Customer case
Atlantic makes processes transparent with Archie
Several tens of thousands of euros per year, that's what Atlantic Belgium used to lose in margin because discounts were misreported to colleagues, invoices went missing and planning was ineffective. The investment in Archie was therefore quickly recouped. Now that the primary processes are in place, it is time to shift the focus to identifying the most profitable prospects and customers.
The benefits of working with Archie
Far fewer errors
Working more efficiently
Better information transfer
About Groupe Atlantic
Groupe Atlantic is a manufacturer of boilers, water heaters, air conditioning and ventilation systems for both the business and consumer markets. Its products are sold under the Atlantic, Thermor, Pacific, Ygnis and Hamworthy brand names. The Belgian branch is the sales office for the Benelux. For more information visit www.groupe-atlantic.com.
Production
Industry
500+ FTE
Company size
Belgium
Location
Relationship management, projects and service
Use cases
Archie CRM
Product
Fewer errors
Groupe Atlantic manufactures boilers, water heaters, air conditioning and ventilation systems for both the commercial market (shopping centers, office complexes, factories) and the residential (homes). To properly serve these different audiences, the company has five brands, each sold through its own distribution channel. In one channel, wholesalers play an important role; in another, Groupe Atlantic again works closely with installation companies. And then there is the company's service branch, which provides maintenance on existing installations.
In every market and channel, the sales process is structured differently, but there are always multiple handover moments between quote request, sales, after sales and accounting. Until three years ago, that information was shared via word, excel, e-mail and phone. That is why things sometimes went wrong: a salesman forgot to inform his colleague in the administration department that he had agreed a discount with the customer, so that the wrong invoice was sent out. Or a salesperson forgot to follow up on a quotation request.
"We were just making too many mistakes in our processes. Things were falling between the cracks, with the result that we wasted a lot of time figuring out where things had gone wrong and fixing the mistake. If we forgot to charge a discount, the customer would automatically raise the alarm and we would send a credit note. But the reverse also occurred: we under-invoiced some customers. As a result, we lost sales," Hans van der Perre summarizes the situation a few years ago.
Van der Perre is managing director of the Benelux sales office. He spoke to headquarters about the situation. A custom package had been developed there that, while addressing some of the problems, did not, in his view, provide the necessary transparency. In his previous job, Van der Perre had worked with Archie. He knew that this software did offer all the functionality that Atlantic Belgium needed and was also very user-friendly.
"That is a prerequisite if you want everyone to use the software," he believes. With a convincing presentation, he got the green light from French headquarters to partner with Archie. "But the headquarters did set very clear targets," he laughs. "After all, we had outlined some pretty impressive improvement opportunities and now we had to start living up to them."
"Archie provides all the functionality Atlantic needs and is also very user-friendly."
Structured work
Maureen Brynaert, who had recently been hired through an outsourcing agency to bring more line into the project sales process, was responsible for the implementation project. "The main change is that we moved from an adhoc way of working to a very structured way of working," she says. "That was a breath of fresh air for some and a huge adjustment for others. Where salespeople used to deal with information rather casually, we now say: if it's not in Archie, it doesn't exist." To encourage them to record the information properly, their year-end bonus has been made partially dependent on it. "Account managers themselves thus also benefit from properly recording agreements with customers."
Better information transfer
As key account manager, Brynaert is now responsible for major wholesalers. Whereas she primarily manages the work in the office, she has a full-time employee on the road visiting relationships. "For information transfer between us, Archie means a huge improvement. My colleague enters the call reports into Archie and I can make a printout at the end of the week of the customers he visited and the things that were discussed. Of course we also call a lot, but the basic information transfer is all done through Archie. We now spend less time consulting, while I am still better informed."
"The transfer of basic information is all done through Archie. We now spend less time consulting, while I am still better informed."
Relationship structures insightful
In addition, Archie has made the relationship structure more transparent. Van der Perre cites boiler maintenance in the commercial market as an example. "Our customer is the installer who installed the boiler, but for maintenance we have contact with the owner of the boiler. The invoice often has to be sent to a different address, for example to the head office while the maintenance was performed at a branch office. It used to happen quite often that an invoice went to the wrong address because we had not clearly defined this relationship structure."
Maintenance history at hand
Another advantage is that in Archie the history can now be viewed at the push of a button: which parts have already been replaced? What malfunctions have there been in the past? "This allows us to plan maintenance better, because you can estimate which parts need replacement."
Closing the loop & interconnected
Although far from all improvement opportunities have been exploited, the investment has long since paid for itself. Two terms are central to this: closing the loop and interconnected. "From the very first moment of customer contact to paying the invoice and even after sales, it's all in Archie now," says Brynaert. "Because of that integral insight, there is much less consultation needed between the different departments."
She gives another example: "Salespeople now see what the payment behavior of customers is and how many invoices are outstanding. Previously, they had to ask the accounting department whether a customer was solvent. They sometimes forgot that, so we sometimes had to write off invoices unnecessarily."
"Archie contributes to cost savings because processes have become more efficient and effective."
Phased implementation
The initial implementation of Archie was done in three months. The project module was central to this. Step by step, departments and functionalities were then added, such as the helpdesk module and various reports. Three years later, the basics are in place and Atlantic Belgium wants to take the next step.
"We can get even more return from our work if we better assess the success rate of quotations in advance. We are currently still chasing too much after every quotation, with the result that we actually put too little energy into the orders we really want to win."
In other words: Archie now contributes primarily to cost savings because processes have become more efficient and effective. "In the future, I expect that we will be able to bring in more customers by scoring bids on urgency and opportunity. Then the knife cuts both ways," Van der Perre concludes.
Just take a seat behind the wheel!
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