About Us
As a leading global provider of measuring instruments, pumps, and bearings, Mahr Group was challenged with understanding customer needs in scores of sales territories worldwide. A historical reliance on separate, fragmented sales and customer service systems meant that each territory had its own unique approach to managing customer relationships—to the detriment of sales effectiveness. By standardizing on Salesforce worldwide, Mahr has created a unified view of its customers and increased sales productivity by up to 90 percent in nine months in some territories. It took on average only five days to roll out Salesforce in each territory, and system customization using AppExchange Builder can be completed in only a few hours.
Mahr is a medium-sized global organization associated with industrial metrology, quality, and innovation. Besides the manufacture of measuring instruments used for testing workpiece geometry, the company also produces high-precision gear metering pumps and highly accurate rotary stroke bearings as a universal component in mechanical systems. Mahr's key customers include the automotive industry, the mechanical engineering sector, providers of precision technology, and synthetic fibers manufacturers. Mahr employs almost 1,500 staff worldwide and during 2004 recorded revenues of $170 million.
The precision that Mahr uses in its manufacturing processes is reflected in the precision it puts into customer relationships. Quality and reliability are the hallmarks of Mahr, and the company is committed to delivering consistent, world-class sales and service in all its operating territories worldwide. Until recently though, Mahr was relying on a wide range of different and fragmented sales information systems to manage customer relationships. Some countries were using an ACT! system to target, acquire, and service customers; others were using an Applix business performance management system; some just used spreadsheets; whereas for others, paper-based systems were sufficient. Every territory operated its own sales methodology—the result being that it was difficult for sales teams to effectively target customers at a country level and even more difficult for management to secure a holistic view of the company's sales position at a country, regional, and global level.