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Success Story
Future Digital: Sales Improve 50% with ECi’s OMD®
Jim Sauerhoefer, owner of Future Digital, and OMD customer
for over 5 years
director of technology.
- Dealership:
- Future Digital
- Industry:
- Office Equipment
- No. Of Locations:
- 3
- Employees:
- 28
- Annual Sales:
- $2.5 million
- Future Digital Uses:
“It’s improved our sales process -- our close rate is 50 percent better with OMD than it would be otherwise,” says Jim Sauerhoefer,s owner of Future Digital, a Scottsdale, AZ-based office equipment dealership.
It’s a big claim to make for any piece of software, but one that’s been proven by the company’s success — and Sauerhoefer’s past experiences. As a former industry consultant, Sauerhoefer has extensive experience with ECi’s OMD management software. So when he bought Future Digital in September 2002, there was only one system he would trust to run his company.
our close rate is 50 percent better with OMD than it would be otherwise
Future Digital has been relying on OMD ever since. Sauerhoefer, an Air Force veteran, uses the software to manage just about every aspect of his copier business. The dealership uses OMD as its backend system, OMDNet™ and ECinteractive™ for web ordering, and OMD partner MWAi’s Intelligent Service for service dispatching, which helps him explain to customers how information goes directly to service technicians and how they can respond instantaneously.
Sauerhoefer says that using all of these components saves time and money, making his business more efficient.
“I think the way that I feel it works well is that it gives me the automation that you need to be competitive in today’s marketplace,” explains Sauerhoefer. “It gives us one source for contact for any kind of support-related questions.
“And the automated purchasing, the uploading capabilities with different vendors, even the automated purchase ordering from an email standpoint, these play well into our ability to talk track an electronic document management process and workflow solutions for our customers,” he continues.
Growing Revenues through Different Avenues
OMD and its e-commerce tools have also helped Sauerhoefer expand into other lines of business, thus increasing sales. Earlier this year, Future Digital went live with ECinteractive, enabling the sale of office products, a previously untapped source of revenue for the company. Future Digital began using OMDNet, OMD’s built-in online customer service module, about six months after implementing OMD as the backend system.
We have 3,500 different parts and we can find any given part within five seconds. I attribute that to OMD and our ability to manage our inventory.
OMDNet provides an online service desk where customers can log service calls, look up account information and enter their own meter readings. It also supports online ordering of consumables such as toner and ink cartridges. Sauerhoefer says that the majority of his toner and ink sales come through OMDNet, and all of his office products sales come through his ECinteractive site, mypaperclip.biz.
Added Benefits & Retaining Customers
OMD has also helped Future Digital go green by reducing paper use, and OMDNet helps keep customers happy. Sauerhoefer, or any of his 28 staffers, can sit down with customers and show them OMD and OMDNet, explaining to them how the system works. Being able to explain the system and inner workings helps Future Digital close deals and retain customers.
“Being able to be more paper-friendly by using our ERP really plays well with what we do,” says Sauerhoefer. “We can bring a client in here and explain to them and show them OMD. ‘This is how if you place an order or log a service call directly how it gets into our database in what method.’ Either they’re using PrintFleet, and we get the information automatically, or, more than likely, using OMDNet, and have a pager to show how that information gets sent right over to the technician that’s assigned to their territory.”
Sauerhoefer also stresses the importance of being able to issue a quote quickly to customers, a process entirely automated through OMD, as a retention tool.
Multiple-Location & Inventory Management
Future Digital is based in Scottsdale with locations in Gilbert/Chandler area of Arizona and Rio Rancho, NM. And Sauerhoefer is already making plans to celebrate his company’s tenth anniversary by opening a fourth location in 2012. Future Digital depends on OMD’s ability to manage its multiple locations and inventory.
What I like about OMD is that you can really determine where you're profitable and where you're not…
“We can obviously manage multiple warehouses, which we have. We have one in the east valley, we have this one in Scottsdale, and we have limited inventory in New Mexico,” says Sauerhoefer. “OMD helps us get the necessary detail reports to do the audits and checks and manage the transfers. It’s very easy for us to even manage the car stock because they have different bin sections so they can even find it quickly in their car stock if they carry a large stock.”
The ability to manage inventory has been of particular use for Future Digital, and Sauerhoefer even plays an inventory game with a fellow OMD user, Dale Fowler of Zeno Office Solutions in Midland, Texas. Sauerhoefer explains:
“I can’t not talk about the ability for us to manage our inventory. What we do with our inventory is very unique, and [Fowler is the] only other person I know [that does what we do]. We talk about it every now and again, and he’s a big fan of OMD as well. We used to challenge ourselves on how long it would take to look up an inventory item in OMD and find it, barcode it - because we barcode it when it comes in - and go find it on the shelf. We have probably 3,500 various, different parts and we can find any given part within five seconds. I attribute that to OMD and our ability to manage our inventory. So from an inventory standpoint and, of course, that has a large impact on cash flow.”
He adds: “OMD offers a good workflow for movement of inventory, and that’s probably what I like best about it.”
Financial Accountability
In a time where protecting your profits is essential to the long-term success of your business, having management software that helps you maintain financial integrity can make or break your company. Many systems allow audit trails to be turned off, which leaves businesses vulnerable. OMD is different.
“An important part of the accounting process is not only the financial integrity and financial information but the daily, the weekly, and the monthly accountability that you have to give your employees to make sure your cash is balancing to manage your accounts receivable and payables,” explains Sauerhoefer. “And because of the audit trails that OMD offers, you have these tools at your fingertips.”
But if you are interested in running daily reports, OMD can help with that, too. Sauerhoefer says, “You don’t have to be inundated with reports, you can look at views and quickly check certain things that need to be checked on a regular basis.”
Sauerhoefer also explains that the G/L trail balance helps him know where his business is profitable:
“What I like about OMD is that you can really determine where you’re profitable and where you’re not if you set up your financial reporting correctly. I’m convinced that there’s no other product out there that can run better than what OMD can.”
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