Todd Gean, Candy Category Manager for Hy-Vee


“So, I was very leery going in. But the first day I had 12 meetings and I will tell you, I fell in love with the system by about the second or third meeting. There is no way I’d be able to pull this off on my own and it is absolutely the way that that I would recommend that we go as a company.”

“Let me just say that your ECRM folks – are first class, they are professional, they are compassionate. Both Laura and Jessica explained to me how the tools worked. It was 10 minutes to get me up and running, to test my microphone, test my process, show me the tools that are available how the meetings would run. And it went off without a hitch. I felt very comfortable in how the process works. Everything is in one place. I would definitely recommend the test run for all participants to make sure everything is up and running, how the tools work, the microphone works and how your remote location will work.”

“During the meetings I was taking notes with the note function, I was able to research the people that I'm talking to If I have not met them previously. After the meeting's over I was able to leave feedback [rate the meeting], request samples and then it allows you to request a follow up in one to two weeks, four to six weeks or not interested. All the tools are in one place and it was so efficient I absolutely loved it.”

“I was able to accomplish in two afternoons what would have taken four days if I was traveling. I received all the information that I need for my follow ups, and I have things already in process. That prep work that you do on the front end is going to be so much more efficient for me on the backside of it. There is no comparison. I think more suppliers should absolutely take advantage of this environment and how the process works.”

Kate Soffe, Category Manager for Beauty & Wellness for Overstock


"ECRM set up a run through of how to use the system.  They showed me how to use the notes, the help system, countdown, it was really streamlined and straight forward.  I did not think I would need the walkthrough ahead of time but I am actually really glad I did.”

“I used the note really heavily because I could quickly say, who from my criteria, I want to follow up quickly with. It made it really easy to go back and see who I want to follow up with this week, and here are the other I want to follow up differently with and it was all in one place so I can go back and reference it when I need to.”

“The star ratings was cool because then I could sort and find the top opportunities for me and all of their contact information was right there which was nice because we sent follow up emails the day after meetings were finished we didn’t even wait for the vendors.”

Kate Soffe, Category Manager for Beauty & Wellness for Overstock


"ECRM set up a run through of how to use the system.  They showed me how to use the notes, the help system, countdown, it was really streamlined and straight forward.  I did not think I would need the walkthrough ahead of time but I am actually really glad I did.”

“I used the note really heavily because I could quickly say, who from my criteria, I want to follow up quickly with. It made it really easy to go back and see who I want to follow up with this week, and here are the other I want to follow up differently with and it was all in one place so I can go back and reference it when I need to.”

“The star ratings was cool because then I could sort and find the top opportunities for me and all of their contact information was right there which was nice because we sent follow up emails the day after meetings were finished we didn’t even wait for the vendors.”

Eric Strickland, National Director of Alt. Channel/Food Service at Tessemae's


“Just finished 3 days of ECRM Virtual Meetings. I can honestly say, 'do we even need to go to trade shows anymore?'"

“Don't get me wrong, I love in-person and feel it's essential for business but I was face-to-face with 41 buyers in 3 days. It was fun, efficient and we had an opportunity to present to some really great companies, buyers and distributors. In a time when COVID has changed how we interact, RangeMe and these ECRM Virtual Meetings have been a game changer. "

Brian Ferrier Jr., Merchandising Manager for Giant Eagle


“This is the future. You knocked it out of the park; home run. The platform is great and as a result; meetings that would normally take me 5-7 business days reduced down to 8 hours. The ECRM team has been very accommodating, and I look forward to participating again!”

Howie Cohen, General Merchandise Category Manager for Bartell Drugs


“Notes was the tool I used most. I'll take a fair amount of notes during a meeting. And the ability to pull up the past notes, including notes from other programs where maybe I didn't go, but one of my coworkers went to, was helpful. For example, I saw the notes from the supplier’s meeting with the pharmacy team and I thought, “this is good to see who they've talked to earlier and what they talked about.” I love that ability. So note taking is number one for me.”

Brandy Alexander, Senior Buyer for Health & Beauty, 99 Cents Only Stores


“I think if I were to put all of these meetings on a calendar to try to get through all of them just in setting them up, meeting with people in their warehouses, or scheduling meetings it probably would have taken me easily over two months. I think it's much easier and definitely more efficient to get everyone in back to back meetings on a day to day basis. And then I've taken away a lot of contacts and we're going to be doing even longer follow up meetings to build off of the initial conversations that we had.”

 

“What I really liked was that it connected to RangeMe for requesting samples. So you could rate the meeting, and if you wanted to continue the conversation you could indicate a follow up timeline, so they knew, "Yes, I want to continue the conversation. Let's touch base in one to two weeks and then please send samples, and here's where you need to send the samples."

Don Gonder, VP of Sales for Diva International


The quality of meetings and buyers was exceptional. We were aligned on the purpose of the meeting, which enabled us to get to what was important very quickly."

"After the ECRM experience, I am sold on virtual playing a significant role in the future provided the participant experience remains exceptional as it was with ECRM Connect. There are many benefits to a virtual platform, time and financial savings being two key factors. As a B-Corp company we appreciate that a virtual platform leaves an all-around smaller footprint on our environment.”

 

Donna Lucente, CEO for TickKey International, Inc.

“It almost seemed seamless from the time things shut down within what seemed like a matter of days ECRM had a solution and it was not only a great solution, but they held your hand and cradled you through the whole process.”


“The contact from the buyers was almost instant. I had three buyers out of that first meeting that I did for pet contact me within 20 minutes of ending the session. Out of the three that contacted me, one of them had an emergency and wanted us to get back in touch with them within a couple of weeks. One of them wanted samples sent out right away. The way that ECRM walked us through it was, I mean, it was amazing. I was totally impressed.”

“The other thing I found too is that some of the buyers that I already work with were attending those sessions, which I thought was nice because let's say maybe they're ordering my clip strips, but they haven't had time or they haven't seen our displays. They're there gaining more knowledge about our product as well. And it's always nice to be able to connect with your current buyers. We look forward to that when we do the sessions.” 

“They're [ECRM] not just walking you through it. They are on a virtual presentation with you so that you totally grasp it and they can see you. And if something's not working, they're telling you where to go. So the tech support is so one-on-one, there's no way that you cannot get it right.”

“The staff is phenomenal. They're not working with us any different than they would if we were getting ready to go to an actual session.” 

 

Andrew Young, Vice President of Product Management and Vendor Relations for CBD Emporium

“I'm a big fan of being able to understand more about brands, and having this digital resource where I can sit in my office or at home and be able to get firsthand information straight from the brands and vendors themselves was extremely helpful and enticing.”

“Finding out more of the various options available in the CBD beverage category was extremely helpful.  Plus, seeing what retail environments each brand is suited for created a much more fruitful experience than just going to a website.  We sat down with founders and got the details straight from their mouth.  It was extremely insightful.”

“RangeMe makes it easily accessible to follow up with suppliers after meetings.  I have received a lot of communication and have requested samples through the platform so I can evaluate the opportunity.” 

 

Alisa Shakespeare, Founder and President at Total Cluster Fudge

“Of the 32 meetings we had 17 buyers that green lighted us to follow up within one or two weeks and now 6 of those have followed up with additional communication.”

“We have a major retailer right now that we are in the process of getting an order from because he saw me for 10 minutes...” 

“Under the umbrella of COVID-19, suppliers have to do this because they can get in front of the buyers.” 

 Craig Harlan, VP of Sales for Earth Friendly Products


“As I've talked to buyers during the virtual session, I could sense from the conversations that they feel the virtual platform is very convenient and it's very effective. So, I think we're going to see a paradigm shift to more of these. Face-to-face is never going to go away, but I think virtual is here to stay, and kudos to you folks, because you're already ahead of the curve. ”

“I was a little skeptical going in. That being said, my Client Success Manager reached out and we talked through it and I was so impressed with your team. I found the experience to be very personal, collaborative and a real partnership.

“We had 35 meetings and I’ve got 33 follow-up timeline requests, and two have already happened since then.”

They took me through the platform, explained how you build everything up for the retailers and buyers to see who you are, walked me through all the various different steps and different check-ins. We did a couple of practice sessions in advance, so I knew how the system worked, was comfortable using it. I had the information on the buyers’ needs and objectives, I knew their focus, I had their company overview, all neatly laid out on a schedule. It was a turnkey experience that was very well set up.”

“The actual session spanned four half days, so it allowed you time at the beginning and at the end of the day to do your regular work. Talk about stress free, I thought this was just amazing. Even when there was one meeting where the buyer’s camera didn't click on, someone from ECRM jumped right in and solved it right away. ”

“If I'm a supplier and I'm on the fence about ECRM, here’s the advice that I'd give: If you want to get things done quickly. If you want to really meet key decision makers across a broad spectrum. If you want to generate quality leads, but more importantly, you want to grow your business and grow your brand. You need to reach out to the ECRM team. Based on my experience, you will not be disappointed.”

 Alla Scharlinski, Customer Development Manager - National, Grocery and Club for The Clorox Company


“I was a little skeptical at first that the platform would be easy to use but in hindsight I should have been a little more optimistic. In this new normal everyone has been forced to adjust and video conferencing is the way of life. It felt very natural and the retailers and ourselves took to the platform quite easily.  The interface was seamless which is key in this whole thing.”

 Bob Richardson, Director of Customer & Industry Development for The Clorox Company


“ECRM is known for technology and if anyone can pull this off it will be ECRM.  It was seamless. The benefits of having the notes feature so I could type instead of write was great and the transition from one meeting to another actually went quite well.”

Jon Calligandes, Category Manager - Meat & Seafood for Associated Grocers of New England


It was my first time experiencing an ECRM virtual session. I was impressed with the technical support throughout the whole process, and the comfort of fitting it in to my work schedule.

 Conor O'Farrell, Buying Manager for Positive Healthcare at Boots Ireland


“We found some new innovative items that we were the first-to-market with in Ireland, that keep us on the forefront of our shoppers minds as far as leading the trends. This has happened at every session in which we participated.”

“With the virtual session, all the products were laid out on the platform and I found real benefit in downloading the information as well as looking at presentations and insights about each company. This sparked a lot of questions that I needed to ask each supplier to figure out where the product fit with us.”