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Accpac CRM gives channel partners the edge


Johannesburg, 14 May 2008

Jacqui Scorgie, Channel Marketing Manager, Softline Accpac, says the company's business partners who are using Accpac CRM within their own organisations have a compelling edge.

"What better way to empower partners than by giving them a tool that can manage their supplier and customer interactions, effectively help them to run their business, and improve processes through a central information exchange?" Scorgie says.

Initially, CRM helped vendors build customer data repositories, but didn't offer the means to do much with this data. However, Accpac CRM was created, from the onset, as a Web and wireless fully-fledged customer-centric application, which provides anytime, anywhere access.

"What a revelation if, as an ERP consulting business, you can access vital information relating to sales prospects or existing customers even if you're not in the office. And, what's more, Accpac CRM is fully integrated into Accpac ERP at the back-end," says Scorgie.

"This enables our partners to check vital accounting information and process transactions that would normally be done in the accounting system, while in CRM they can view customer credit limits or check on outstanding issues for that customer before providing them with further consulting services or selling them more products."

This single source of CRM information that is shared among users, keeping all departments in the loop, reinforces that "knowledge is power". It's like offering everyone in your business extreme insight into the organisation that, traditionally, only an MD could strive for, says Scorgie.

"This does away with top management having to have numerous applications running at the same time, and the plentiful demands being placed on each department's staff to report on the day-to-day dealings with each customer."

Typically, a solution provider would always run the risk of losing all the customer communication if a sales or implementation consultant was to leave the company. Now, with Accpac CRM, the information remains accessible to the company and is not necessarily coupled to only a few individuals.

"The more our partners know about their customers - what they are buying, whether they owe money, which new staff members have joined, what their SLA status is and if there are any outstanding support issues - the more they can focus on alleviating areas of concern and concentrate on future prospects," Scorgie says.

A winning work ethic for the Accpac channel partners who, ultimately, bill by the hour for their services. "Accpac CRM saves them time and, therefore, money by giving them a 360-degree view of the customer and enables them to plan ahead," Scorgie concludes.

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Softline ACCPAC

Softline ACCPAC is a global provider of business management solutions including financial, distribution, service management, retail, warehouse management, manufacturing and CRM to the mid-range market. Its solutions are delivered to 130 countries exclusively through its global network of solution providers including over 150 throughout Africa. Softline ACCPAC's product line includes: Accpac ERP, Accpac CRM, Accpac RMS, Accpac Warehouse Management System and Accpac Insight. = Enterprise resource planning (ERP) represents a broad set of activities supported by application software that helps an organisation manage the important parts of its business, such as product planning, purchasing and managing inventories, financial data, vendor relations, customer service and sales management. ERP systems are used to optimise internal business processes. The benefits of consolidating multiple functions within one application include standardisation, lower maintenance costs and easier, more-in-depth reporting capabilities.

Editorial contacts

Tracey
Watt Communications & G Watt Design
(011) 425 6290
tracey@wattcommunications.co.za