Success Stories

Activant Prophet 21 Helps Distributor Focus on Customer Service and Reduce Accounts Receivable Days

Paul Fazio's motto for running his business is simple: Answer the phone.

"I get very upset if an employee doesn't interrupt me to answer a ringing phone," says the president of Florida-based Sonny's Enterprises. "Customers always come first. They're why we're here."

To help his employees deliver top-notch customer service, Fazio relies on his Activant solution. "Prophet 21 manages the back-end processes for my customer service and sales representatives so they can focus on answering phones and helping customers," he says. "What good is taking an order if you can't fill it? Prophet 21 tells me what's in my warehouse on a minute-by-minute basis."

Fazio's philosophy must work. Sonny's annual sales revenue has grown from $2.5 million to more than $30 million in less than 10 years, while operating expenses have remained under control. Fazio expects Prophet 21 will help him double annual revenues to $60 million in another decade. "You can't afford to grow your business by hiring hundreds of people," he says. "You must do it with technology - by automating your processes."

Service, Service, Service

Becoming the largest American distributor of equipment, parts, and supplies to the independent conveyorized car wash market didn't happen by accident, Fazio says. It only happened when his employees exceeded customer expectations.

Customers expect Sonny's to provide them with the highest quality products - everything from air supply equipment to portable pressure washers - in a timely, friendly manner, and Sonny's delivers.

Prophet 21's strong inventory management tools have helped Sonny's improve inventory accuracy rates by more than 70 percent. As a result, the company completely fills and ships 99.8 percent of orders within hours of receipt - a 10 percent improvement from the company's pre-Prophet 21 days.

"We've developed a great reputation," Fazio says. "People know they get what they need when they call Sonny's, and they get it right away." Prophet 21 helps make a commodity industry more profitable: Because of its impressive reputation, Sonny's can compete on a performance - not price - basis, resulting in increased profit margins.

"Our customers know that ordering from someone less expensive won't necessarily get them their product when they need it," Fazio says. "We've convinced them that our reliability is worth a few extra dollars - especially when their business is on the line."

Accounting for 10,000 Customers

Almost 10,000 customers regularly place orders with Sonny's. After all, with 9,000 SKUs and an inventory value that tops $3 million, the company can virtually guarantee to have what their customers need.

Prophet 21 helps Sonny's ensure each customer stays happy. Because all account-, customer-, and order-related data is available from one screen, Sonny's employees can offer any information a customer might request - without transferring him from department to department. "Even if a customer calls to ask about an invoice, I can tell him about orders on the way or other available products," says Laura O'Neill, assistant controller. "Customers are much less frustrated; no one likes being transferred three times."

Prophet 21's real-time financial information has helped O'Neill provide superior customer service. "I always feel comfortable telling a customer exactly where he stands," she says. B2B Seller, a fully integrated, Web-based storefront, also helps improve satisfaction: "Customers can go online to get any information they need anytime," Fazio says.

Like any company, Sonny's must contend with a handful of customers who don't pay bills on time. Automated dunning letters and a highly functional Cash Collections module have helped accounting staff reduce accounts receivable (AR) days by 30 percent. Perhaps most importantly, accounts aged over 90 days have dropped from 19 percent to 11 percent.

"Customers demand more as costs rise. You've got to do things through technology to get more out of your people," Fazio says. "Prophet 21 is a tool that will continue to help us become better, faster, more profitable, and easier to deal with."

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