FedEx grows shipping revenue with unified B2B data in one view.

FedEx is an $88 billion global supply chain that provides rapid, reliable, time-definite delivery of more than 15 million packages per day to more than 220 countries and territories around the world.

Siloed data sources presented an opportunity to streamline follow-up with inactive customers.

FedEx works with small business customers to discount bulk shipping rates based on their projected shipping volume. However, few of them will start shipping on their own. To encourage shipments, FedEx’s sales reps needed to reach out to inactive customers across hundreds of accounts manually. 

But identifying these accounts took IT three or more weeks across up to ten separate systems. By the time they gathered a targeted list, it might be outdated and inaccurate. FedEx sought the ability to bring customer sales interactions, shipments, and web browsing data into one view to quickly orchestrate customer engagement. 

FedEx sales wanted to quickly and efficiently connect with small business customers browsing fedex.com for information on international shipping. The company needed a way to pair real-time web data with its sales, marketing, and Databricks data to identify customers who were interested in international shipping but had never completed a shipment. Without these insights, proactive outreach to interested customers was cumbersome. 

FedEx couldn’t track customers who abandoned shipping rate quotes online. 

Before signing a contract for a discounted rate, companies often request a shipping quote online. But they sometimes abandon their shipping rate quotes, similar to how consumers abandon an online shopping cart. FedEx needed a system for tracking the abandonment rates and providing sales with an accurate list of interested accounts. As a result, potential customers moved on before sales could engage with them.

Data Cloud connects data sources so sales can re-engage inactive customers and generate new business. 

After retiring many of the systems that took weeks to gather targeted lists, FedEx chose Data Cloud to bridge opportunity data in Sales Cloud, web browsing data in Marketing Cloud, and shipping data in Databricks. Now, a unified view of all customer data allows FedEx to pinpoint inactive customers in a matter of hours, not weeks, and efficiently re-engage them.

Bring Your Own Lake (BYOL) data shares allow FedEx to access the external data alongside Salesforce data in a unified view, enabling reps to see who signed an agreement but hasn’t begun shipping. And with zero copy integration, FedEx can act on the external data directly within Salesforce without duplication, streamlining the process and enhancing conversion opportunities. 

“The power is in Data Cloud’s ability to bring data together and let us funnel it into Marketing Cloud and Sales Cloud in near-real-time,” said Carlos Gonzalez, Senior Programmer Advisor. “Zero copy is very attractive to us because it’s easier and less expensive than ingesting the data again and landing it in multiple spots.” 

Data Cloud fuels Marketing Cloud with segmented lists to automatically orchestrate personalized journeys that include sales calls, marketing emails, or both, motivating customers to start shipping. This strengthens the company’s existing Marketing Cloud instance, which FedEx previously used to send one-off emails. FedEx can also drive customers to learn about fdx, its new data-driven commerce platform, which connects the entire customer supply chain, making it easier for companies to grow demand, increase conversion, optimize fulfillment, and streamline returns.

With the ability to design, automate, and orchestrate multi-touch campaigns using connected data, reps can reach out to inactive accounts faster, increasing account reactivations and generating new business.

"Data Cloud enables us to know our customers better so we can partner with them to build their businesses,” said Angela Straub, Director of Solutions, Enterprise Customer, Platform, and MDM. “We can be more efficient through automation, capitalize on the robust data we have, and serve it up to improve experiences for customers, reps, and sales alike, ultimately driving top line revenue.

Data Cloud improves customer engagement and reduces quote abandonment.

With Data Cloud, FedEx sales reps can also see web browsing and quote creation data alongside contract data to identify prospective customers who are just browsing and haven’t yet signed a bulk rate agreement. Reps can then easily follow up or send the contact on an automated journey to continue nurturing their interest.

Together, Data Cloud and Marketing Cloud help sales follow up fast to upsell international shipping.

Together, Data Cloud and Marketing Cloud also help FedEx increase international shipping. Data Cloud assesses if someone browsing the international shipping page could be a target customer by bringing together web browsing data from Marketing Cloud Personalization and shipment data from Databricks. If Databricks shows the customer has not yet shipped, FedEx can choose how to orchestrate follow-up engagement in Salesforce, whether through an automated email journey, a sales campaign, or targeted banner ads on the international shipping page. 

When customers engage in the automated journey (for example, opening an email), they progress to the next step and the rep is notified to follow up with a call to address their questions, boosting the chances of conversion. Thisdata-driven approach enables reps to deliver timely, relevant communications, enhancing engagement with prospects and optimizing how reps spend their time.

FedEx makes the most of Data Cloud with the Salesforce Professional Services and Signature Success Plan.

To connect all of FedEx’s Salesforce solutions and ensure maximum value from Data Cloud, Fedex worked with Salesforce Professional Services’ leading experts to design and implement the platform. This enabled FedEx to pull in relevant data from Sales Cloud, strengthen its data architecture, and segment for cross-cloud journeys. 

In less than two weeks, Professional Services successfully configured an end-to-end Data Cloud implementation that helped FedEx increase the lead qualification audience for those interested in international shipping. Professional Services also implemented a post-abandonment journey including personalized web banners and emails, which has improved both shipping label creation and account sign-ups after requesting a rate. 

FedEx also relies on the Signature Success Plan to ensure continuous alignment between Data Cloud’s configuration and the company’s current objectives. The engagement provides resources like Architect Engagements, guidance from bi-weekly meetings, and support from a Customer Success Manager. And with instructor-led training courses, best practices, and relevant product education growing the team's technical expertise, FedEx can innovate faster and increase product adoption.

​Trust and reliability are imperative in any technology decision. After more than 16 years of partnership, FedEx trusts Salesforce’s end-to-end data platform to seamlessly integrate with its existing data lakes — without duplicating data, thanks to zero copy. With Salesforce, the company can act on its data in real time, orchestrating engagement journeys in Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud to motivate customers toward continual business with FedEx.. 

As a “customer obsessed” brand, FedEx can now take action on data like never before to connect with customers at the greatest moment of impact. Now FedEx approaches each customer at a global scale but with localized understanding of who they are.