Electrical wholesaler leading the way in a challenging marketplace thanks to sales-i.
- 4,000 products
- 3 branches
The Overview.
Alert Electrical is home to one of the widest selections of electrical products in the UK, stocking everything from light switches and heaters to showers, burglar alarms and CCTV systems. Primarily serving the electrical trade, contractors and individual consumers, the business has grown at an incredible rate since its establishment back in 1994.
The Challenge.
The electrical industry is one that is becoming increasingly dominated by price, however an excellent level of customer service allows Alert Electrical to maintain a truly loyal customer base. But the company was no stranger to the fact that they needed to up efficiencies, streamline their processes and take the next logical step in keeping their business at the forefront of competition.
With multiple branches across the Midlands selling in excess of 4,000 products, the company prides itself on competitive pricing and a level of customer service that is second to none. But little active account insight and a heavy reliance on spreadsheets for month end reporting meant Sales Director, Chris Horobin had to devote a large amount of time to manually produce these ‘homemade’ documents.
The Solution.
While the business was not actively searching for a business intelligence solution, the requirement for such a system was soon magnified after seeing sales-i in action.
“I spoke to a couple of friends and colleagues in the industry that were using the system and we knew that it would be the next thing for us as a company in order to have all of the information we needed to hand quickly,” says Chris.
"We are using sales-i as our central information system within the company."
Chris Horobin, Sales Director
The Results.
With sales-i, everyone at Alert Electrical is reading off the same page. Prospects are being logged efficiently, existing accounts are being better serviced and customer satisfaction is better than ever. “We are using sales-i as our central information system within the company so we are all able to access it, no matter where we are, to see what is going on with any particular accounts,” says Chris.
A price led industry doesn’t guarantee, by any means, that the ‘big boys’ always reign superior and the introduction of sales-i at the company has meant that they are always on top of their game when it comes to pricing. “We are using sales-i to identify when and where our margins may be slipping. If we are being undercut by a chain retailer, we know quickly and can work to rectify this for our customers,” Chris adds.
The Future.
Having a shared source of information for every customer, prospect and account means that every interaction is monitored and logged, any changes in spending behavior can be quickly remedied and customer service is at an all time high. sales-i has allowed the team to access all relevant information about a customer quickly, with the assurance that this data is always up to date.
Alert Electrical started the year on a high following an impressive one before and this is only set to continue for the foreseeable future. sales-i is helping the team to stay on track with their customers and continue their upward trend.
