Ever see one of those big, beautiful rock-star touring buses on the highway and wonder who makes them? Well, ABC Bus Companies, Inc., could be the place. Founded in 1972, ABC Bus sells, leases, customizes, and services motorcoaches for companies and individuals throughout the U.S.
But purchasing one of these beauties of the Interstate can be complicated. There are literally hundreds of options. Some options can only be installed when other options are present. And, sometimes, if you purchase Option A, Option B automatically becomes unavailable. Sounds like the sort of thing a computer would be great at keeping track of, doesn’t it?
That’s the conclusion ABC Bus came to when it examined the situation. Until recently, their salespeople worked with printed forms on which they’d check off the options desired by a customer. Those forms would then be faxed or overnighted to ABC Bus’s central office where a specialist in preparing quotes would look up pricing information and prepare a formal quote, which was then sent to the customer and salesperson. It all took two to four days, and that was just too long.
Small Errors Cost Thousands
On top of the delay, there was the inefficiency of going through all the information twice, plus the pricing errors that crept into the process. After all, with a product costing $350,000 to $450,000, even an error of 1 percent amounts to thousands of dollars!
“It was really affecting the whole company,” says Barry Cummings, ABC Bus’s project manager. “It was having an impact on how well we could manage our opportunities, sales, and territories.”
Not only that, the paper-based system was a real impediment to providing good customer service. Jim Morrison, executive vice president of sales says, “We wanted to become more efficient so our people could be free to better serve our customers and their needs.”
ABC Bus was already using Sage SalesLogix to manage its sales operations, so when the company approached Sage Software Business Partner Charlie Kemmerer with their latest challenge, he suggested they check out Sage SalesLogix Configuration Engine (previously known as eConfiguration), a product of Sage Software.
Sage SalesLogix Configuration Engine simplifies the creation and maintenance of complex product rules and interdependencies, making the configuration and pricing of products or services as simple and error-free as possible. It works using grids very similar to the mileage charts found on the back of a road map: follow one row across and one column down to where they intersect. Then click to place a checkmark in the intersection and you’ve set up a product rule or exclusion.
"The quotes could be tied to the opportunities we already tracked in Sage SalesLogix...That means we know what’s happening with that customer all the way through the entire process.”
- Jim Morrison, Executive Vice President of Sales
ABC Bus Companies, Inc.
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Existing product information can be imported into the grid to get started, then Sage SalesLogix Configuration Engine can intelligently generate the tabs, radio buttons, and visual product groupings needed to configure complex products with greater ease and accuracy. Even the most intricate relationships can be quickly and easily set up.
Flexibility, Room to Grow, Advanced User Interface
ABC Bus looked at other configurators, but couldn’t find any with the flexibility, room to grow, advanced user interface, and price advantages Sage SalesLogix Configuration Engine offered. The company was also attracted by the ability to integrate it with their existing Sage SalesLogix system.
“The quotes could be tied to the opportunities we already tracked in Sage SalesLogix,” Morrison says. “So the quote could be tracked, too. That means we know what’s happening with that customer all the way through the entire process.”
“The end product is something we’re very proud of,” says Kemmerer. He particularly cited the ability to clone opportunities. This is especially helpful when a customer wants to order several coaches that are similar, but not exactly alike. A salesperson can configure one bus, then clone and modify that record.
Today, ABC Bus’s Sage SalesLogix system, including Sage SalesLogix Configuration Engine, is used by employees working on the company’s LAN, in six remote offices around the country, and by individual remote users. Salespeople, sales administrators, division and regional vice presidents, and the company’s COO all use the system.
Complex Quotes — Now!
Salespeople now prepare quotes quickly and simply, using portable printers to provide customers with details on the spot. What used to take the better part of a week is now accomplished in moments.
Plus, with the quote integrated into the customer’s record in Sage SalesLogix, it’s always available for review. “When they talk to the customer later, they can pull up the same information as when they were sitting right in front of that customer,” says Morrison. That adds up to better customer service!
He adds, “Our salespeople have been very pleased with the system. Manually prepared quotes are now required only on very, very specialized vehicles.”
Those benefits are being felt throughout the entire company. Sage SalesLogix Configuration Engine is being integrated with ABC Bus’s inventory software, as well as with its ERP system.
“Sage SalesLogix Configuration Engine eliminates any margin for error,” says Morrison.
Cummings sums it up simply, but well: “Everybody’s happy with the system.”
