Activant Falcon Helps Raise Profit Margins at A.H. Bennett Company
Thankfully, Y2K has disappeared from our vocabulary and the nightly news. But in 1999, the crisis was real for A.H. Bennett Company, a distributor of roofing, siding and windows located in the Upper Midwest. Stuck with a computer system that didn't accept the year 2000, they went looking for a new solution. After reviewing six systems, A.H. Bennett Company selected Activant Falcon™ for its flexible pricing features, customer-service-oriented applications and compatibility with the building materials industry.
The live date was set for February 1, 1999, immediately following physical year-end inventory. A.H. Bennett Company wanted to start with a clean slate, knowing the exact quantities available in inventory. The conversion went smoothly due to Falcon's integrated design that links customer data through the many applications. Since that time, A.H. Bennett Company has gone live with additional modules, including CyberQuery and Document Imaging.
Standardized Pricing Raises Margins and Customer Satisfaction
To achieve their revenue goal and a top-three ranking in the markets they serve, A.H. Bennett Company focuses on customer service. "Management is very customer-service-driven," says Denise Silnes, manager of information systems and administrative support."We want to provide the best customer service, and with Falcon's contract pricing, Quotes& Bids, and Document Imaging, we can do that."
A.H. Bennett Company uses Falcon's flexible pricing matrix to establish margins for commercial and residential customers. "Falcon helps us classify our customers so we can give them the best price possible," says Denise. "Falcon has raised our margins because prices are standardized." Falcon's pricing capability eliminates incorrect pricing and transaction reversals—like charge backs and credits—that consume valuable time and compromise goodwill. "With Falcon Quotes & Bids, we make sure customers have the right pricing for the job, which gives them peace of mind."
CyberQuery: Endless Flexibility to Review and Export Data
Although Falcon comes complete with a myriad of management reports, many Activant customers rely on CyberQuery, a report-generation tool, to deliver an unlimited variety of reports. Denise has been using CyberQuery to report customer purchases by vendor, for instance. "Lately we've been running promotions that target particular customers and encourage them to buy products from specific vendors," she says. "I also export banking data to Excel using CyberQuery,. Accounting reconciles the bank statement using that file."
Annual Inventory Takes Less Time With Falcon
"The Falcon inventory program is 100 percent better than what we had before. Entering inventory counts in Falcon is so intuitive that the A.H. Bennett Company branch locations now do it themselves," asserts Denise, who runs reports at the end of the day to see which areas require a second count or audit. "Falcon reduces our inventory workload by about a day. We're more productive because more than one person can enter data at a time."
With Document Imaging, the File Cabinet Sits on Your Desktop
Denise can't say enough about Document Imaging and its positive impact on their business. In fact, she claims the application has paid for itself within the first year. "We've cut down on the number of invoices and the processing time. We no longer pay for pre-printed forms. Because we don't mail invoices as often, we save money in postage, especially during the summer months when we create the greatest volume of invoices."
Document Imaging has been a lifesaver for A.H. Bennett Company. "Before Document Imaging, we'd go to the file cabinet and frequently the invoice we wanted wouldn't be there," commented Denise. "With Document Imaging, we don't even have to leave our desk. We get the information within 30 seconds. Best of all, when a customer calls and requests a copy of his invoice, it's just a matter of entering a couple numbers and faxing it right from the computer. They're happy, and we're happy."
