Matrox-Sales is an integrated information system supporting data flow and internal audit in a company´s organizational structure. MatroX-Sales is designed to support everyday tasks related to sales network management. Use of an information tool facilitates diagnosis of a current situation and decision making processes, which have critical influence on sales. The system allows to control the field sales and acquisition of data related to sales network, and provides a proper data flow in the company´s organizational structure. This tool was designed to support effectively scanning, interpretation and analysis of a great deal of data from the sales network, in order to obtain the best financial results for the company. Another task of the system is management of data related to problematic events occurring in certain sales points. It is designed to prevent lack of stock, verify knowledge and management skills of sales points managers, identify incompetent staff, etc.
MatroX-Sales works in Windows environment and according to specificity of the branch and tasks it is used for it can work on computers such as Laptops and Desktops. It is also possible to migrate the application to mobile computers such as Palmtops.
Advantages of the system
Advantages of the system,
full information about the company´s departments, as well as about all the sales points and their staff,
data introduction during field work directly in the place of its acquisition (eg. during a visit in a company´s department or a sales point),
incorporated analysis mechanisms present information in a graphic form (eg. current information related to given sales points),
integrated system of data acquisition which can be used at a later time for generating reports and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data,
easy data acquisition during sales points visitations and meetings with sales points´ managers and staff, also from other information systems used in the company,
automated synchronization process (exchange of data) between local data bases and the central data base through LAN or GSM network,
sharing data collected in the central data base with users who need it and are authorized to receive it,
complete history of all visits conducted in company´s departments and sales points,
incorporated email system which facilitates communication between users of the system,
reporting about sales plans realization and general company´s performance (in per cents and absolute values),
high security - authorization of users, secured transmission coding and data bases,
MatroX-Sales is used on two levels: operational - as a mobile tool supporting sales and acquisition of data related to sales points and company´s customers; analytical - used for processing of data collected by the system directly from sales points or through visits of mobile staff responsible for control of distribution network.
In the first case the systems represents the following functionalities:
Operational part of the application
meeting - supports logical planning of sales representatives´ visits in sales points and acquisition of data related to them (kinds of assortment offered, marketing activities performed, etc.). If the system is to be used as a tool of data flow and internal audit, it also supports control visits in sales points from the company´s own distribution network (questionnaires, forms, reporting, training, coaching)
structure - this module contains very precise information about all sales points served by sales representatives (all sales results divided into assortment, elements of marketing implemented in given sales points, etc.). If the system is to be used as a tool of data flow and internal audit, it also contains information about sales points from the company´s own distribution network (financial data related to given sales points, data about their staff, marketing activities, etc.)
history - this module contains all documents filled out in sales points by sales representatives and their managers, who are also a part of the whole system
messages - thanks to this function all users of the system keep in contact and all the information sent by them is kept in a user´s local data base. The system enables sending messages to a single receiver and to defined groups of receivers (a possibility of performing emailing actions). The module enables to achieve significant savings on cell phones usage (limiting the amount of conversations only by a few minutes daily can result in costs reduction up to a few tens of thousands euro yearly!)
maps - this module can help in daily work of the company´s sales representatives by showing them routes according to the planned schedule of visits and it can be helpful for the HQ staff in assessing the cost of the car fleet exploitation. (Saving just two or three litres of petrol daily on one car the company´s savings can reach even up to a few tens of thousands euro yearly!)
In the second case, apart from the possibility of using exactly the same functionalities as in the first option, the managers and analysts of the company can use the following functionalities:
Analytical part of the application
structure - it gives managers view into the subordinate organizational distribution network structure. They are able to monitor actions of their mobile staff, verify their results and coordinate their actions. If the system is to be used as a tool of data flow and internal audit, the managers can also view data acquired from all sales points (financial data, employment level, accordance of marketing actions with the HQ´s suggestions, etc.).
customers/employees - this module contains all information about customers serviced by company´s sales representatives (a typical CRM tool) and all company´s employees, mobile ones and employed in sales points.
reports - a very strong point of the application based on the system´s data base which is used for reports generating. The forms of reports are defined by the system´s administrator and the reports themselves provide indispensable information for the analysis of the company´s distribution network condition in qualitative and quantitative forms. The reports can include data which is critical for a company (eg. calculation of economic indicators for given sales points, certain areas or the whole distribution network) as well as less crucial data, for example related to the average age of the employees or their contentment of being employed in the company.
plans - allows defining and distributing sales plans (through files importation) to all sales representatives and sales points.
segmentation - a module which permits the strategic section of a company to perform segmentation of customers and sales points using any chosen criteria. Thanks to this function marketing actions and distribution management can be performed more efficiently as well as verification of the weakest sales points performance in the distribution network.
maps - a module which revolutionizes analysis and presentation of a company´s sales results. The map resembles the whole distribution network of the company, all its customers and sales points. Thanks to connection of the map module with the data base it is possible to monitor the company´s strategy realization in a geographical context.
sales point´s authorizations - a module, which in case of a company having sales points (its own sales points or franchised ones), allows to control every step of constructing a new sales point or making changes in existing ones.
configuration - an administrative module which allows defining and configurating parameters related to the systems work (eg. kinds of attributes, objects and posts) from the application, without any need of operating on the data base. Configuration is controlled by a trained administrator who does not need to have a computer science education.
authorizations - this administrative module allows defining and giving access rights to each part of the system. It allows to avoid any intentional or unintentional access to protected data of the company.
A significant role in the system is played by the central data base which collects all information about the sales network coming from client´s applications (applications installed on mobile computers of sales representatives or on computers in sales points) and other cooperating systems (eg. accounting system, HR system, warehouse system, etc.). The client´s application allows introducing and saving data about company´s customers and sales points, sending it to the central data base and drawing information introduced to the system in the company´s HQ. Drawing and sending updated data to the central data base takes place through the synchronization mechanism.
