How The Lake Companies uncovered 50% more opportunities hiding in their territories
James Wendt knew the opportunities were out there. He just needed a better way to find them. Here's how Badger Maps helped him uncover hidden cash in his territory.
About The Lake Companies
The Lake Companies is one of the largest providers of Enterprise Resource Planning software in the Midwest. They specialize in SyteLine ERP and CloudSuite Industrial solutions for manufacturing and industrial businesses. For over 30 years, they've built a reputation for giving their clients what they call an "unfair advantage over competitors," and that same philosophy extends to how their sales team approaches their territories.
James Wendt is a Business Development Representative for The Lake Companies. His job is to hunt new opportunities, qualify them quickly, and pass promising leads to an Account Manager. In a high-value, relationship-driven industry where every qualified opportunity carries significant revenue potential, the efficiency of James's prospecting process isn't just a personal KPI. It directly impacts the company's pipeline.
The challenge
Managing a large territory as a business development rep in enterprise software is a constant balancing act. James receives a large list of leads every month, but getting that data out of a CRM and into something actionable in the field is a different problem entirely. The CRM showed him who his prospects were. It couldn't tell him where they were relative to each other, which ones were worth prioritizing, or which qualified businesses right around the corner weren't even on his list yet.
The result was an inefficient, reactive approach to territory management. James would schedule two promising meetings, but with hours and miles between them, the time in between was essentially lost. He was zig-zagging across his territory, reacting to what came up rather than systematically working through the opportunity right in front of him. Routing was an afterthought, and that meant revenue was being left on the table every single day.
James described his process before Badger as "sifting through sand." He needed a metal detector.
“Have you ever had a meeting with someone and missed two nearby customers who would have been perfect drop-ins? Badger fixes that. I've found opportunities I would have missed entirely.”
James Wendt, Business Development Representative, The Lake Companies
How Badger Maps helped
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50% more new opportunities
The single biggest change for James was in how he prospected between scheduled meetings. With Badger's Places tool, a quick search surfaces every qualified industrial business in the area James is already working — companies that weren't on his list but matched his target profile exactly. Instead of burning time between appointments, James fills gaps in his schedule with qualified drop-ins, building his pipeline in real time from wherever he already is.
The result was a 50% increase in new opportunities found, not from working longer hours, but from making every hour already in the field more productive.
“I use Badger to find the hidden cash in my territory. What we do for companies, Badger does for me.”
Before Badger, the data James needed to work his territory intelligently was buried in a CRM that wasn't built for the field. With Badger, every active opportunity is visible on the map, filterable by priority and status, and organized around where James actually is. He can see at a glance which accounts to prioritize, which prospects are nearby, and how to build a day that maximizes the value of every hour.
“I upload my data into Badger in seconds and my Account Specialist at Badger saves the routes, notes, and check-ins I need for my active clients. This helps me find and grow new business without losing track of existing customers.”
With routes built around his most valuable accounts and the best prospects in each area, James stopped zig-zagging and started working his territory systematically. The hours between scheduled meetings, which were previously lost to emails or inefficient driving, became prospecting time. Every day in the field became more productive than the last.
Badger made it significantly easier to bring new reps up to speed on unfamiliar territories. Rather than spending weeks learning which businesses are where and how to navigate efficiently, new reps can see their entire territory on the map from day one — prioritized, organized, and ready to work. One new rep at The Lake Companies found a promising account near his home address on his first day, without having to drive across his territory to where he assumed the best opportunities were.
