Customer Programs Reporting Portal Software Application developed by Anagha

Need: A large US based organization distributing fiber glass based building materials such as insulation, roofing, and siding and composites uses the distribution channel to reach their end customers. The number of dealers reselling the materials is over 10,000. Since these dealers procure the materials from the distributors (and not directly from the organization), the company’s marketing team does not have the full visibility to their transactions. Also, the marketing funds assigned to the dealers (based on their purchases) remained unused, since they don’t have direct access to the funding availability and utilization reports.

Solution: The data available from the Customer Programs database was used to generate detailed reports of products purchased and marketing funds used for the program. The company’s sales team (regional managers, area sales managers and sales support personnel) were provided with a centralized web based reporting portal. The online reports available include periodic summary and details reports with drill downs. Slice and dice functionality was provided to analyze the purchase invoices, fund approvals, products purchased and claims made. The dealers were also provided with quarterly activity statements to enhance the marketing and co-op funding availability for their sales efforts.

Technology: This application was developed based on the existing instances of other applications within the organization, leveraging the hardware, software and hosting platform. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and ASP was used as the developing platform to coexist with the current technology, though the application was developed recently. This approach was necessary to use the Single Sign-On concept used by the end users to login to the applications in order to avoid multiple logins.

Methodology: Anagha Group used an on-site – off-shore hybrid model to develop this application in a short span of time reducing the total cost of the project by over 30%. The customer team had access to the development web server of Anagha Group and reviewed the contents on continuous basis, apart from weekly reviews. The changes necessary were incorporated immediately without waiting for the formal review and testing sessions. This resulted in immense end user satisfaction, as they owned the process throughout the project.

Results: The sales team got full visibility to the end customers and hence can direct their marketing efforts to the appropriate customers. The effective usage of marketing fund increased considerably resulting in significant customer value addition.