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Arc/400

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 


 
 
Arc/400

Why You Need Arc/400

ARC/400 Distribution is the Advanced Resource Control system which empowers your people, improving your competitive advantage and reducing your operating costs. This system is designed for the wholesale product distributor, manufacturer, or direct sales concern where improved service to customers through streamlined internal operations and effective personal support are essential. ARC/400 is very easy to use; very fast in its response; quite powerful with the fewest keystrokes; and as intuitive and automatic as possible. It is equal to the task of keeping up with the expectations and performance demands of your people.

HOW DOES THE CUSTOMER BENEFIT?
Accuracy
The sales person is empowered to completely specify the exact customer requirements. Fewer people are involved so there is less chance for errors and mistakes.
Information
All needs can be handled in one telephone call. The sales person has access to sales, service, shipping, customer support, AR and other information. There is no need for transfers to others or for call backs.
Information
The sales person sounds infinitely informed about products. Features, benefits, catalog descriptions, etc. are readily available to the sales person to relay direct to the customer. This is especially useful for the more obscure or less well known titles. Great for new people on the phones.
Speed
Standard shipping is same day. Warehouse personnel are usually packing the item for the customer within one hour of order entry.
Information and Fast
Letters, specification sheets, marketing literature, and other printed items can be faxed to the customer while the customer is still on the telephone. The customer has his/her answers while the request is still hot!
Accuracy
Invoices and financial information are delivered to the customer exactly as expected. Printed items are easily understood so the customer can process them faster. In special needs, invoices and statements can be faxed to the customer immediately.
Time Factor
Because information is so readily available to the sales person, calls can be shorter with respect for the time of the customer. The customer gets what he/she needs fast and without hassle.
Accuracy Again
Special needs are communicated to the sales person one time and are used by ARC/400 thereafter. Some of these special needs are pre-pay and credit card sales, multiple invoice requirements, special preview periods, discounting agreements, backorder options (ship complete, accept backorders, etc.), PO requirements, taxation requirements, etc.
HOW DOES THE SALES PERSON BENEFIT?
Better Calls
You make better calls when you sound informed and knowledgeable to the customer. You have ready access to past call notes, sales history, customer personal data, product features and benefits, and lots more information.
Making More Calls
The system is designed to get each call started fast, to get to the point quickly during the call, and to conclude the call with the required feedback to the ARC/400. Then you are onto the next call.
Quality Calls
Call planning is performed by both the supervisor and the sales person. Calls may be automatically scheduled based upon previous sales history of the customer and how long it has been since the customer was last talked to. The point is that your best customers and prospects do not get lost in the shuffle.
Assured Follow Up
Follow ups are planned immediately after each call and ARC/400 will not let you forget about the follow up. Additionally, ARC/400 can actually schedule a call for you when any Preview or Rental is shipped. The call is scheduled for the last day of the usage period when the benefits and quality of the product are fresh in the customer's mind.
A Memory Like An Elephant
ARC/400 not only remembers what you did with a customer last time, it will inform you of what all others did as well. ARC/400 keeps a diary for each customer contact so you can quickly review the previous calls. You can bet that the customer remembers what you talked about, so you had better as well.
Knowing Where One Stands
Sales people are judged on performance. This is often measured in sales dollars, booked dollars, numbers of calls, numbers of contacts during a day, and other statistics. Yes, ARC/400 keeps this for the manager, but also makes this information available to the sales person. The sales person has immediate and real time information about his/her personal performance so that deficiencies can be corrected right away.
Planning Calls
The sales person can get a great Overview of the workload by looking at a calendar with the number of planned calls specified per day. You are alerted to peaks and valleys so that new calls will be planned to spread out the work load. Additionally, calls can be listed by day. If you are working a specific calling campaign or only certain call priorities, this is easily done.
You are in Control
ARC/400 empowers the sales person with the tools to specify exactly what needs to be done to make the customer happy. No one else needs to get involved. It is the sales person who makes the promises to the customer; ARC/400 lets the sales person fulfill the promises.
HOW DOES THE SALES MANAGER BENEFIT?
Call Planning
Plan call campaigns for your people. For example, schedule a call for everyone who has purchased a specific product in the last 18 months but has not been called in the last two months. ARC/400 will select the contacts to call and schedule the call in the call queue of the assigned sales person.
Knowing Where Your People Stand
A simple menu selection will give you real time statistics of your people as of NOW! So, at 11am, for example, you can review the performance of each person so far that day. If there is a problem then you can act upon it before it really becomes a problem.

Important statistics are: booked orders for the day, invoiced sales for the day, number of calls, number of contacts, number of sales, number of previews, number of letters sent, etc.

Call Queue Statistics
A statistics report will assure you that work loads are sufficient. The call queue statistics report will tell you the number of calls in each call queue, number planned within a week, number planned next week, the number by priority codes and by campaign codes.

A call queue calendar will tell you the number of calls scheduled by person per day starting with the oldest call.

Both of these tools will assist you to get the most performance from your sales people.

Assuring Call Back Standards
You can establish standards for call backs. For example, all locations in the top 50 percentile of business in the last 12 months ought to be called every 60 days. ARC/400 will schedule these calls as they are ready to be made.
Sales Reporting
Various reports are available to show sales by sales person. Some include by product and by order line type. Other reports to your exact specifications are available using the QUERY/400 report writer or various PC based SQL reporting tools.
Campaign Statistics
Call campaigns, like mailing campaigns, create statistics automatically as events occur within ARC/400. Some of these events are: a sales person calls a customer about a particular sales campaign, an order is taken, billings occur, etc. See the next section for more detail.

 

 

 

 

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