CLIENT INTERVIEW
Hashimoto Sogyo Co., Ltd.
Managing Director and General Manager, Administration Division
Kotaro Itou
General Manager, Systems Department
Shigyo Hiraizumi
Serious,
yet fun to work with
How did you come to work with SSS?
Itou:We set up our systems department early on and have been using DX to strengthen the services we offer our customers. Those services are our sales management software "HOPE" and our members-only inventory search and ordering site, "Online Partner System (OPS)." We are proud that recognition and evaluation of both within the industry have been growing, but honestly there is still plenty of room for improvement. We want to raise awareness much further, and to do that we want to make the content much richer. We did not have satisfactory know-how in-house for those challenges. So we were looking for an outside partner, and that is when SSS was introduced to us.
What was your first impression of SSS?
Cool!? But friendly people
Itou:Before meeting them I looked at SSS's website, and all the staff were photographed looking sharp in "white shirts," so I thought some cool people from an impressive company were coming. But the people who actually showed up were, unlike the photos, "friendly folks" (laughs).
What kind of work are you doing with SSS?
A major website overhaul and support for strengthening customer touchpoints
Itou:First, we carried out a major overhaul of our website. We are very satisfied with the result. Perhaps it is the renewal effect, but our share price is doing well too (laughs). An improvement plan for "OPS" is also under way. SSS has been supporting us in improving activity from a more customer-centric perspective and in enriching communication features to strengthen our touchpoints with customers.
How is the collaboration with SSS going?
Proposals that include branding,
and results that are reliably delivered
Hiraizumi:We have worked with many web-related companies, but SSS stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to planning and proposals. They are a rare find: highly skilled and strong at proposing. SSS does not stop at IT-related areas but also makes proposals that include branding, which has been a great help. They are a very powerful company.
Itou:The SSS members' "listening skills" are wonderful. By drawing so much out of our conversations, they helped us see afresh "our strengths" and "what we need." And even when we make unreasonable demands about budgets or deadlines, they never dismiss them; they take them on board first. They stand firm, like a yokozuna in sumo (laughs). And then they find the best solution, which we are truly grateful for. Above all, I think they are a company that is demanding about its work. They reliably deliver results and impact.
In a word, what kind of company is SSS?
Quick responses and light footwork are their charm
Serious, yet fun: that is the kind of company they are
Itou:Serious, yet fun. That is the kind of company I think they are. For example, here is what happened once. Every autumn we hold a large event called "Mirai-ichi" at Tokyo Big Sight, and many customers walk around the huge venue. When we asked SSS whether there was some eye-catching way to get people to visit our booth, they not only suggested, "We have a large touch-panel display; would you like to use it?" but also worked out the plan with us. And on the day, SSS members even stood in front of the panel to draw in visitors (laughs). That kind of quick response and light footwork is their charm.
Hiraizumi:They are a company whose faces you can really see. Having employees' faces on the website is reassuring, and even in remote meetings we see everyone's faces, which creates a sense of familiarity. Looking at each face you notice that everyone has a strong personality, there are people from overseas, and it is a global setup. Each person's skills are highly specialized, so the potential for synergy is very high.
What do you expect from SSS going forward?
Not just IT capability, but proposals, ideas, and the power to execute
Hiraizumi:Once the core system currently being improved is renewed, what we "can do" will keep expanding, so we have great expectations of SSS's IT capability. But what we expect from SSS is not IT capability alone; it is their proposals, their ideas, and their power to execute. We look forward to continuing to work with SSS.
