How did Rocheleau increase its sales volume without increasing the size of its sales teams? To meet this objective, Rocheleau launched an e-commerce website. To have all the advantages of a platform that is fully integrated into her ERP software, the director of operations, with the support of the management team, adopted Fidelio. The company’s online sales increased from 0 to 32% in 2012 and to 55% in 2020. How is Rocheleau using Fidelio to implement its e-commerce and growth strategy?
THE CHALLENGERocheleau, a Quebec wholesaler specializing in hardware for kitchen furniture and cabinets, has depended on the automation of its operations to support its growth since 2007. In 2012, the company decided to integrate a B2B e-commerce platform with its ERP software system.
The SME aims to achieve two main goals:
Competitiveness: automate its sales processes to compete internationally
Human Resources: increase its sales without hiking up the number of employees and fill the need for specialized labour in Quebec.
To meet this double objective, Marie-France, the director of operations, knows she has to change her ERP software. Indeed, the company quickly realizes that the management software they chose two years ago, despite its being a world-renowned brand, cannot easily integrate an online sales site. Problems in communication between the ERP developer and the integrator complicate the project.
Marie-France thus decides to trust Fidelio: a Quebec developer – integrator.
Indeed, she wants:
1. An e-commerce platform built into the ERP to make automation of her sales processes easier and provide real-time access to information.
2. The possibility of progressively adding to the system as the needs of the company evolve. In fact, Rocheleau provides its customers with advanced personalized options, a veritable trademark of this SME: the website must, therefore, be able to evolve and adapt to customer demand.
3. A close relationship with the developer and no intermediary to make communication easier and ensure
the success of the project.
THE MEASURES IMPLEMENTED TO EASE THE E-COMMERCE TRANSITION AND INCREASE SALES
Introducing an e-commerce platform remains a disruptive process for the teams, as well as for their customers, with the former having to adapt to new ways of working and the latter to a new way of placing orders.
1. Project adoption and employee transformation
Change Management
To help its employees complete the transition with success, the management at Rocheleau focuses its efforts on effective communication. Good communication involves answering the most commonly asked questions and regularly explaining the advantages of a website at the outset of the project and
throughout its implementation.
“Our objective was not to cut personnel, but to transform their repetitive tasks into high value-added tasks.”
- Marie-France Grenier
Sponsors of change are also designated from among the teams to communicate the advantages of the solution and its objectives regularly. As a result, it’s the overall organization that quickly embraces the project.
A first return on investment: transforming repetitive tasks into added-value tasks
Fidelio helps Rocheleau progressively automate its sales processes and adapt to a new way of working. It’s not only the customer service teams who benefit from this new tool but also the management teams and all the departments in the organization.
Up until this point, customer service mostly handled data entry. The time invested in employee training was not profitable for the company. Launching Fidelio changed the nature of their roles, so today, they can carry out tasks with real added value. Customer satisfaction has once again become their main focus, which has led to a whole new level of customer service.
2. Change management made easier by the proximity of Fidelio’s teams
Customer adoption of the website is also progressive.
"Customers had to get used to not receiving paper copies. It’s the whole culture that changed gradually.“
- Marie-France Grenier
To help customers embrace the new website, the organization carries out numerous actions, such as creating various instructional videos and guides. Customer support is also provided at all organization levels: from the sales representative to customer service to those in charge of invoicing. Customers are progressively guided toward adopting 100% digital practices throughout the various stages of the sales process.
“With Fidelio, we are able to receive updates on an ongoing basis according to customer feedback and the evolving market. This also facilitated the adoption of Fidelio.“ - Marie-France Grenier
What made change management easier is definitely Fidelio’s desire to work hand in hand with Rocheleau. As a result, it was able to progressively develop new functionalities that are perfectly tailored to its customers' needs. The fact that Fidelio is a developer-integrator with complete mastery of its ERP system allowed Rocheleau to create a platform that is in line with its objectives.
3. The Fidelio e-commerce site is perfectly integrated into the ERP software
The main advantage of the e-commerce site is its total integration with the Fidelio ERP software, which allows the team to access information in real time. This was indeed important for Marie-France, who absolutely wanted to avoid having to use any other software. Each department, from invoicing to operations and also sales, must be able to use Fidelio for all tasks. No more Excel and other accounting software!
A case in point is inventory: when an order is placed, Fidelio verifies stock availability directly. Customers can, therefore, know if the products they’re interested in are available, and this, at any time. The quantities are updated in real time as orders are shipped and items replenished.
Fidelio automates and combines the order, price and inventory data. This has three main benefits: the Rocheleau teams save precious time, entry errors become almost a thing of the past, and customers place their orders with greater speed and efficiency.
“With Fidelio, 55% of our sales are now completed on the Internet and we expect a regular increase in this number over the coming years."
Marie-France Grenier, Director of Operations, Rocheleau
Another advantage for Marie-France is rapid, real-time access to performance indicators, which, in her opinion, is essential to optimizing management and facilitating decision-making. ”We are very numbers-focused in all our departments at Rocheleau.”
THE RESULTS
Rocheleau’s customers can now place orders 24/7. Today, 55% of this company’s sales are online. This number has been increasing since the beginning of the health crisis, and it reached 57% in April, a record peak.
Having more self-sufficient customers has allowed several departments, such as customer service, invoicing, and sales, to focus on true added-value tasks. This proves that it’s possible to support growth without growing the sales team!
AND TODAY?
In 2020, Marie-France continues to upgrade and modernize the online sales site in line with several objectives:
•Enhance the personalization of her online product offer by implementing several advanced configurators for various made-to-measure products.
•Increase team productivity by enhancing customer autonomy through the implementation of product returns on the web. Once again, the objective is to eliminate tasks that do not add value for the teams.
•Increase the efficiency of salespeople and create customer loyalty.
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