Embarq Logistics Enhances Pricing With SPA

Embarq Logistics is a $750 million distributor of telecommunications products and services.

Says Brad Clark, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, of Embarq's utilization of SPA:
"Our division was in the process of soliciting buyers for divestiture and we needed to improve our EBITDA as much as possible. We employed SPA because our results had plateaued and we thought we might be leaving money on the table. And we were. SPA likes to talk about delivering 2-4 margin points but from our experience we were leaving 6-10 points on the table. We provide some degree of price flexibility to our inside sales reps and even with those modifications, we still see meaningful margin improvements. We expect these increases to continue, and we will continue to cash checks with each improvement!"

"We started working with SPA in early spring and we had new pricing for 140,000 SKUs analyzed, designed and implemented by September. Because we were nervous about potential customer backlash, we established a control group that didn't receive the SPA-determined price increases as a way to be sure that the SPA program would not negatively impact sales. This was tracked every week and not only did the SPA program not hurt sales, the margins for the SPA group improved over the control group."

To learn more, visit the SPA Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software? Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you? Please contact sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

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Ceramic Tile Warehouse Boosts ROI With Kerridge

Established in 1994, Ceramic Tile Warehouse is one of the UK’s largest and most successful independent tile retailers. The family-run firm sells directly to the public from its 10,000 square foot warehouse with over a million tiles in stock. After several years in business, Ceramic Tile Warehouse had reached the point where it is predominantly manual sales and purchasing systems were completely inadequate.

With some professional help, the Kerridge Revision 7 solution was chosen and deployed on an ASP hosted server platform. A relatively small amount of customization was required to suit the company’s specific needs – this was easily accommodated.

Gains and benefits of the Kerridge implementation:

• Internet-based deployment - staff focus on what they do best 
• More time available to look after customers – a higher standard of service 
• Warehouse processes easier, more efficient and fully controlled 
• Seamless sales to warehouse interaction speeds up transaction processing 
• Learning curve shallower than expected – system intuitive and easy to use 
• Satisfied customers and satisfied staff – a better position for all 
• Return on investment generated from the start 
• Opportunities for the company to grow with the system

Learn more at the Kerridge Newsroom.


New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software? Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you? Please contact sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

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Kelsan Identifies Business Opportunities With Tour de Force

Kelsan, Inc. is a Janitorial and Sanitation Products Distributor who uses Infor SX.enterprise as their ERP system. They have been a customer since 2012 and have 75 users. Kelsan had made great use of the Build Your Own Reports (BYOR) Module to create a CRM Engagement Report to encourage user adoption and hold sales representatives accountable to using the CRM system.

Sales representatives use the Tour de Force platform to:
1) Create Activities with high-value targets and buying accounts
2) Add business contacts wide and deep: from Receptionist to CEO
3) Keep an up-to-date Opportunity pipeline with the customers and targets from point #1

Says Blaine Keller, Kelsan's CRM Manager: “The CRM Engagement Report is a rolling 7 day count of not only sales based activities, but also every time a rep modifies an Opportunity, creates an Appointment, or has a Task scheduled due."

Learn more at the Tour de Force Newsroom.


New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software? Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you? Please contact sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

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Tapco Uses MITS For Fast ROI

Tapco was founded in 1974 and has grown to stock the largest inventory of plastic elevator buckets and metal bolts in the world, some 900,000 buckets and 15 million bolts, out of a 95,000 square foot, on-site manufacturing facility in Missouri.

Prior to MITS, Tapco had struggled for years trying to get the right information to the individuals that needed it, as many of the company’s existing reporting tools would provide an answer but lacked drill-down capability as well as access to ancillary data. The IT department, managed by Brennan Radmer, found themselves frequently generating additional reports or manually exporting and manipulating the data in Excel, a time-consuming task that took his group away from other equally important responsibilities. “We needed a tool where anyone could easily drill down through the numbers and see the trends right away, without having to do a massive amount of data mining or report generation. This was a must for us.”

Tapco researched several solutions and one reason MITS stood out to Brennan was the breadth of information available through their easy to use UI. Brennan noted, “We needed a tool that had pre-made content like reports that we could put to use right away." Another feature that stood out to Brennan was MITS’ access to data. Brennan explains: “One of the issues we were having with our ERP was that it was reporting on territories, not sales reps. And so when an account would change territories, the historical data would stay locked in the old territory, making it extremely difficult to gauge how a territory was doing. MITS was able to provide the data in real time, going back upwards of 36 months. And if we made any changes, the MITS system reflected the changes without much assistance from IT."

Finally, all Tapco employees use iPads and Android phones to conduct business, and it was important for Brennan to find a tool that would not only run seamlessly across platforms, but also without install assistance from IT - or the cost of separate licenses for each device. Since MITS runs on a secure web-based platform, anyone with access to an internet browser could use the MITS system, anytime from anywhere. After consulting with the International Sales manager and ownership, Brennan was able to secure the decision to purchase MITS.

Tapco’s sales staff uses MITS daily to see who they are up with, as well as who they are down with, which is a critical point of focus for their company. “What is valuable with MITS is that they can show you exactly where the gains, or more importantly the losses, are happening in real time. Before MITS, we had ideas on where losses were occurring, but now we can pinpoint the downward trend with the account and take steps to mitigate or reverse it.”

To learn more, visit the MITS Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software? Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you? Please contact sjay@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

For 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

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