Mobile sales pay their way

Empowering field sales staff with the right tools at their finger tips will return a dividend to the Australian security and electronics distributor within 9 months...

Seadan co-founder Ian Harris had previously ‘mobilised’ sales representatives on the road with laptops and mobile phones. But the reality was that it took time to try to connect to the internet on the laptops, get to the website and log in.

“Sometimes they couldn’t even get a web connection,” he says. “Clients don’t have time to wait – they want an instantaneous response.”

So when Seadan was offered a trial of Greentree’s Mobile Sales Management suite, using HTC touchscreen phones, he didn’t hesitate for one second.

Seadan provides security soluitions to busineses across Australia. Magnetic lock systems, CCTV solutions and other items are stored in a highly efficient warehouse operations across Australia. Seadon has been running the Greentree ERP suite for several years, and the prospect of extending the solution into the hands of sales staff was attractive.

Harris was sold on the ‘Power of one’ benefits – one comprehensive functionality set end-to-end; one technology layer from server to PDA; one installation and update process; and one solution provider, allowing Seadan to deploy out-of-the-box without the need for third party interfaces. The ease of management along with a reasonable price tag made the decision easier. Harris is now planning to roll out the solution to ten on-the-road sales reps.

When representatives now go to visit clients they can access information about the client prior to the meeting from their phone. They can check pricing, generate a quote for the client and even email it directly to the client, says Harris.

“Client satisfaction and instantaneous quoting and order-taking are the

top benefits of the solution,” he says. “We can make the sale there and then.”

“We will be looking for a 20% efficiency increase with the help of Greentree’s Mobile suite,” he adds.

Sales reps can now simply enter sales orders into their phones.

Orders come straight through to the warehouse, where the goods are packed and distributed within 24 hours. Before, field sales staff would have had to go back to the office, enter the order into the system and get it dispatched. “We want our sales guys back on the road quickly, making the next sale. This solution is going to change the way we do business,” adds Harris.

Seadan is expecting to make money off the mobile system in the long term.

“We wouldn’t be buying the solution if we didn’t believe it was going to pay for itself,” he says.

“We are expecting return on investment within 9 months.”

Seadan started using Greentree 12 years ago and hasn’t had a reason to look elsewhere since. “We are very happy with Greentree. It gives us the results we want,” says Harris.

Seadan has warehouses in each of its locations across Australia. With Greentree, the team can instantly see what is available, if inventory levels are getting low and do transfers quickly and easily. “It’s saving us time and effort and helps us manage our warehouses in the most efficient way,” Harris says.

And because the system is real time, you know exactly what is going on at any given time, he adds.

“At the end of the day, Greentree gives us peace of mind,” he says. “The strength of the system is that it can’t be manipulated. We can rest assured everything has been done properly. Our inventory is correct, variances are very small and pricing is controlled. Those are efficiencies that really make a difference to our business.”

FOR MORE INFO//

GREENTREE INTERNATIONAL

www.greentree.com

Graham Hill
graham.hill@greentree.com
New Zealand: 0800 313 313
Australia: 1800 000 737








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