POC Sports: Accelerating Growth From the Slopes to the Streets

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Imagine barreling down a 3,000-foot mountain on skis at 80 miles per hour - and your main goal is to go faster. A crash at that speed would be dramatic, to say the least.

That's where POC Sports, a 15-year-old Swedish company, comes in. POC was founded with the mission of saving lives. Its first products were ski helmets and body armor made from innovative technologies and materials designed to minimize the impact of crashes and accidents. It quickly branched off into traditional free-ride and park-and-pipe skiing, then into mountain biking and professional cycling.

They have grown rapidly, selling their gear in over 35 countries across Australia, Europe, and North America.

From racing, free-ride, and park-and-pipe skiers to road cyclists and mountain bikers, POC creates gear and accessories that cater to the needs of their discerning, thrill-seeking customers. The drive and resilience of every athlete, and those who aspire to be one, is POC's inspiration for their cutting-edge helmets, back, knee and elbow protection, and apparel for skiing, cycling, and mountain biking.

POC's leadership is the epitome of its brand. So when we traveled to POC headquarters, we met up with David DeMartini, chief marketing and digital officer - where else? - on the powdery slopes under the blue skies of Park City Mountain Resort in Utah.

'I was being pushed down the hill on a pair of skis before I could really walk,' DeMartini told us. 'POC is a brand that I've been close to for a very long time, so ensuring that the brand continues to grow at a meaningful pace is a big motivator for me.'

POC's partnership with Salesforce is helping to make that happen. POC began its journey with Salesforce Commerce Cloud in late 2016 and later added Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud to the mix. It gives POC's customers a better way to find products and educate themselves on the safest options for their needs.

And it's paying off. Since it's been on the Salesforce platform, POC has seen:

• 40% increase in dollars spent per session
• 18% increase in Average Order Value
• 9% increase in minutes per session
• 20% increase in orders per session

POC and Salesforce: A growth commitment

At POC, business is busier than ever. In the last 12 to 18 months, they've transitioned from a startup with satellite offices to a global powerhouse.

There's been a dramatic shift in focus to drive that growth, specifically on finding new ways to engage with customers regardless of the channel. POC sells its products wholesale and on its site, and is focused on delivering a consistent brand experience while connecting their digital space to retail environments to bring the brand to life.

'The biggest business challenge that we're trying to solve is continuing to make sure we deliver a unified experience to the consumer,' said DeMartini.

Implementing a new platform with a small team like POC's can be challenging. However, working with Salesforce was like an extension of its team. One example: it leveraged Accelerators, Salesforce's custom one-on-one consulting and enablement engagements, to overcome specific launch challenges.

Post-launch, POC took advantage of revenue-driving Accelerators to address everything from marketing and promotions to site search and cataloging.

'Accelerators have been a huge benefit to us,' DeMartini said. 'It really does help you understand the system to a point where you can focus your energy on the parts that are truly going to make the most meaningful impact on your business.'

Data, data, data

POC historically made business decisions based on gut instincts. While they had some data points to inform these decisions, they never had a robust customer profile or the granular data to support it. They're just now building a growth model based on data, and learning how much insight can be gleaned to inform the next business move.

'Listen to the data. The information you have about your customers is really the only true north.'

David DeMartini | chief marketing and digital officer, POC Sports

POC and Salesforce continue to build data insights, and there are some great opportunities to work with Commerce, Marketing, and Service Clouds to connect the dots between applications.

For example, POC can send buyers' information to Service Cloud so their customer service teams can quickly see past purchases and customer profiles to better serve them. That kind of consumer understanding and potential sales opportunities are paramount. Up next? Connecting those data streams to Marketing Cloud to send consumer-specific, targeted emails.

POC's mission is to allow people to do the things that bring them joy in life in a way that alleviates risk and makes them safer. That kind of passion helps drive their growth every day.

'The brands that will be and continue to be most successful are conviction-based. They're out and they're looking at the problem they're solving for the consumer in a way that ultimately allows them to live their lives.'