5 November 2008
Keeping Track: the Secret to Success
ASA Tire Systems
As a business owner, you know the secrets to success: time is money, satisfy the customer, and control your expenses. What can be difficult is staying on top of everything.
Our TreadX software application is specifically designed to handle the needs of tire dealers,” says Dave Duchesne, vice president of Sales of ASA Tire Systems. “It provides the technology needed to improve productivity, revenues, and overall customer and employee satisfaction.”
Starting with inventory, TreadX uses a mobile bar code reader that synchs with the software, allowing employees to quickly find the right product and to speed up physical inventory. The system also has already-built-in fields for RFID chip identification as they become more common.
TreadX manages inventory updates from sales, including orders in process; unlimited pricing levels for all accounts; automatic price change utilities; automatic calculation of adjustments; and complete costing and evaluation of all inventories. The system handles backorders, and even flags slow-moving items for you.
Point-of-sale features
At point-of-sale, TreadX offers a wide variety of features. “When we designed the software, we realized that most systems can process an invoice,” Duchesne says. “We wanted ours to do more by giving people at the counter the ability to sell more, and to sell more profitably. For example, when you’re looking at a tire, a picture of it will pop up on the screen, with all of the features, benefits and specifications. It allows them to sell all the benefits of the tire, rather than just price.”
The system can sort inventory by least to most expensive; it will show by quantity, allowing inventory reduction sales; it can process multiple orders on one screen; it integrates with accounting; it generates invoices and statements by printer, fax or email; and it features signature capture. The data can even be moved into Windows applications such as Excel, and downloaded into a PDA.
Tracking wholesale accounts
“With wholesale distribution, TreadX gives you all the point-of-sale benefits, and more,” Duchesne says. “It shows what route number the tire is going on, for example. When you buy direct from the manufacturer, you may have chain discounting, and it tracks all of these discounts and allows you to get a better handle on the true cost of distribution. It also tracks manufacturers’ programs, so you can know exactly what you’re owed for credit.”
ASA also offers Analytix, a suite of programs that lets users view their business data in many different ways, allowing for immediate identification of potential problems without waiting for end-of-month reports and eTireLink, an online wholesale service. The password-protected eTireLink system shows inventory, pricing, past invoices and payments, and includes live on-line ordering, with customer-specific pricing. “It’s like having a salesman available 24/7,” Duchesne says.
Keeping customers
“The benefits of our systems include being able to control your inventory, increasing sales at the counter, and reducing your accounts receivable,” he says. “At the retail end, you can send reminders to your customers that keep them coming in. One of the problems today isn’t getting new customers,but keeping the ones you have.
“Let’s say someone came in and needed brake work, but they didn’t have the time or money to do it today. The user makes a note, and next time the customer comes in, it will automatically pop up and you can sell it to them right then and there. TreadX is all about full customer care and marketing.”
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