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Increasing Usage Helps Decrease Operational Costs and Improve Productivity

YARDLEY, PA, July 28, 2005 - The cost of staffing a customer service department to field questions and take orders any time of the day or night - from anywhere in the world - puts providing this service out of reach of most distributors. Yet offering customers access to around-the-clock service can increase sales and strengthen customer loyalty.

So what's a distributor to do?

If you're Joe Murphy, COO of Arbill Safety, a Philadelphia-based safety supply and equipment distributorship, you invest in a Web-based storefront that integrates to your enterprise software solution.

B2B Seller, Prophet 21's Web-based storefront solution for distributors, gives Arbill the upper hand during negotiations with national accounts by offering them real-time, specific access to price and availability information. "Companies with branches across the country always ask how we'll work with their West Coast locations," said Murphy. "Our B2B Seller site answers that question for us now."

Murphy notes that orders regularly come in after normal business hours and on weekends. "We know we're catching sales that might have slipped through the cracks before," he said. "It's really satisfied a need for our customers."

Best of all, customers enjoy using the site, with usage increasing steadily. Ten percent of Arbill's revenue streamed through the site just six months after it went live, and Murphy expects that figure to continue to increase.

"Prophet 21 developed B2B Seller to help distributors offer world-class service," said Chuck Boyle, Prophet 21 president and CEO. "Companies like Arbill are really taking advantage of this solution to outsmart and out-service the competition."

Improving Retention, Strengthening Reputation

Murphy also noticed that retention rates among customers using the site are higher than among those phoning in their orders. "It's just like anything else," he said. "If your bank has great online tools, you'll be less likely to leave because it makes your life easier."

The site benefits Arbill in other ways, too. "It's helped our account representatives focus on generating more sales, instead of answering routine questions," he said.

Murphy credits his B2B Seller site with helping his company strengthen its reputation. "It's certainly helping us gain national recognition," he said. "We're winning bigger, better accounts because we can offer services our competitors can't."

About Arbill Safety Products

Arbill Safety Products has been safely leading the world to work for 60 years by providing impeccable customer service and cost-effective solutions. Headquartered in Philadelphia with additional locations, the company is a national supplier and manufacturer of safety products and services. Arbill is one of the top 100 industrial distributors in North America, and ISO 900 certified. The company was also recently certified by the Women's Business Development Center as a Women's Business Enterprise. Visit online at www.arbill.com.

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