Fronde's mobile solution improves service for TWL customers

TWL needed a way for sales staff in the field to access stock information directly and immediately. Fronde’s custom software solution for the Blackberry device transformed TWL’s business by allowing their sales staff to access product information literally at their fingertips.

"Fronde's development approach worked very well for us. They focused on quickly delivering a working application which our sales team could use and give feedback on. Fronde were always very responsive and engaged directly with our staff to develop an application which met our requirements exactly”

Patrick Singh, TWL’s Auckland Area Manager.

Client

Transport Wholesale Limited (TWL) is one of New Zealand’s leading suppliers of transport and engineering supplies to the commercial transport industry.

Challenge

TWL’s head office is in Christchurch, and it has warehouses around New Zealand. Sales staff are regionally based and often need information on a particular part. This can include price, stock levels, availability and the number of current orders.

Sales people were phoning TWL’s two main offices in Auckland and Christchurch for current stock information. Both of these warehouses also sell directly to customers and the constant interruption meant a decrease in customer service levels and an increase in employee frustration.

Process

TWL was looking for an IT partner that could deliver a robust solution, with all the necessary functionality, and do so quickly and painlessly. Not all sales staff are equally tech savvy, so the solution had to be intuitive and easy to use and with offices all around the country, it had to be simple to roll out.

Fronde used the existing requirements document and worked with TWL to refine it, by identifying the highest priority functionality to enable a quick delivery. As a result, the project was split into two phases, allowing TWL to achieve business value as quickly as possible. Phase one involved enabling staff to enquire about stock levels, location and orders using their Blackberry device and Fronde set out to build the solution right away.

Outcome

TWL has 41 sales staff now accessing real-time stock information via Blackberry from around the country.

“We’ve noticed that calls to our Auckland and Christchurch warehouses have decreased dramatically,” says Singh. “As a result, productivity has risen, both for staff at these warehouses who have more time to deal with customers face-to-face, and for the regional sales people who now have this vital information at their fingertips," says Patrick Singh, TWL’s Auckland Area Manager.

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