Chris Kein, Head of National Business Development at KBX Logistics, recently spoke with others in the manufacturing, distribution and logistics industries about how his company has seen big success with the 6sense platform.
Susan Peterson, Senior Enterprise Account Executive at 6sense, hosted the “Coffee and Donuts” chat and asked Chris to share how KBX Logistics came to leverage the platform and the benefits they’re seeing.
Here are some highlights from the hour-long conversation and the Q&A that followed.
Hunting for Value and Improving Outreach Timing
KBX Logistics has traditionally relied on customer referrals, cross-selling opportunities, and building relationships with companies in their portfolio to win business. But they wanted to tap into a more diverse audience of buyers.
Kein and his small team of sellers and marketers were running into a common challenge: They correctly identified potential buyers, but they were calling them at the wrong time..
“We would have cold calls, or get into a meeting, only to find out the company just had their annual bid a month ago. They’d tell us ‘Let’s stay connected, reach out again in 10 months,’” Kein said.
He wanted to avoid that painful interaction and instead find those buyers at the right time. “How do I get conversations started three months earlier so I’m not missing an entire yearly cycle?” he asked himself.
KBX Logistics was also implementing a CRM and upgrading its tech stack. Making an investment in any additional sales and marketing technology required the ability to show value — preferably quickly.
After learning about 6sense and viewing demos of the platform, stakeholders at KBX Logistics realized they could quickly drive value by uncovering those buying opportunities they weren’t previously aware of.
“If I can find customers that I’m not talking to, but are looking for some of our offerings,” Kein explained, “I can find those quick wins and justify the tool and that we should be doing more with it, not less.”
Finding New Opportunities Within a Month
KBX Logistics started seeing wins early.
“Within three weeks of turning on 6sense a sales rep let me know he booked a meeting with a very large beverage company. He found out they were about to launch a bid process. We were able to get invited into the process, and were able to win some business,” Kein said. “We probably wouldn’t have known that was going on at the time unless we got lucky. Seeing that work right away was super valuable.”
In addition to improving deal timing, Chris said KBX Logistics has used 6sense to uncover hidden demand it didn’t know existed, open its business up to opportunities in new industries, and build brand awareness.
For example: Kein’s sales team uncovered a buyer performing a lot of research related to the types of services KBX Logistics offers, but the buyer was in an industry that the company doesn’t typically target.
It was an account KBX Logistics never would have engaged without signals 6sense was able to uncover. But armed with that information, KBX Logistics made great inroads with the company and sees a big opportunity in the future.
“We would’ve never known we could help them out,” Kein said.
Learn more about how 6sense helps manufacturers find and win customers.
