Case Summary:

Auto & RV Publications are published weekly as an effort to assist those who are buying or selling new or used vehicles.  In the past 11 years, Auto & RV’s distribution has grown from two states to seven.  This growth process has created the need for a better distribution management solution.

Original distribution process:

• Distribution Routes had been stored in Microsoft Excel.  Each Route was organized within its own document.
• Each Route Driver would receive a printed copy of their Route and hand write corrections and updates to the Routes.  Adding Stops, changing quantities, updating addresses, and cataloging returns were all tracked.
• Route sheets ran on a 4 week cycles and were returned to corporate with 4 weeks of hand written data.
• Each sheet was used to update the corresponding Excel document.

Problems caused by this process:

• Visibility into the data was very cumbersome and time consuming.  No reporting was available to analyze a Route or an individual Stop.
• All historical data was overwritten as the Excel document was updated.
• The Excel files were unsecured and exposed on the shared network drive.
• Mapping of the routes was a manual process that involved printing an area map and using a highlighter to color code Stops along Routes.
• Growth of the product was hitting limitations due to excessive distribution effort.
• Customer service was not able to guide a caller to their nearest book.  All callers had to be patched through to the one distribution employee.

Pinnacle’s solution: 

Our original goal was to migrate from Excel to a centralized database.  Microsoft Access was chosen as the front end for the solution.  This worked great for several years, but as Auto & RV continued to grow, it became clear that the best plan would be to utilize Microsoft Dynamics CRM to best manage distribution data and processes.

Benefits of integrating CRM into Auto & RV Publications distribution process:

• Improved Visibility and Retention – CRM allows for advanced user ad-hoc searches and development of standard reports.  Weekly route data is built and saved allowing for basic reporting and exposing trends.
• Security and Segregation of Duties – Role based security allows for multiple users to be assigned specific job functions.  Granular permissions to add, edit, and delete various data types ensures data integrity.
• Route Mapping – Microsoft Virtual Earth is used to permit the users to see an individual Stop plotted automatically on a map.  With an additional custom process, users are able to view every stop along a given route sequentially numbered on a map.
• CRM allows for Audit Tracing – Out of the box Modified By tracking and additional custom data tracking allows for visibility into who changed what data and when.
• Increased Growth Potential – Inherent multi-user capabilities and the power of Microsoft’s SQL Server, CRM has allowed Auto & RV to grow without distribution logistics throttling the operation.  Distribution has increased from 2 or 3 publications to over 13.  This growth was accomplished with hiring just 1 additional employee.
• Improved customer service – Callers no longer have to wait for a distribution expert to help them find a book.  Route data is integrated to the AutoRV.com web site allowing web users to find their nearest book.  All CRM users have an Advanced Find allowing them to instantly search for books near a caller.