Customer case
Keyser & Mackay takes next step in data-driven sales with Archie
Many companies working with SAP or another comprehensive ERP package make the decision to fall back on this suite for CRM as well. Understandable if you look at it from an IT architecture perspective. But short-sighted if you look at functionality and flexibility. That's why Keyser & Mackay decided to return to Archie. "We are getting ready to take the next step in data-driven work," he said.
The benefits of working with Archie
Also accessible without logging into the corporate network
Very extensive reporting capabilities
More structure in the sales funnel
About Keyser & Mackay
Keyser & Mackay is an international distributor of performance chemicals. These are raw materials that add a certain property to a product, such as defoaming, thickening or wetting. Customers are manufacturers of paints, food products, sealants, plastics, cosmetics and other companies that "mix and stir" themselves, in short, the formulating industry. Keyser & Mackay represents approximately 1,500 products from 100 manufacturers. For more information, visit www.keysermackay.com.
Wholesale
Industry
130 FTE
Company size
Offices in seven European countries, headquartered in Amsterdam
Location
Pipeline management, reporting
Use cases
Archie CRM
Product
The right software for every back office task
The main task of ERP is to ensure that all back-office processes run smoothly: that orders are processed properly, orders are delivered on time, invoices are correct and paid on time. These are processes that you need to tighten up, without too many variations on the standard process.
Relationship management and sales are processes of a much less structured nature. If you are going to support these processes software-wise, you don't need software that pushes you into a straitjacket, but rather gives you flexibility. Software that understands that there are multiple roads to Rome and that makes it possible to guide those different roads with the right information at the right time.
Greater flexibility and ease of use beyond ERP-CRM integration
The main reason Gerard de Waal, managing partner of Keyser & Mackay, responded positively to a call from Archie. Keyser & Mackay had been a satisfied customer for years, until they opted to integrate CRM into the ERP package. "We found out that although SAP can support a lot of sales processes in theory, in practice you have much less flexibility. The software is less user-friendly and offers fewer options to deviate from a standard path."
Gerard de Waal - Managing Partner
"We have a long sales process that consists of several stages. In Archie, we can monitor the sales funnel in a very targeted way."
Easy integration of ERP and CRM
Reason for Gerard to work with Archie again. But under the condition that the IT architecture would not become more complex. Therefore, the integration of ERP and CRM was kept simple: all deliveries run through SAP.
Only "new business" is brought in through Archie. The link between Archie and SAP is one-way traffic: data on existing customers is automatically transferred into Archie. Data on new customers and suppliers must be manually retyped from Archie into SAP. "That is not an issue, because there are not hundreds of them per year," says Gerard.
Advantages
Archie offers some distinct advantages over SAP's CRM module.
1. To be used outside the corporate network
"You can also use Archie securely without being logged into the corporate network. This is especially convenient on the go, if you use the Archie smartphone app," Gerard says. "After all, you're then working over the mobile network. If you want to look something up quickly, you don't have to set up a VPN tunnel through the Keyser & Mackay network first, you can just open the Archie app. That makes it very user-friendly."
2. Many reporting options
Archie also offers many more opportunities to match supplier requirements in terms of reporting. He clarifies, "We operate as an extension of suppliers, as an intermediary between customer and supplier. This means that we feed a lot of information about customers back to suppliers. In addition to our own reports, we therefore also fill in all kinds of supplier reports. In the past, that was often manual work because there is so much variety in what suppliers want to know. Archie is so flexible that we can build any type of report, even in the specific layout that suppliers want. That just saves a lot of time."
3. Sales funnel targeted monitoring
A third benefit Gerard wants to single out is bringing more structure to the sales funnel. "The main goal of our sales is to make sure our products end up in new chemical formulations. That is a long journey consisting of several phases. In one phase we have to be proactive, in the other we have to take a wait-and-see role. In Archie we now have much more insight into that trajectory. We can monitor it very specifically and give the right attention to the right leads at the right time. We expect to be able to bring more opportunities to commercial success as a result."
Continuous improvement
About the cooperation with Archie, he is very satisfied. "We chose them because for Archie we are a valued customer to whom they are happy to listen. There are CRM suites from foreign suppliers that are much richer in functionality, but with those companies we are at the back of the queue when we have certain wishes. Whereas Archie actually welcomes our feedback because it helps them improve their software. Not all our wishes have been implemented yet, but we are well on our way. A few more months and then we will have software that fits us like a custom suit, without the need for customization. With that, we achieve 'the best of both worlds': a simple architecture as well as an environment that fits our processes exactly."
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