Who is Samsic group?

Samsic Group is a family-owned company from France that provides services for companies in Europe. Originally a cleaning company, Samsic Group offers a range of services for living and working environments as well as human resources.

Today, 90,000 employees work with 30,000 customers in 25 countries in Europe and beyond.

Elena Moisey, Project Management Officer at Samsic Group, describes their sales proposal practices:

“Today, 30 proposal templates are available for our 300 users in seven countries, in five languages. Each proposal template, contract, and amendment is dedicated to one of our fields of expertise. We also have an innovative storytelling proposal.”

Business Challenge

Like many companies that produce a large number of proposals, Samsic used traditional publishing tools templates with suggested argumentation and a few personalization slots such as figures and technical details.

This same template was duplicated endlessly (no matter who the customer/industry was). Over time, the original template lost data quality, the proposal was inaccurate and inconsistent.

Results were unsatisfactory: time-consuming process, difficult obsolescence management, complex and disappointing layout, no collaborative work on the same proposal.

To avoid being left behind by their competitors, Samsic Group needed to streamline their proposal process and get more proposals out the door each month. Specifically, they needed a proposal solution that would allow them to:

• Structure and professionalize the sales proposal production process
• Manage content update and data back-up
• Reduce time to create proposals while increasing quality 

Solution 

In 2012, Samsic launched an RFP to meet their three objectives. There was a wide gap between the three competing providers, says Moisey:

“Xait, with its XaitProposal solution, was the most successful offer both in terms of process, software functionalities, and results. We especially appreciated the management of content modularity through the questionnaire and the quality of the graphics layout of the final document.”

What Was the Main Challenge In the Implementation Process? 

As with any launch of a new solution, the first challenge Samsic faced was to get XaitProposal adopted as a unique tool for creating proposals and contracts. “In order to do this, we had to help teams change their habits at each stage of producing a proposal, from preparation and customization to final validation.” 

In addition, XaitProposal made it possible to support Samsic’s international development strategy.

Moisey says that XaitProposal was well received by their users: “Its ergonomy, its functionalities, and its structured approach make it an appreciated tool.”

What Does Moisey Think of Xait’s Approach and Methods During the Implementation of XaitProposal?

Since 2012, she says, Samsic and Xait are more in a partnership relationship: “We work with the same people, which is reassuring. The approach is structured, and the results are concrete. The dedicated team is attentive and always looking for appropriate solutions.”

Results

Stronger Local Brand Identity

By using XaitProposal, Samsic can now strengthen the identity of a major group's local brand. Each country has local proposal templates with group content available.

A Greater Focus on Content

Most companies that use tools that aren't tailored to proposal production end up spending more time on formatting than on what matters most: the content itself. According to Moisey, XaitProposal was a game changer in this regard:

“The assistants responsible for the production of the proposals recognized the added value: Because of the automated layout, we were able to focus more on content, improving the proposal production process.”

Great Feedback From Clients

Samsic ran a proposal analysis campaign with their partners. The results are clear: They perceive the proposals as structured and easy to read, thanks in particular to the strong anchoring points and refined graphics.

The Power of Storytelling in Proposals

Today, XaitProposal is fully integrated into Samsic's ISO-certified internal processes. They've achieved their goals with the solution, and they have gone one step further, by using storytelling to innovate on a proposal. Moisey tells us more:

“Our wish was to increase the reader’s perception of a proposal dedicated to cleaning. We wanted to guide him or her through the different stages of the collaboration, such as “How will the three years of our collaboration go?” and “How is Samsic handling each step?”.

This meant breaking with a theme-based structure to handle it in a temporal way – “the three years of partnership and how we will proceed on each step”. Thanks to time-based rather than theme-based milestones, they were able to remove objections. Samsic called it “A story that we are going to live together”. 

How Did Samsic Implement This Story-Based Approach – And How Was It Received by Their Prospects?

A whole training cycle was developed by Samsic to help people understand the story, along with a change in how the tool was handled and a completely new commercial positioning. Moisey explains:

“On the prospect side, this makes a real competitive difference. We explain that we anticipated everything right from the start and throughout the project. Our prospects embrace the approach and appreciate the audacity to do things differently.”

About Xait

Xait is a global technology company founded in 2000 that produces and delivers software for document automation, collaboration and intelligent pricing. Our mission is to help enterprise clients win business by supporting their sales enablement efforts from quote to contract. We are passionate about challenging industry mindsets and developing products that improve the way people work together.