MOVE (THAILAND) CO., LTD.

Business Overview

Since our founding, we have been assisting private schools and private companies in creating strategies for school and corporate management from an IT perspective. To achieve this, we develop systems as well as select and deliver packaged products, with a track record of over 4,000 deliveries to private schools and major automobile manufacturers in Japan.

The establishment of the Thai subsidiary was prompted by the increased need for system transfer and support as our clients expanded into Thailand. There were limits to providing services on a business trip basis from Japan, so we decided to offer services closer to our customers.

In Thailand, we initially attempted to leverage our strength in the school sector by pursuing new business activities with international schools. However, progress was limited due to the decision-making authority being held by their respective home countries. Consequently, we shifted our focus to the 6,000 to 7,000 Japanese-affiliated companies operating in Thailand, particularly those in the manufacturing sector with factories and production sites. Since then, the core of our business has been to support Japanese-affiliated companies seeking automation, management rationalization, and production site improvement.

Reasons for implementing Sansan

After the establishment of our Thai subsidiary in May 2015, and as the number of Japanese and Thai employees gradually increased, I became increasingly busy with management tasks and started to lose track of the team’s activities. I was also leaving day-to-day sales activities to the person in charge. I found myself constantly wondering about the status of various projects and what the team members were currently working on.

This situation was exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. With restrictions on activities and the need to work from home, it became even more challenging to keep track of the members. I began to feel a strong sense of urgency and started searching for a tool that could help monitor the work progress and individual activities, which led me to discover Sansan.

There were other apps that we considered, but none of them had the functionality we were looking for. The deciding factor for us was Sansan’s extensive overseas support system, as well as its availability in Thai and English. Additionally, its report feature allows for the input of business meeting details along with business card information, facilitating effortless information sharing without burdening the team. This convinced us that it would be highly cost-effective.

Outcomes after implementation

After implementing the system in November 2021, initially with five users, including myself, from the sales and support teams, we found ourselves amid the COVID-19 pandemic and unable to pursue new clients. Therefore, we opted to delve into past business histories. By registering all customer and project information that hadn’t been realized, we could visualize when and what kind of projects existed and why they had stalled, thus clarifying our business targets.

This approach is extremely beneficial in Thai society, where there is a high degree of human mobility that repeatedly changes jobs seeking better opportunities. The extent to which a departing employee passes on information to their successor can be uncertain. In such a situation, Sansan can instantly convert business cards into data just by scanning them and can add discussed information and update progress. The creation of a customer platform that allows anyone to grasp the status of a business at any time has quickly promoted internal visualization, which has also led to the strengthening of organizational sales capabilities.

Internal adoption within the company

Of course, not all members were initially enthusiastic about data entry. Some may have been reluctant to share their customer information with others, even within the company. The important thing was to ensure that everyone understood that this practice would ultimately benefit their business results. To achieve this, it was essential for those at the top to take the initiative and set an example by diligently entering data every day. I made efforts to foster close relationships by using the message function to send individual comments to team members. By doing so, we were able to promote a sense of unity within the organization and advance the utilization of data.

For our Thai team members, inputting information in the Thai language might be more convenient. However, we have standardized all business card data, as well as meeting and project information, in English. This decision stems from our plan to establish offices outside of Thailand in the future and our goal to strengthen collaboration with the head office in Japan. Nonetheless, some local companies only provide business cards in Thai. Sansan’s ability to support Thai as a language for converting business cards into data has been immensely helpful. Multilingual support is indispensable in the age of globalization.

Expansion of use to other locations

The need to expand the use of the system to other locations increased. In Thailand, many of our customers are companies with factories and production sites, whereas in Japan, our main focus is on developing systems for schools and public institutions. This difference in customer base meant that our network in Thailand could create new opportunities at other locations.

A year after implementing Sansan in Thailand, members in Shanghai and Japan also began using it on a trial basis, allowing customer information to be shared across different regions. As a result, new projects emerged from introductions made by sales representatives across locations. By October 2023, we expanded Sansan usage to include the headquarters in Japan, the Tokyo branch, and the Osaka branch. Currently, 13 members are utilizing the system.

We utilized our network of contacts cultivated in Thailand and made introductions to our Japanese sales representatives when clients returned to Japan, which led to five new orders. To date, we have made about 30 such referrals. In the overseas business world, it’s a closeknit community where building various connections is possible. By expanding the contact point in Thailand to Japan, we have the advantage of receiving referrals from high-ranking positions upon their return. Even if we do not receive orders overseas, we aim to receive orders in Japan eventually leading to further opportunities abroad. Sansan is being used effectively for this purpose.

Specific usages

Upon starting to use Sansan, we discovered its versatility for various applications. It can easily store customer and project information as a notepad, and issue quotations by importing project data into Excel.

We also make active use of its tag function. We use tags for new and ongoing projects, industry-specific tags, and system-specific tags. By outputting lists according to these tags, we can conduct efficient sales activities, which is very useful for project management and expanding our network of contacts.

At our Japan headquarters, it has also led to the use of email marketing as a new approach. By sending out information on new systems and case studies regularly, we ensure continuous customer engagement. The critical aspect here is the ability to instantly create a list of potential future clients simply by scanning business cards. This is, in my opinion, Sansan’s most significant and unique feature, setting it apart from other services.

The Japan headquarters, which uses a separate application for project management, is considering using the “Sansan Open API” to link Sansan information to this system in the future. By linking accurate customer information digitized by Sansan, we expect to promote normalization on the system side. Moving forward, we aim to maximize synergies through the continued use of Sansan, both domestically and internationally, by sharing business information across borders.