Frank Collier & Associates, a Port Elizabeth-based value-added reseller of accounting and manufacturing packages of 20 years, has been appointed as the region`s first HEAT VAR.
As a start, the company has installed HEAT for its own use to ensure customer service-levels remain high. FCA`s MD, Frank Collier notes that his company suffers from the same problems many service-oriented companies do - too few staff members servicing a large number of customers. The resulting danger is that customer calls can easily get lost in the course of business.
"Keeping customers in this tough economic climate means having to deliver excellent service, all the time," Collier adds. "To this end, FCA has implemented a ten-seat HEAT solution to maintain its high service levels." "HEAT has so many benefits that it also opens a broad market for us", says Collier, who is not only set on targeting his current client-base with HEAT, but also sees the product opening a separate line of business with new customers, especially in the banking and local authority sectors.
Collier has identified a growing market for greater and more effective customer relationship management (CRM) in companies across the country and foresees solid growth for customer management solutions in the future.
"Companies interested in retaining customers are moving to CRM solutions," says Johan Botha, general manager of Ixchange`s GoldMine division in SA. "In this model, companies horizontally integrate all customer interactions, including sales, marketing and customer support functions."
The news that GoldMine is to be integrated into Ixchange`s CRM solution is also welcome, with Collier looking forward to the potential benefits the integrated product will be able to offer his clients.
"The combination of HEAT and GoldMine will provide true CRM and FrontOffice functionality," Botha says.
FCA is also considering incorporating Ixchange`s Ability suite of supply chain management software into its product-list, which will open more doors in the distribution market.
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Ixchange
Ixchange is the only listed South African company solely focused on developing its own software. The company has an entrenched leadership position in the front-office with its HEAT and GoldMine products and a leadership position in the back-office with its ABILITY suite of products.
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