not the case with Map My Customers. We intend to develop Map My Customers into a multi-product platform and to continue to serve the hundreds of thousands of sales representatives that utilize the service. We intend to expand our products in the future and to do so exclusively in response to the unique requirements of field sales personnel. We may even pioneer new ways of providing field intelligence that has never been seen before.
