New Zealand's leading pet food and pet accessory supplier Masterpet has halved its IT costs and improved service by implementing a complete mobile sales force solution which uses Telecom's CDMA network.

Masterpet needed an automated ordering system for its national sales representatives who travel to various pet stores, veterinarians and supermarkets in their area.

 

Prior to the mobile office implementation Masterpet sales staff were using PCs which were costly to purchase and maintain.

 

"Sales staff used large touch screen tablets which were expensive and bulky to handle and lacked any data speed.  It was difficult to log on, and stayed logged onto the network,"� says Monib Moayyed, Masterpet Australasia Information Technology Manager.

 

Working on Masterpet solution brought together Telecom Mobile's mobile data network, Compaq's iPAQ pocket PC, emprise IT's aVya field Sales Software, plus peripheral hardware came from ROCOM Wireless and Advanced Portable Technologies.

emprise It's aVya solution offers a completely mobile sales tool for Masterpet's sales staff in the fiel.  Using their mobile sales solution, reps can now generate current price lists and update the latest specials, check current stock availability, as well as standard customer information.

They can also generate sales reports and outstanding order information on demand, as well as quotes or sales orders with no further data entry required back at the office.

 

Order can now be placed via the handheld deice at the customer's premises rather than phoning or faxing them in later.  The order is immediately synchronized with the heading office or faxing them in later.  The order is immediately synchronized with the head office database and sales staff can check produt availability, pricing information and a customer's purchasing history on the iPAQ.

When the order is entered an invoice is automatically generated, meaning the information no longer needs to be re-entered at the office by administration staff.  Additionally, Masterpet sales staff can access their email, to-do lists and customer contact lists.

Orders entered by sales reps at the stores on their handheld can be taken off the warehouse shelf and be ready to deliver within 10 minutes.

 

"Sales reps now have everything need at their fingertips.  They can prepare sales orders and quotes with ease, knowing that they have the most up to date information andt hat there is only a single data entry process"�.

"Sales staff is better utilized as there are fewer visits back to the office and they have customer information with them on the road to enhance their productivity," says Monib

 

Sales staff also uses their devices for accessing email and other company resources enabling managers to keep in touch better with their reps around the counry.  "We can give them updates on new stock, tell them about lines which have been discontinued, and generally help them feel more connected to what's going on at the head office,"� say Monib.

 

The use of packet data on the Mobile JetStream network means that while users can be permanently connected - they only pay for data transmitted.

 

"The solution is always logged on with Telecom's Mobile JetStream network and the customer is only charged for the amount of data down loaded rather than the amount of time spent on line, so you could have a web page on screen for ten minutes and pay no more,"� he said.

"The new solution has lead to a reduction in the time taken to process orders and has reduced errors through double entering.  The solution has enabled Masterpet to make greater efficiencies within their business by increasing the productivity of their reps.  The reps say the new solution is user-friendly and the connection is very reliable."

 

Article from: http://www.istart.co.nz/TM/masterpet.htm