Ms. Takigawa :

Noevir Group encompasses cosmetics, health food, and OTC pharmaceuticals businesses. Group companies include Noevir Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Noevir”) that manufactures and sells cosmetics and OTC pharmaceuticals, TOKIWA Pharmaceutical Corporation, and TOKIWA Medical Service in which operates a placement medicine sale, a unique pharmaceuticals sales system in Japan. As an Information System Department Director, I oversee all affiliated companies’ information systems.

 

Ms. Munezane :

My responsibilities as the manager of the Information System Department include management of all affiliated companies’ ID, server, and network. Also, I take charge of the selection and operation of systems and applications.

 

Mr. Murakami :

I work with my manager, Ms. Munezane, on server operation, and network management. I am also responsible for implementing various services, including LINE WORKS and its operational practices.

Ms. Takigawa :

Noevir’s products reach customers via corporate authorized selling agencies or housewife staff’s individual sales activities. Thus, Noevir’s sales representatives would oversee several distributors per branch and conduct sales support activities with phone calls and e-mails. However, the communication between distributors and sales representatives was often ineffective; many sales representatives were in dire need of a way to deliver information to several distributors at once. As a result, a request asking to authorize the use of LINE came to the Information System Department.

 

Sales staff provides the distributors with information on new product launch, training sessions, delivery dates, and inventory data. Conversely, distributors must report back their daily sales activities. With LINE, I could envision the seamless and more immediate communication. However, the risk of misdirecting messages that may contain confidential or personal information to the outsider was quite concerning.

Ms. Takigawa :

First, it began with a request from the salesperson of TOKIWA Medical Service. The salesperson asked the permission to make use of LINE to contact nationwide placement medicine sales customers. Hence, we adopted LINE WORKS for its chat interface that could safeguard our sensitive corporate data. Since LINE WORKS is easily accessible on PC, we can send long announcements from the head office at once too. Accordingly, TOKIWA Pharmaceuticals’ and Noevir sales employees began using LINE WORKS to contact distributors. Nowadays, more than 1000 people from the Sales, Information System and Management Department of the three aforementioned companies utilize LINE WORKS.

 

I think the advanced security and familiar user interface similar to LINE are the most appealing aspects of LINE WORKS. Indeed, getting rid of the need to train many midway sales team joiners is a great advantage. Moreover, we expected that even the partnered distributors with high age range could benefit from LINE WORKS’ external messenger connection feature. In fact, we believed that the distributors could experience improved communication with our sales representatives since they know how to utilize LINE already.

Ms. Munezane :

Initially, we used to write and distribute manuals or hold a briefing session when introducing a new tool – LINE WORKS never needed them. Even after the implementation, only a few employees had inquiries about usage. LINE WORKS is the first tool to integrate into our company system so seamlessly.

Ms. Takigawa :

We make sure to instruct sales representatives not to leak the personal information and that every conversation that took place via LINE connection will leave log data.

 

Mr. Murakami :

We can guarantee security by preventing employees from sending executable files with the LINE WORKS admin feature.

Ms. Takigawa :

Group chat feature became the inseparable communication tool to Noevir sales representatives. Initially, the function could not be interconnected with LINE, but over time it became available with updates. We are thankful for how it allows a number of our employees to exchange information at any time; this is crucial as sales representatives must interact with various distributors and groups, such as specific event participants. Previously, sales staff had to call or send e-mails to each distributor individually; only after connecting with LINE did LINE WORKS become the primary communication tool to sales representatives. Now sales employees can create group chats based on different purposes and invite the right people without any limitations. Furthermore, they can conveniently handle tasks with flexibility by sending information at once in the group chats.

 

Mr. Murakami :

Sales employees can send Excel, Word, and PDF files with LINE WORKS. Now sending various business data is easily accessible.

 

Ms. Takigawa :

In addition to cosmetics, Noevir runs apparel and underwear businesses. Therefore, we use LINE WORKS to inform new products to distributors and retailers by sending sample images or explanation videos made by sales representatives in group chats.

 

Ms. Munezane :

In the past, the Information Systems Department used to deliver system failure or update notices to all group companies via e-mail. After implementing LINE WORKS, we post such information on home boards. Most of the employees check home postings faster than e-mails; hence, we make announcements that need to be delivered swiftly and surely on home boards.

Ms. Takigawa :

Initially, LINE WORKS was selected primarily as a means for the sales force to communicate closely with customers and distributors. However, now it functions as a convenient platform that bridges communication among all affiliated companies even more so than the existing groupware.

Mr. Murakami

The Information System Department needs to manage all accounts of affiliated companies. We use the LINE WORKS API and ETL tool’s DataSpider※ to acquire HR info in the form of CSV data automatically. The system deletes the LINE WORKS accounts of retirees and members on leave by itself; it also sends issued accounts to new employees through e-mail. As there is no need to manage each account manually, it helps to streamline work procedures effectively.

Ms. Takigawa :

Currently, we are using LINE WORKS in combination with the existing groupware. However, in the future, we plan to use it as the primary communication tool to support busy sales staff by connecting with various systems and better take advantage of its convenience. We are reviewing whether we can communicate and check work-related info immediately and securely only using LINE WORKS all over the group companies.

 

One of the attempts is to implement a Help Desk Chatbot related to PCs utilized in the office. Sales representatives frequently work outside and cannot contact the helpdesk in case of desk absence. As a result, I would like to establish an automatic response Chatbot for simple inquiries. In the future, I want to develop a hub to connect to various applications. If we can consolidate different systems’ UI into LINE WORKS as a single platform, it would boost the productivity of our sales teams.

 

Ms. Munezane :

Ms. Munezane: We are considering whether it would be possible to replace manual writing of daybook, using existing company groupware, with LINE WORKS voice input system outside the office. Though we are already supporting our employees by giving them access to connect with smartphones, we would like to significantly improve their work efficiency by facilitating more comfortable and faster ways to input info. LINE WORKS is equipped with various functions in addition to voice input, and therefore, we would like to increase the applied uses within all group companies.

 

※DataSpider…ETL tool that connects data between different systems without programming

 

 

※All details, affiliations, and positions specified were gathered at the time of interview.

Mr. Edagawa:

Our company provides Toyota car sales and related services by operating 20 new car, 6 U-Car, and 1 LEXUS sales stores within Tochigi Prefecture. As the General Administration and Human Resources Development team manager, my responsibilities include talent recruitment and training, system selection, and operation maintenance.

Ms. Amagai:

My role in General Administration and Human Resources Development team is to manage personnel affairs and LINE WORKS operations.

 

Ms. Ishikawa:

I am responsible for customer response and new car sales related business at the Yokota store, established within the head office.

 

Ms. Takezawa:

I also work at the Yokota store, mainly responsible for new car sales.

Mr. Edagawa:

There were issues with disseminating information from the head office to sales offices effectively. We used to post notifications via the company’s internal portal. Since not all of the employees had access to the company’s PC or e-mail, the delivery process was often slow or faulted. Therefore, we felt the need to implement a better communication tool to deliver our announcements in a timely and accurate manner to all employees.

 

Recently, sales representatives have been individually responding to customers through LINE to meet the increasing demands. However, I felt uneasy thinking whether LINE would enable our representatives to contact customers without compromising security and going against the company’s management regime.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

Before introducing LINE WORKS, we wasted so much time trying to communicate with just fixed-line phone and fax. As a result, I wanted to add new means of communication to improve the situation and to promote Paperless ways.

Mr. Edagawa :

We paid attention to LINE WORKS as a tool that facilitates much-needed communications for work and connects to customers’ LINE securely. Thus, we began by conducting an employee survey and free testing at head quarter’s Management Department and Yokota store. The result indicated that LINE WORKS was easy-to-use and can solve various problems that we were experiencing at the time.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

After selecting LINE WORKS, we distributed user manuals suitable for potential work situations to the head office and all sales stores. We were able to roll out LINE WORKS promptly and effortlessly, even more so than our expectation, as it has a similar user interface with LINE. The employees welcomed the concept of ‘Business version of LINE.’ After the employees adapted to using LINE WORKS, we actively utilized surveys and suggested use examples to promote the use further.

Ms. Ishikawa:

Before LINE WORKS, sales representatives out on the field could not be informed immediately about the information from the clients or head office that came in during their desk absence. People who were briefed on behalf would leave the memo on the desk, and the sales representatives can only access them once they return to the office.

 

Fortunately, with LINE WORKS, employees can dispatch information immediately and reliably through chat features. Moreover, employees do not have to worry about whether the person in absence got the info with the message acknowledgment feature.

 Ms. Takezawa:

Customers who wish to contact me via LINE can add me by using the QR code on my business card. With the external messenger connection feature, I can communicate with customers in a digitally secure environment. Also, customer support became more convenient since the majority of relatively young working-age generation prefers to communicate with LINE. For instance, I could not specify the address that the customer designated and asked for more information with LINE. Then the customer immediately sent me a map with the exact location. It is one of the examples of how a seamless response happens without waiting for the other person to call or wasting customer time.

Mr. Edagawa:

Instant messaging, e-mail and home features allow us to deliver the information from head office real-time and accurately. In-house portal, which was not available to all employees, was replaced by LINE WORKS home, and LINE WORKS mail integrated internal and external e-mail systems into one. In conclusion, the overall burden of managing software diminished significantly as previously dispersed calendar, facility reservation, and e-mail features have merged into one application: LINE WORKS.

 

One of our primary considerations was finding reliable software to confirm our employees’ safety in case of an emergency. However, the LINE WORKS survey feature enabled us to achieve the desired outcome without an additional fee – we can now check on our employees’ safety at ease.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

Form is a very convenient feature; we use it to manage in-house event attendances and various internal polls. It is also used for the company’s unique operations by connecting the pay system with data and managerial positions with non-managerial employees, who are unlikely to face each other on a regular basis.

 

Prior to introducing LINE WORKS, the much-needed process of collecting and sending all employees’ responses included using in-house mail delivery and fax. In this sense, the time spent and the workload was quite considerable. LINE WORKS Form promoted Paperless ways and gave a positive impact on response rate and speed: the Form can be delivered directly to each employee and answered using smartphones. The Form system also shows answer results, which allows us to check the progress rate; this then minimized the need to collect and count answers separately. With LINE WORKS, we could optimize workflows, automate simple procedures, and thus experience a noticeable improvement in work efficiency.

 

We are currently blooming with ideas and therefore researching ways to improve work efficiency thanks to the various features of LINE WORKS. Improvements in work efficiency are quite visible and already yielding practical outcomes. We would like to continue incorporating the use of LINE WORKS features into daily business operations.

Mr. Edagawa:

We are considering whether we can utilize the PC version of a group call feature for manager meetings. I am aware that the feature is currently at a beta stage, but it is a great advantage to have video conferences without introducing any additional software.

 

Ms. Hitomi:

LINE WORKS enable employees to get work done regardless of the location. Therefore, we will consider using it as a backbone to Teleworking in the future.

 

 

※ All details, affiliations, and positions specified were gathered at the time of interview.

Mr. Yamamoto :

Our company is a Holdings company, and our business covers from housing wholesale to manufacturing and sales. Main business is the wholesale business which mainly covered by Japan Construction Materials Corporation. However, we also have interoffice in which doing housing construction business. I am a member from Finance Accounting Department, Business administration Headquarters, but also as a member of Office Rationalization Committee, I was in charge of introducing LINE WORKS to our company this time.

Mr. Yamamoto  :

A purpose of Office Rationalization Committee is to introduce systems or tool which enables efficient working environment. We had a mission to find a communication tool that is suitable to use, since we did not have such tool. We used to use a groupware as a communication tool. However, there are limitations such as it can only be used inside the office and if the employees were to use outside the office, they had to connect VPN every time.

 

Moreover, not all the employees had the accounts to the groupware. Therefore, we had to use phone calls obligatorily in order to connect with other employees. Phone calls, fax, and groupware communication has been continued for decades.

Mr. Yamamoto :

Under such circumstance, important information such as announcements on personnel as well as medical checkup cannot be delivered to the all the employees. Especially, ‘Japan Construction Materials Corporation’ is consisted mostly with salesperson, and therefore, the administration department considered about not being able to share various information to them. In order to make sure the information is delivered successfully to each employee, some of the branches print out the written mail and receive the paper with the employees’ signatures on it. Still, it costed a lot of efforts.

 

Company provided cellphones were mostly 2G phone, which only provide calling feature. For this reason, we often use personal smart phones to communicate with the employees from both working inside and outside the office. Notably, the number of employees who are using LINE as a communication tool was increasing. It is unavoidable if the customer wants to communication through LINE, but this was still not perfectly suitable. Although we wanted to prevent our employees from use LINE as a business communication tool, we had no other option to replace it.

Mr. Yamamoto :

We compared various communication tools to find the most suitable option. But, with the purpose of regulating the contacts held between the salesperson and the customers through LINE, we paid attention to LINE WORKS. For other applications, we had to install a certain program in order to communicate with the customers. However, LINE is already well being used by the people, including our customers. The most decisive factor for LINE WORKS introduction was that it is easily connected with LINE.

 

Also, LINE WORKS is cost-effective, when compared with other tools. We wanted all the employees to use LINE WORKS, instead of the current groupware that only certain portion of employees are using.

Mr. Ishizawa :

We were thankful about that there is no need for manual or education needed for LINE WORKS introduction. Because most of the people were already using LINE, we believed that the employees would soon be able to get used to LINE WORKS. We were not sure about the other tools since they had different user interface to LINE.

 

Mr. Yamamoto :

In 2017, we started a project to reform our working style, and 10 participants from the project started using trial version of LINE WORKS. And, soon we received positive feedbacks from the participants such as, ‘Response time gets faster’, ‘I can definitely contact everyone inside the company’, ‘Read notification feature is comfortable’. It took less than a month to actually introduce LINE WORKS to our company.

Mr. Yamamoto :

Employees from administration department to part-time workers, we are able to communicate everyone working in the company without feeling difficulties to it. This definitely has broadened our communication. One of the great features of the LINE WORKS is that we can easily reach out to the people whom did not know their contact information. We are encouraging our employees to record their duties at the LINE WORKS profile. And when we have questions like ‘Who is in charge of this agenda?’, we can easily check the profiles of the employees and reach out the right person.

 

We can work time effectively as we reduced unnecessary time we spent in the past, such as waiting for omitted emails to be checked or waiting for a call to be connected. We believe that overtime working at night time will soon be eliminated. By sending photos about the question we want to ask, it is now possible to share thoughts and opinion in depth.

 

Mr. Oshio :

As one of the employees from Human Resource department, dramatic increase in survey response rate and active communication with prospective employees are the two key accomplishments. It is cost-effective to use LINE WORKS because we did not have make individual tool for each agenda. Also, we curtailed expenditures by changing the tool from the SNS tool that we previously used to LINE WORKS.

 

Mr. Ishizawa :

We would like to implement auto-answering chatting bot based on AI near in the future using LINE WORKS. Setting aside from the working style that we have continued for decades using phone calls and fax, we expect that the introduction of innovative tool called LINE WORKS would bring us big impacts to our company.

 

Mr. Kazuhiro :

Because our company mainly focuses on sales, most of our employees are salesperson and work outside the office often. As contacting tools, the salesperson took cellphone, PC, as well as mobile Wi-Fi which needed when connecting to internet at the field. We mainly used phone calls or email to share information. In order for us to check emails outside the office, we had to turn on the PC and use mobile Wi-Fi to access to company LAN. For this reason, it was uncomfortable when making contacts  and we were not well connected to one another.

 

Most importantly, as salesperson, we had trouble contacting our customers when we communicate through emails. Large portion of our clients are Large-scaled appliance stores and most the managers there are actually dealing with customers at the stores, not working at the desk. For this reason, it took a great amount of time for them to actually check the email. And, this was our great problem to be solved. We had several clients asking us to communicate via LINE. But, we could solely use LINE since there was a security problem of becoming shadow IT.

Mr. Kazuhiro :

The sales department activated connection with LINE and communicate with the customers including large-scaled stores via LINE WORKS. As an example of LINE WORKS utilization, when the area manager from headquarters send product distribution graph through LINE WORKS, the salesperson send the graph to the customer’s LINE account. Previously, we either printed the document or we turn on the PC and send via email. After the introduction of LINE WORKS, however, we can deliver the information to our clients without going back to our office. We started to lessen the use of papers since we no longer have to print out things.

 

We had to send emails for each purpose individually including simple greetings and contacts in the past. But with LINE WORKS, we could simply done it with stickers. The tool has also enabled us to finish our work at the field by allowing us to report the work log even without going back to the office. Also, we could shortened the wasted traveling time and use the time efficiently instead. That is, we could change the way of working.

 

In the communication perspective, as we can deliver the idea and thoughts to the entire company through push notification, delivery of idea and thoughts have become more actively held than before. We are feeling that every voice from our employee is well delivered to the whole.

Mr. Yukinori :

Contacts can be made simply and fast via LINE WORKS. We are utilizing the tool to communicate with the department in which support managing the order and delivery of the products. For example, we used to have phone calls and emails to make contacts like ‘Please check the order since we cannot dispatch the product due to its problem’. However, prompt reply to such message was often impossible, especially when the employees are giving out counsels. With LINE WORKS, however, we could immediately send the reply to simple matters, and eventually improved the contact speed.

 

Mr. Kei :

As we are responsible for supporting sales, we often share and communicate information about the order and delivery. It was unavoidable to experience delay in phone call communication if the communication partner did not answer the phone calls. It has become easier to prioritize tasks as we no longer have unnecessary waiting time. We are feeling that it is much easier for us to be connected to the sales after LINE WORKS introduction.

We are using LINE WORKS for daily communication with store staffs, area manager, headquarters, and customers.

 

We are checking consulting reviews with the store staffs in real time

 

For example, when customer visits our store and asks about the cars or asking for a consultation, the assigned staff often contact via LINE WORKS and ask questions like ‘the client requested this, how should I do?’. We also use LINE WORKS when we visit the actual site to purchase the used cars. Once we visit our customers house, we can take photos of the car and immediately send them to the office. This enables both field and office workers to check the condition of the car together in real time. This way, the customer no longer have to wait. As a manager, it has become easier for me to take control of the works since I can check the condition of the consulting in real time.

 

What changed the most is that we can make response to the requests from the clients faster than before. When customers send messages like ‘Can we do this?’ or ‘I want to do this part as this’ via LINE, we can immediately check the message and send the response. It is definitely faster than phone call or email. For email, we can only send the response after we come back to our own house and turn on the computer. For this reason, we could only provide the customer service only during the time frame we assigned. With LINE and LINE WORKS, we could both check and response immediately to the messages, and therefore, we could solve the issue on the day it has occurred.

 

Close connection with our customers has speeded up the time taken for problem resolution and the time it takes to sign the contract has also been reduced.

Communicating with headquarters or interoffice communication has become much more convenient than before. Previously, when we want to contact someone in our company, we first had to check the profile and find detailed contact information and either send email or make phone call to them after. And, this was extremely inconvenient. With LINE WORKS, however, we can simply look up the contacts information on the application and send message immediately. With this, it became convenient to make contacts to others.

 

Other than this, I am recently participating in an internal project at our office called ‘Sakura Project’, which pursues the greater environment for the women to work. The project is divided into several teams and where I am located is in charge of posting contents on the company blog. To make contents, I often have to make contacts to the employees whom I have never met before. Even under such circumstance, I use LINE WORKS group chatting room to contact those people conveniently.

Mr. Shinya：

It is primarily construction. We are a housing construction corporation that guides customers who visit our exhibits, and eventually build ideal houses. In addition, other sub-companies within the group are in businesses fields of housing sales and nursing care as well. We are founded upon the custom home business and we are definitely a one-stop solution company that seeks happiness of people from the perspective of living.

 

Mr. Shigekazu：

I listen to the opinions and wishes from visiting customers and actually guide them through our exhibition. I also offer a variety of suggestions regarding housing.

Mr. Shinya：

In the past, we normally communicated with customers by phone or email. But contacting with customers often preceded in a rigid manner, which evoked feelings of distance with the customers. As communication was delayed due to missed calls, losses in work were also created. That is why we looked out for a new tool. It all started from employees. Employees began to talk about using LINE for its sales business. They added to say LINE enables intuitive reaction and increase the communication speed, which will eventually contribute to speed up management of Hinokiya Group. Following such idea, we implemented LINE’s corporate version, LINE WORKS.

Mr. Shinya：

Many employees stated their opinions on “Connect with LINE” feature on LINE WORKS. They mentioned that it has made customer communication extremely convenient than ever before. Notable comments, such as “The feature enabled us to drive good impressions from the clients by allowing us to quickly reply and respond to clients’ requests”, and “As LINE WORKS is compatible with LINE, we can not only browse and archive all the conversations made in between the two services, but also can easily follow up for the communication histories.” were also mentioned from the employees.

The sales division also gave positive feedback, mentioning that as LINE WORKS became the company’s communication tool, communicating with the clients, those who are using LINE, got much easier.

 

Also, sharing information as well as communicating among employees in the field, including the sales division, on-site supervisors, and members in exhibits, became much more convenient. The “Read Confirmation” feature is also useful whether to find out if others have read messages. The app is actively used for communication among executives in different sub-companies of the group. For phone calls or emails, communication cannot be made if you do not know the contact information of the other party. However, LINE enables you to search all the registered users, meaning that contacts and calls can be conveniently made with members although the contacts have not been available to your mobile devices. LINE WORKS has made communication and information sharing with those outside the company much smoother.

Mr. Shigekazu：

We use LINE WORKS when communicating with customers who visit the exhibition. When the customer visit and begin conversation, we normally ask for their email address. However, there were issues such as having trouble with writing down the email promptly or asking for their email later when the customer don’t know their email at the moment they visited. With LINE WORKS, however, it allows both us and the customers to start communication smoothly. The customer can use his or her own smartphone to scan the QR code and immediately connect and start conversation with us via LINE’s “Add Friends” feature.

For communication afterwards, I believe that loss of opportunities due to time differences must be eliminated. With LINE WORKS, we may read messages and emails and reply in a timely manner. When we communicate via LINE WORKS, we think thoroughly before writing the sentences. When comparing with emails, however, messages can be sent in a more frankly manner and customers can also respond easily to them. Compared to the days when email addresses were exchanged for customer communication, the likelihood of acquiring contacts has doubled, and the amount of conversations after beginning communication has tripled.

 

I think when communication has carried out, quick response to the customer requests will help us build trustworthiness with the clients, and eventually lead us to acquire more chances to work with them.

 

In addition, utilization of LINE WORKS is not limited to the process up to acquisition of deals. Even in housing design and the construction phase after order acquisition, on-site supervisors are connected to customers’ LINE via LINE WORKS to share the current progress and status of the construction sites with photos, which helps in construction completion as well as the after-case process. In case something happens, LINE WORKS allows us to receive a related contact and respond immediately or ask for assistance to other teams. Customers who have eventually selected our company instead of other competitors are primarily satisfied with “quick replies” and “fast responses”. Thanks to the remarkable advantages of LINE WORKS, we believe that we could be different from our competitors in these areas.

 

Also, communication and sharing of information between headquarters and the exhibit halls located far away became much easier. For example, there was a housing event in which I was stationed in headquarters. To proceed a project, we had to communicate with a construction supervisor, employees at other exhibits, in other divisions, as well as other companies. Because it was extremely difficult for everyone involved to gather for a meeting and communicate via email, LINE WORKS came to be perfect solution for such circumstances.