UPWARD Launches AX Consulting Specialized for Field Sales

UPWARD, Inc. (Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director and CEO: Ryusuke Kaneki, hereinafter UPWARD) has launched a new 'AX (AI Transformation) Consulting' service to support the advancement of field sales, which centers on face-to-face interactions. The service will initially be provided primarily to the financial industry, where streamlining external relations activities is a key challenge.

Background of Launching AX Consulting
In the recent SaaS market, the conventional approach of uniformly providing standardized features has made it difficult to fundamentally resolve complex sales challenges unique to individual customers. Companies that have implemented SaaS products also faced significant costs to continuously optimize systems in response to changes in business processes and industry environments. Field sales, in particular, involves many elements that cannot be completely digitized, such as travel and face-to-face communication, making it a difficult area to initiate AX.

Against this backdrop, the company will go beyond the framework of a SaaS vendor that merely 'provides tools,' and offer AX Consulting, which provides end-to-end support for AI models that reflect a company's unique processes and the use of data using those models. By continuously updating the AI model based on accumulated sales data, UPWARD will maintain the latest and individually optimized 'winning patterns,' providing hands-on support to maximize the competitiveness of each company.

Examples of Products Deployed in AX Consulting
Automatic Formulation of 'Strategic Schedules' to Maximize Field Sales Results
The challenge in maximizing field sales results is balancing the priority of visits in sales strategy with the physical constraints of travel. It takes time and effort to create a schedule with maximum efficiency, considering both the 'customers to visit' and 'viable routes.' Pursuing strategy increases travel loss, while pursuing travel efficiency causes important customers to be missed. 'UPWARD Geo AI Scheduler' resolves this dilemma and directly connects sales strategy with the field.

This feature allows AI to instantly analyze multifaceted metrics that vary by company, such as expected sales volume, customer rank, distance from the current location, and mode of transportation. Taking existing appointments into consideration, it automatically derives the optimal schedule that minimizes loss and maximizes results. Furthermore, by having AI reflect the data of measures executed in the field into future measures, it becomes possible to run the PDCA cycle at high speed.

Flexible Measure Settings
When creating a schedule, users can specify the sales measures they want the AI to promote. By switching between multiple measures, A/B testing in the field can also be conducted quickly.

Customization Suited to the Field
Detailed adjustment of mechanisms tailored to each company's business customs to feedback real data from the sales field into the strategy.

Construction of 'Winning Patterns' by AI Consultants
AI consultants well-versed in the industry will accompany each company and support the customization of AI based on unique metrics. This elevates theoretical strategies into 'individually optimized sales winning patterns' that the field can execute without hesitation, dramatically improving the sales productivity of the entire organization.

Strengthening Compliance Response Utilizing AI Meeting Minutes Service
In the sales activities of the financial industry, it is essential in the business process to conduct detailed customer hearings and recording activities, as well as to review whether the company is complying with compliance regulations. To support such industry-specific business operations, UPWARD will promote the efficiency and automation of field sales by turning conversations in the field into meeting minutes with 'UPWARD AI Speech,' which combines the company's unique stay detection technology and voice analysis.

Leaving a Trail of Visits
It automatically detects arrival at the destination from the smartphone's location information and leaves a reliable trail of the visit.

Preventing 'Forgotten Recordings and Errors'
Along with the above 'arrival detection,' a notification proposing the start of recording arrives, which not only prevents 'forgotten recordings' but also reliably records the content of the dialogue using a patented technology that generates meeting minutes even when offline.

Cleansing of 'Sensitive Information'
AI analyzes the recorded content and automatically deletes customer 'sensitive information' that must not be kept as a record. It also extracts words prohibited by laws and regulations and alerts the person in charge.

Mutual Value Brought by 'AX Consulting'
With the launch of this service, UPWARD will strengthen individual support by dedicated industry consultants. This will enable the rapid construction of sophisticated AI models that consider industry characteristics and each company's unique sales processes, as well as the early identification of issues in the field.

Client companies can receive hands-on support not limited to tool implementation, but extending to organizational establishment, such as redefining the purpose of SFA/CRM, KPI design, and transformation to coaching-style management. In addition, field data automatically accumulated from daily sales activities and legal changes